In less than two weeks, hoards of fresh-faced teenagers will head to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast to celebrate the end of their high school experience. Also heading to schoolies are OnlyFans creators Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight, who are on a mission to film sexually explicit content with any consenting 18-year-old male who is keen to get down and dirty. To say it’s caused controversy is an understatement.
In the last week alone TikTokers and news outlets have slammed the women for their “exploitative” and “predatory” behaviour. But is this really a cause for alarm? Or is the outcry another example of misogynistic double standards and the stigma associated with sex work? Or… is it both?
What are Annie Knight and Bonnie Blue doing?
Last year, Bonnie Blue headed to Schoolies on the Gold Coast on a last-minute whim to film content for OnlyFans. It turned out to be a pretty successful venture for the 25-year-old, and eventually, after posting about it on social media, Bonnie became widely known as the girl who goes to school-leavers events around the world to film content with inexperienced boys.
Although she doesn’t charge them to sleep with her, Bonnie does require them to be filmed in content that she will later put online and sell, which acts as a form of payment for her services. After her success last year, Bonnie decided to do it for a second year in a row but this time, she asked Annie, a 27-year-old Australian creator, to join her.
“She basically asked me if I wanted to join and I just jumped at the opportunity because I thought it would be great for my subscribers,” Annie tells PEDEDSTRIAN.TV.
“They’ve always been asking me for videos with virgins so I knew it would sell really well.”
For some more sexually inexperienced viewers, the interest is so they can see how the bedroom antics go down from an educational perspective. For others, it’s the powerplay element that entices them.
“There are a lot of virgins out there and they want to see what it’s like having sex for the first time. But I also think it’s interesting for people to see an experience of a porn star having sex with someone who is way less experienced. It’s super intriguing, more than anything.”
Why are people so upset?
To many people, Bonnie and Annie are “predators” preying on young, impressionable boys who don’t totally understand the long-term implications of what participating in a porn video can do for their future and digital footprint.
Online, outrage for the pair is running rampant, with some people even creating petitions demanding that Bonnie be deported back to her home country of England.
To Annie, the outcry is ‘ridiculous’
If you ask Annie, she thinks the widespread moral panic surrounding their Schoolies antics is “ridiculous”.
“They’re 18 years old. They’re legal. They’re consenting to it. It’s not just like we’re walking down the street and starting to flirt with a young guy and then tricking him into coming home with us. It’s all very planned out,” she explains.
To keep everyone involved safe, Annie says that there is a stringent process in place before the fellas get down to clown.
“We have security there. We’ve got a breathalyzer making sure that they’re sober. They have to sign about three consent forms each,” she says.
“Bonnie and I both check IDs to make sure they’re over the age of 18. It’s a super safe environment. Bonnie and I both get tested regularly, so you know they’re not going to get STIs or anything like that, whereas, if they were to go out, get absolutely blind and drunk and then take home a girl in any in that kind of situation, anything could happen.
“At least in this situation, it’s safe. Everyone’s sober, everyone is consenting to it. We just think that we’re providing a better option for them, as opposed to potentially getting into a harmful situation.”
One of the biggest criticisms people have is that the 18-year-olds might regret their participation in the content in the future. Annie says that continual consent is always in play.
“Bonnie and I have both said that at any stage, they can withdraw consent and the video will be taken down and not be sold anymore,” she says.
“Whether that be in a week’s time, a years time or 10 years time, that’s completely fine. All they have to do is send us a message and we’ll take it down right away.”
As for whether the fellas might ruin their future employability by partaking in explicit content, Annie says she’s keeping all videos anonymous.
“I just assume that all participants will want their videos to be anonymous,” she explains.
“Generally speaking, when I film with normal people — which I do most days — I have their face out of the frame for their safety and privacy because I do cop a lot of negative stuff that I don’t want them to be exposed to.”
A sexologist’s point of view
Bonnie has repeatedly said a big part of her work is about educating young men about how to pleasure a woman. While that’s clearly not her biggest focus in the exchange, sexologist Zoe Snell believes that it is possible for the experience to result in some sort of sexual education.
“I think there is an argument that can be made that having sex with someone in that situation can definitely teach them about women’s pleasure, boundaries and consent, a lot of which they would not have learnt in sex education at school,” Zoe tells PEDESTRIAN.TV.
For Zoe, the bigger questions lie in the practical steps that keep the individuals participating safe.
“Are they sober? Are safe sex precautions being taken? Does the consent extend past the sexual interaction? Do they have the ability to ask to take the video down and revoke their consent? Does the consent form feel like a contract or is it made clear to the boys that they can revoke consent at any time?” she questions.
“As much as these boys are young, legally, they are adults. Even though we might find it morally icky, I worry that in some of these conversations, we’re infantilising these boys and taking their agency away from them. If they are safe, consenting and can revoke their consent at any time, there’s nothing really wrong with it.”
Personally, though, Zoe says she finds the whole thing morally questionable.
“Both things can be true: I find it icky — especially the ‘barely legal’ labelling which fetishizes teenagers. But at the same time, these boys are adults who can make their own decisions.”
Not all OnlyFans creators are for it… but not for the reason you’d think
Although Annie and Bonnie’s method is certainly attracting attention, not all OnlyFans stars and sex workers are fans of their eye-grabbing techniques. Hayli Hooper is a nurse, sex worker and OnlyFans star who has been in the industry for years. Although she personally wouldn’t partake in the Schoolies sexfest, it’s not because she finds Bonnie and Annie’s antics “predatory”.
