The 21st Century Pied Piper

Editorial Assistant Daniela De Vera remembers the Pied Piper when talking about the exaggerated promotion of over-sexualisation and commodification of women online. 

Remember the Pied Piper? Leading 130 children away from their homes due to the lack of payment for his services? There is no Pied Piper in the 21st century, although there is one that may be of close relation to it.

I believe there is a fine line between automatising your sexuality to promote liberation and femininity; and, inciting over-sexualised notions of women cloaked with the promises of empowerment. As of right now, we are leaning heavily towards the latter.

The sexualisation and objectification of women have reached an all time high where 15 year olds are considering dropping out of school to make ‘easy’ money by being an OnlyFans creator. The resurgence of these actors has been prevalent in the media, consuming people’s feeds with sexual innuendos and insinuations – bubble-wrapped in the idea of ‘owning your sexuality.’ There is no doubt that you yourself have seen clips of these creators on podcasts (because everyone has a podcast) discussing the surplus of money they receive from working on that platform, flaunting their mansion worth millions of dollars and their endless collection of cars.

Some (or many) may argue that this is empowerment, that these women are actively choosing what to share and how; a symbol of their autonomy – liberated from the shackles of society. But, how does prostitution and sex work as a whole have connotations of empowerment when it is a paid service? If there was no financial gain would women still involve themselves in this field of work? The idea of money acting as the catalyst for consent, disregards the whole notion of female empowerment, whereby money is the dictator which commodifies the human body.

Understand that I am not here to discredit the work of these women, nor shame or criticise them. Although, since young girls are exposed to such content where hyper-sexualised acts are normalised and rewarded with money, they too will follow suit. Just like the Pied Piper, the children are led into a false reality promised with extravagance.