OnlyFans is the product of a society which is losing the ability to articulate what is beautiful and important about intimacy

Sex-work has always been about satiating a need for intimacy in men but OnlyFans takes it to a new level.

For some time, we've known that men suffer a warped view of sexual intimacy as they consume more and more pornography – their needs become greater and greater

However, we never talked about the effect that creating that pornography had on young women

This was for two reasons

First: being a porn star was stigmatized

Second: there weren't that many women in porn

So even as a huge portion of men consumed porn, not that many women were involved in making or watching it

OnlyFans has innovated on the traditional model in a lot of ways (which I don't know enough to speak on) but their success has created a culture where it's much more socially acceptable to have one as a woman

How will this change the way that young women perceive intimacy

To be frank, I'm not sure but I have my suspicions

One of the things that makes OnlyFans so successful is that, by being a subscriber, a "relationship" is created between the woman and her customer

In other words, men are willing to pay for a higher level of intimacy

Like it or not, traditions have something to teach us about how healthy romantic relationships are built

If a generation of young women (or even just a significant portion of a generation) come to believe that intimacy is a commodity, that has serious repercussions

How does marriage, dating, or even flirting work when intimacy is understood as a commodity which can be bought and paid for?

Strong partnerships are built on an ethos of "how can I faithfully serve my partner" not "how can I get what I want from them"