In fact, she finds that assertion to be categorically false.
“I don’t agree with the predatory aspect of the discourse,” Hayli explains. “The mums out there saying that their sons are being used for money, I’m sorry, but your son is also using these girls for pussy. They’re getting something out of it.
“These boys are going to be going out at Schoolies and having sex with a million other girls. That’s what the week is — a week of partying and sex. These girls are not much older than them either.”
Instead, Hayli’s main worry is Annie and Bonnie’s future.
“I think with these headlines, while they’re making a lot of money and these girls are laughing all the way to the bank, there is a price to pay for that. I think that it’s going to bite them in the ass down the track in regards to finding partners, jobs and being disassociated with family and friends because of the backlash,” she says.
“Bonnie likes to come out and say many things on podcasts and stuff like she has in the past for clickbait. That’s fair enough, whatever girls want to do to make money, but when you’re young, you don’t really fully think things through.
“I’ve been in the adult industry a long time. I just think there is a way to make money without putting your own psychology, your own peace of mind, your own safety at risk just for cash.”
A minute for misogyny chat
In the lead-up to Schoolies, Bonnie has been doing the rounds on podcasts and radio stations, actively rage-baiting audiences. Earlier this year, the adult star even went on The Kyle & Jackie O Show and claimed that men should be able to cheat on their partners unless they are being “treated” by their other half every day.
Clearly, that is some bonkers, rage-bait shit that rightfully angered women in Australia and around the world. Although it’s fair to feel triggered by her regressive opinions, it’s important to examine how we critique them.
“Bonnie Blue’s behaviour should not give you the opportunity to promote regressive ideologies yourself,” TikToker Chloe Forero asserts.
“When we observe hyper-sexuality and promiscuity in women, we are always going to assume that something is wrong, when that’s not always the case. There’s going to be women that just enjoy sex more than other women do,” she explained.
The thing is, while the “barely legal” trope is disgusting and problematic with its implications, Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight haven’t created it. The use of extremely young, “barely legal” people in sex work is nothing new. Just one scroll on PornHub will show you that a huge portion of the pornography industry relies on young-looking girls engaging in this kind of content.
Do Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight deserve to be sent hate — and a threat of deportation for Bonnie — for sleeping with young men, albeit consenting adults? Or are they simply monetising a trope society and the porn industry has fetishised for time immemorial?
“There’s a double standard there,” Annie argues.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to consent. I feel like a broken record. If we really were predators we’d be prowling down the street looking for young men to prey on. That’s not what we’re doing. If you’re that worried about your son coming and filming with us, then have a chat with your son. It’s just silly to me.”
Annie even says she finds the whole argument hypocritical.
“A lot of people are saying we’re predators and basically insinuating that we’re going to be sleeping with minors which is factually incorrect. But then they have the nerve to message me death threats,” Annie says.
“It’s like, I’m not allowed to sleep with a legal 18-year-old but you’re allowed to basically threaten to kill me?”
Let’s zoom out for a sec
If you ask me, more than one thing can be true. As a whole, the situation admittedly feels icky and uncomfortable.
While I don’t believe Annie or Bonnie are being predatory, I can’t help but feel that using extremely young people for content of any kind feels exploitative. After all, the business model and appeal of this content hinges on finding naive, vulnerable boys who will not be receiving monetary compensation for their participation in the content created.
The thing is, not all of our first sexual experiences are good. They can be awkward and uncomfortable, ultimately teaching us what we like, and what we don’t and helping us create boundaries for partners moving forward. The difference here is, these learnings aren’t filmed for paid consumption.
However, to understand why it’s borderline exploitative (without looking through a lens of stigma against sex work), it’s important to zoom out and recognise the culture in which this is all taking place. For men and boys, sexual prowess and accomplishment are a form of social currency.
From a sexologist’s perspective, the issue is much bigger than Bonnie or Annie — the problem lies with modern-day Australian masculinity.
“I think the reason that it feels so icky is that we need to look at the bigger context and picture of what’s going on,” Zoe says.
“We need to look at the role of ‘barely legal’ and virginal content in society, and men being told that their value and worth is tied with their sexual conquests.”
For boys growing up in Australia, masculinity feels tied to sex. There is a harmful stereotype that all men are hypersexual beings who are always ready for sex at the drop of a hat. This is only perpetuated in popular culture and porn and it simply isn’t true.
“What feels a bit off is that we feel like these boys are being used, and these boys feel like we’ve won a prize because they’ve got to lose their virginity to a porn star,” Zoe explains.
If I were to put myself in the shoes of an 18-year-old at Schoolies, I totally understand why they might want to fuck this famous, hot girl at a time before their frontal lobes have truly developed. Hypothetically, I can imagine getting praised by my peers. Whether I’d get the same response as an 18-year-old girl with a man of Bonnie Blue’s reputation? That’s a harder hypothetical to imagine.
You may not support what Annie and Bonnie are doing, but ultimately, the issue is much bigger than them. These young men have the agency to make their own decisions. If we want to seriously protect them, we need to change the culture around masculinity, porn and how we teach sex education in schools, rather than get mad at two girls benefitting from a broken system.
The post Annie Knight Defends Her & Bonnie Blue’s Schoolies OnlyFans Trip: ‘They’re Legal’ appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
