Sarah Jayne Dunnhas been fired from her role in Hollyoaks after refusing to stop making ‘racy’OnlyFans content. This sounds all too familiar and is yet another attempt at controlling how a woman uses her body.
Dunn told fans that creating OnlyFans content made her feel ‘powerful and confident, ‘but the Hollyoaks bosses clearly do not agree. The long-running soap have stated that her content does not align with the shows target audience. A spokesperson from Hollyoaks said, ‘Hollyoaks is a youth-facing drama with many young viewers, who follow our cast very closely, both in the soap and outside of it. 'We take our responsibility to our young audience very seriously and therefore the show does not allow any Hollyoaks cast members to be active on certain 18+ websites,' the spokesperson added. They concluded, ‘We had hoped we could reach a resolution with Sarah that would allow her to remain in her role as Mandy, but we respect her choice to continue to produce content on OnlyFans.'
It comes just two weeks after Sarah spoke openly on Instagram about her choice to start OnlyFans, stating,’ This is a decision I've thought long and hard about, not one I've taken lightly or on a whim, it's about taking back control.’ She added, ‘I've done men's mag upon men's mag and calendar upon calendar, I've enjoyed every shoot but never felt like I had much say in them. 'I've been pitted against other girls and felt deflated if not chosen for a shoot or for a cover, I've been airbrushed, retouched and 'enhanced' without consent and without necessity, she said.
Through this move she hoped to inspire women, ‘I hope I give other women the confidence to own it, to work hard on themselves, to eat well and healthily and to move their bodies in whatever way makes them feel most alive and energised, to wear whatever they like without judgement and to feel proud to be a woman.’
The internet has furiously hit back at the Sarah’s firing and called out the hypocrisy of the soap bosses' decision. Many have referenced back to Hollyoaks past – who could forget the famous 'Hollyoaks Babes' calendars featuring female characters sporting lingerie? These calendars were made to promote the show and they also profited off the sexualisation of their characters. Fans are rightfully questioning why Hollyoaks are happy to be associated with racy content when it made them a profit, but now Sarah has started a private venture there’s an issue. If the show's bosses' truly respected her decision to post on OnlyFans, they wouldn't have fired her.
The actress has had a few stints on the show, and after her exit she took to Twitter to thank fans for their support. The question is, why should Dunn be punished because she took control of her body? Let’s be clear - Sarah’s content isn’t much different from what she posts on her Instagram account. The difference is now she’s getting paid thousands for it on her own terms. It appears that as soon as women take agency, suddenly the world has a problem with that. As a soap Hollyoaks have profited off the sexualisation of many characters so, to now turn the other cheek is very telling. Through their dismissal of Sarah, they have suggested that they own the actors and their bodies.
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