Margo's Got Money Troubles

Content Warning: The source text depicts drug use and addiction. It mentions sexual assault and contains offensive and derogatory language surrounding sex work.

Margo becomes a content creator on OnlyFans because she is desperate to earn money as a single mother who is out of work, but her success on the platform causes many problems and complications in her life. Through this, the novel explores how patriarchal ideas of feminine virtue dictate women’s behavior and sexuality.

Margo’s character challenges patriarchal notions that women are either pure and good or immoral and lascivious. From the beginning, Margo is portrayed as a young woman who is unabashed about her sexuality and who has no qualms about making decisions that society might regard as being immoral: She has an affair with her married professor, she becomes a creator on OnlyFans without any hesitation about the morality of the work, and she continues with this work even after she has been doxed. Her decisions show that she is both aware of and comfortable with exploring and expressing her sexuality. As a result, many people in her life think she doesn’t deserve respect. Her school friends are appalled at her life choices, her mother disowns her, and she even faces the threat of bureaucratic systems taking Bodhi away from her because of her line of work. Even Jinx, who does not hold derogatory views about sex work, reacts disapprovingly when Margo initially reveals her work on OnlyFans, because he is aware of how shamefully women on such platforms are treated. This underlines the strength of these negative attitudes surrounding women and sex.

However, Margo also has other, equally strong character traits that complicate her character and show that she cannot be written off as simply a woman who makes sexually immoral choices. Central to Margo’s character is her role and identity as a mother. Bodhi is the result of Margo’s affair with Mark. However, while Mark initially wants nothing to do with his child, Margo chooses to keep the baby and continually prioritizes his wellbeing. In fact, the need to provide for Bodhi is what drives Margo to begin creating content on OnlyFans. Later, Margo undergoes a psychological evaluation that establishes that she is a good mother who is more than capable of providing for and nurturing her child. Thus, Margo’s love for her baby and her determination to provide for him—character traits that are generally attributed to pure, good women—push her to make choices that people judge her for. Her work on OnlyFans is a result of her desire to be a good mother; her single motherhood is a result of a choice to take accountability for her actions; even her affair with Mark is ultimately a case of a young woman who was exploited by a man in a position of power. In these ways, Margo breaks the stereotype of the immoral or lascivious woman.

The novel explores how society stigmatizes women who express their sexuality while exalting motherhood and maternal love. Margo’s character combines these ideas that are usually at odds with each other and exposes the problems with this patriarchal dichotomy. Margo reflects on how the Biblical Mary, Jesus’s mother, who is seen as a symbol of maternal love and purity, might have in fact have lived a more complicated truth. Margo theorizes that Mary was possibly raped and lied about her pregnancy being an immaculate conception to cover up the incident. The fact that Mary could perhaps not tell the truth about the rape—with the woman fearing censure even in such a situation—highlights double standards regarding sex, with the women quickly being scapegoated. Thus, Margo explores patriarchal attitudes and double standards surrounding women’s sexuality.