A widely-watched documentary by filmmaker Josh Pieters gave an alarmingly candid perception into considered one of these stunts. It exhibits Phillips, after sleeping with 100 males, tearful and speaking about dissociating from her physique. Whereas Pieters seems involved for Phillips’ wellbeing, at no level does he interrogate the complicity of the identity-protected males. As an alternative, Pieters interviews them about which sexual acts they’d accomplished, and whether or not it was “price it.” One man says: “it’s not usually one thing I’d do however I noticed it and I simply thought… would possibly as properly, ?” “Yeah,” Pieters replies, with zero pushback.
What Blue and Phillips are profiting off is a product of our misogynistic and patriarchal society. None of this is able to be taking place with out the objectification and urge for food for the degradation of girls.
These queuing males give a troubling echo of the Gisèle Pelicot trial. Though vastly completely different when it comes to consent, the frequent thread is our tradition that “normalises the objectification of girls whereas shielding the lads who exploit it,” writes home abuse campaigner David Challen. “These aren’t anonymous, faceless monsters; they’re ‘atypical’ males from all walks of life who justify their actions, deflect accountability, and depend on societal narratives that too usually shift the main target onto the ladies concerned. What drives so many to step ahead, unhesitating, to take part in hurt?”
Whereas OnlyFans is usually touted as an empowering platform for girls to earn enormous quantities of cash, opposite to historic energy dynamics in porn, there’s a flipside to this sort of digital intercourse work. More and more, younger girls are reporting degrading requests, abusive and predatory remedy, together with doxxing, so-called ‘revenge porn’ and stalking. One video sees Blue and Phillips welcoming in a horde of hooded males at their entrance door. By fetishing a state of affairs that would appear terrifying to most girls, it’s telling that that is the kind of situation they’re sexualising for his or her viewers.
It’s price noting that a number of the queueing males are very younger, doubtlessly indoctrinated by manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate – however that doesn’t imply they shouldn’t be held accountable.
Whereas Blue and Phillips are being shamed throughout the web, popular culture continues to reward males for top physique counts. On TikTok viral monitor ‘Girl Killers II’, G-Eazy raps about eager to prime NBA star Wilt Chamberlain’s claims he slept with 20,000 girls. The Solar revealed a ‘lover’s checklist’ rating the huge portions of girls that male celebrities have slept with. These, like Phillips and Blue’s gatherings, train younger males to really feel entitled to girls’s our bodies.
This additionally comes at a time when, put up #MeToo, we’re witnessing a shift to the proper, and feminism and ladies’s security is being weaponised for political achieve. We will see it within the trans rest room panic (ask any cis girl and so they’ll let you know it’s males we’re terrified of, not trans folks) and Elon Musk and Nigel Farage mentioning grooming gangs – the latter of which took a photograph with Conor McGregor, who lately misplaced a civil rape case, at Trump’s inauguration. The Spectator even tried to attract a parallel between Blue and accused rapist Tate, inexplicably saying each encourage “dangerous male behaviours.” This all works to minimise the very actual and severe abuse of girls.
You’ll be able to disagree with what Blue and Phillips are doing, protest the clickbait-ification of intercourse work, and really feel involved in regards to the security of those girls. Nevertheless it ought to ring alarm bells that so many males are keen to chase gratification on the expense of empathy, and of treating a girl like a human being.