Sorry ladies, a career in porn is not ‘empowering’
Surfer Ellie-Jean Coffey has traded a life on the waves for one in front of a camera - but normalising the adult industry comes with a real dark side, writes Louise Roberts.
Opinion
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Modern feminism has many faults but one of it’s most pernicious acts is convincing young women that selling or exposing their bodies is empowering.
As long as a woman says she is empowered by doing something — from sipping coffee to livestreaming a threesome — anyone who dares to question this noble mission is a sexist.
OK, so I can expect the brickbats then as I question the motives of yet another glamorous female who has become what I will describe as a porn-preneur.
Getting about in the buff doesn’t “prove” a woman’s freedom or success and from any angle it should not be promoted as a viable career option for impressionable teens.
Ellie-Jean Coffey says she has faced “no judgment” in her new industry — an X-rated one — since ditching the “misogynistic” world of professional surfing.
Coffey has launched a website called ellieunlocked where customers can pay $10 a month for “uncensored content” such as explicit videos and photos.
It’s a similar format to OnlyFans, following in the footsteps of former V8 Supercars driver-turned-adult entertainer Renee Gracie, 25,
Now Coffey has morphed from girl-next-door ocean sportswoman to adult star.
No regrets, all the control in the palm of her hand, she says.
“My new website has completed my life because it’s given me purpose,” Coffey says.
“I’ve always had the pleasure of surfing, now I have the successful business which I feel has truly completed me.”
Coffey’s wisdom — and she has over a million followers on Instagram — is that carving up the waves is more sexist and restrictive for women than writhing on camera for anonymous, aroused fans.
But it is not empowerment and that is the vile female contradiction at play — exhibitionism moonlighting as “Go Girl 2020” feminism.
The message here is commodify your body.
My intention is not to belittle Coffey, who has previously spoken of mental and physical abuse she suffered while competing as a surfer.
Instead, I feel despair at an increasing number of young women who create a similar construct for themselves.
“Now I get to talk to these subscribers who I love and the best part about it is I get to be creative every single day,” Coffey says. “I wake up and think what do you want now, what can I express now, what kind of video or photo … how can I make this work for both of us.
“It’s a unique thing, a unique platform — the creativity and intimacy between the subscriber and me.
“It’s been hard on social media having all these followers and not being able to talk to them one-on-one, now launching my website has just been life-changing.”
Her comments mirrored Gracie’s polished sound bites when she was challenged about her career switch and whether she would regret it in later life — given nothing truly disappears from the internet.
“I don’t think so,” Gracie says.
“The position that I’m in now has set me up for life and I would never change this for the world. I love doing what I’m doing.
“This is one of the best industries that I’ve actually been in. I’ve found my calling. It’s changed my life, I’m doing things and setting myself up for an early retirement.”
Problem is, the pressure is on to serve up ever more ludicrous scenarios to keep your fans at peak titillation — credit card at the ready — when your life is your job and your job is your life.
And that is to say nothing of the danger of the fantasy world of an OnlyFans site leading to real danger in the real world
Earlier this year it was reported that a 21 year old woman from the Gold Coast was targeted with revenge porn, death threats, and a fake prostitution ad leaking her real identity.
“The same girl told me to kill myself along with other threats and disgusting messages. Not even five minutes later I was notified by Twitter that I was tagged in a post”, the woman, known only as Becky, told the Gold Coast Bulletin back in February.
Anything that objectifies men or women takes us further down the slippery slope of desensitisation.
Easy access to porn — soft or hard — skews young brains into thinking this is normal sexual behaviour, no matter how empowering you say it is. We have inhibitions because those concerns are based in self protection and reality.
Exposing your body is not delivering any type of liberation or empowerment, no matter the financial lure. It’s a myth and the price is not $10 — it is dignity.
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