“FOR FREE?”
An account comments under an Instagram post of me at an event wearing a glitzy dress and heeled sandals. Of course, it’s for free, I think. It’s Instagram, aren’t all the photos for free? Aren’t we all working for Instagram for free in some capacity?!
Moments later, my DMs are popping off “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU POSTED THAT FOR FREE?” “DUDE Y FOR 3 *CRYING SMILEY FACE*?” What is everyone on? I ponder. Why is everyone (three people) concerned that I deserve to be paid for this photo? Then it hits me. The sandals. The heeled sandals. My exposed toes were causing an e-fuss.
Foot fetishes are hardly a new phenomenon. In fact, they're like the Chappell Roan of the fetish world: they’ve been around forever but are now fully basking in mainstream attention. With celebrity endorsements — it's rumoured Elvis Presley had a strong interest in feet — and Lily Allen rising to OnlyFans stardom by claiming she earns more from foot photos than from album streams, there's a growing curiosity about the potential income from selling foot pics online. Some claim earnings can reach up to $30k a month, others $20 (no k).
I had never previously been drawn to selling pictures of my feet online. The main reason is the demand for foot maintenance. I simply cannot stand spending time in a nail salon. When all my mental health acronyms come over me at once I struggle to sit still. I never considered OnlyFans because I was pretty flat-chested and thought them not worth a cut of people's paycheck, and also because I was a little scared it would have a rippling negative effect on my career of, er, posting photos on Instagram for money. Despite several sex industry / mainstream crossovers — take bona fide It girls Jessie Andrews and Mia Khalifa — there is still an overwhelming stigma around sex work and OF gals and boys. Few seem to come out unscathed. Could my new OF account be a step too far?
As a former model signed to a prestigious London agency, I have done my share of scantily clad photos. Some even at a pretty young age. In one instance, I was booked on a Playboy job — an online only “editorial” (i.e. a free shoot) because my bookers said it would get me more followers, which could hopefully lead to some actual paid work. The fine line between modelling, influencing, and now OF-ing is one so fine I’m starting to think it’s not there at all.
After “For Free?” comment-gate, coupled with my falling in love with Anora, the Palme d'Or winning film that follows a stripper who marries a Russian oligarch, I booked an appointment at the local nail salon and proudly passed nail colour number 31. Green. An ode to the Big Lebowski’s character Bunny who wafts her freshly painted green toes in the direction of “The Dude”, inviting him to blow them dry. Hot? Well, the nail tech looked a bit disgusted and then made a passing comment to her colleague. I wasn’t sure if it was on the chosen green or the state of my unkempt feet.
I did a bit of research online and learnt foot fetishes (do please correct me if I’m wrong) prefer feet to sweaty, soggy, dirty and stepping in… things. I tried to shoot my feet in the bath, but it was too hot and they looked very red and weird.
Red foot wasn’t posted on the main feed but was sent to a particularly enthusiastic follower as a PPV (pay per view) message. At a self-valued $20, red foot was viewed, applauded and tipped an extra 5 bucks. My first actual post was a post-gym foot (another preferred kink, and in this case a potential lie) and was FOR FREE (though under an $8.99 monthly subscription offer I advertised on Instagram.)
It’s now day three, I’m 12 photos in and I'm still alive. I’ve made a four-figure sum in the first few days. So far, I have enjoyed the array of usernames (”kingdomcum”, a personal fave), I’ve had an emergency session with my therapist who felt the need to teach me how to “manage my financial expectations” and I’ve received a request to rip up The Reform Party’s manifesto.
A few subscribers (one) said they were subscribing because they loved my journalism. Perhaps, I hadn’t needed to bare my sole and a simple Patron account could have served me equally well? Other messages questioned my intent; “Is this OnlyFans pursuit real? Are you starting from the feet down? Syd-knees OF next?”. Another asked; “Would you do a cock rate?”
The thing is with monetising yourself online is that you never really know how far you’ll go until it’s “too late.” Three days into my OnlyFans escapade and the requests for XXX content were coming, despite my “FOOT ONLY" bio. Yes, I am aware of the original intent of this website and that I am part of the wave that is pissing off the OG OF members — so I plan to tread carefully.
But, I also have bills to pay and in this economy, getting offered £100 quid for five minutes seems considerable. In this economy, when your parents aren’t rich and/or famous and you have the desire to work in the creative industry most living costs have to be subsided. In this economy, when we’re all still living in house-shares aged 30+ with no savings, and can’t afford (even afford to consider) kids, maybe OF can subsidise the things I want to do — like write, or become a landlady like Peggy Mitchell. Maybe I haven’t shot myself in the foot entirely? (Or is there a market for that?)