Rep. AOC Took Up For A Medic Who Turned To OnlyFans For Extra Cash Because America Needs To Increase Wages
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took up for a a New York medic that was shamed by the New York Post. The media outlet publicly identified a New York medic that has had to turn to OnlyFans to make enough money to make ends meet.
The New York Post is facing backlash for identifying a medic on OnlyFans.
According to the article, a 23-year-old medic had to turn to posting on OnlyFans to makes ends meet. She does say that the issue of not being paid enough goes beyond the pandemic. The medic tells the NYPost that the need to start an OnlyFans page is more indicative of an economy that doesn’t pay people enough to live.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t affect how I treat people. What I do in my free time is my business,” she told NYPost. “It has no effect on how I care for my patients. I know when I’m working, I’m a paramedic. I think I’m pretty good at my job.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez swooped in and called out the NYPost over their article.
According to Salary.com, the median salary for a paramedic in the U.S. is about $52,000 in New York. For reference, the median rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in New York is a little more than $2,600 a month, or about $31,000 a year.
Rep. AOC is using the moment to highlight the dire need to increase wages to match the ever-increasing inflation. The federal minimum wage has been stagnant for decades, with increases that are so minimal that the minimum wage today is worth less than the minimum wage of 1981.
It is also serving as a reminder of the need to legalize sex work as legitimate work.
Sex work is work and it is a movement that is aiming to legalize sex workers. The argument is that by legalizing sex work you are able to protect sex workers and create a safer industry.
In 2019, the Human Rights Watch came forward and endorsed decriminalizing sex work. The HRW argues that the criminalization of sex work has created an environment of abuse and exploitation to the detriment of sex workers. The stigma of being a sex worker, according to HRW research, leaves them open to violent attacks like murder, rape, and assault because they won’t seek police help.
“Criminalizing adult, voluntary, and consensual sex – including the commercial exchange of sexual services – is incompatible with the human right to personal autonomy and privacy,” reads the HRW website. “In short – a government should not be telling consenting adults who they can have sexual relations with and on what terms.”
Fellow members of Congress are praising Rep. AOC for her quick callout.
Rep. AOC has been defending workers’ rights since being elected to Congress and she isn’t slowing down. The New York politician won her reelection decisively showing that her way of pushing the nation forward is resonating in her district.
