Married At First Sight is a show that thrives off scandal and drama, that much has always been clear. But somehow, after countless seasons of being called out for its perpetuation of sexism, gaslighting and literal abuse, it’s still pushing things too far.
This time around, it’s gone for the figurative jugular of outward slut and body shaming between women—in the form of what appears to be revenge porn.
To recap, MAFS bride Olivia Frazer claimed to have found a nude image of fellow bride Domenica Calarco from her private OnlyFans account. She then circulated the photo with several other cast members in an abhorrent attempt to humiliate Calarco.
There’s a couple of seriously problematic factors at play here—not only is this a shocking display of female body shaming which went to air under the guise of entertainment, but Frazer’s choice to distribute the nude photos raises real questions as to the role of revenge porn laws in New South Wales, where the television show is filmed.
Per the New South Wales Crimes Act, revenge porn, known as “image based abuse”, is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals taken in circumstances in which a reasonable person would reasonably expect to be afforded privacy without their consent. If a person is found guilty of doing this, they could face a maximum of three years imprisonment, and/or an $11,000 fine.
Calarco took the image to distribute on OnlyFans, a subscription model app largely used to share (and subscribe to) explicit images. However, it’s against the rules of OnlyFans for that image to be distributed any further. (It was suggested on-air that Frazer found the image by Googling Calarco.)
As we saw on MAFS, Calarco’s image was distributed beyond her intended use with neither her consent, nor her knowledge. There is therefore a question as to whether the events could be described as revenge porn—the question itself posed as a means of entertainment on national television. Read that again.
It’s important to note that we don’t know the full story. The version of reality TV we see on our screens can be vastly different to the events as they occurred, and MAFS is no different. It’s not uncommon for producers to twist narratives in order to achieve the “shock factor” that generates ratings.
However, whether or not other parties were involved, or even if the whole event was contrived, it doesn’t detract from the fact that right in front of our faces, MAFS made this disturbing and traumatising event into entertainment, plain and clear.
Indeed, it was only last week that our Instagram feeds were inundated with inspiring and empowering female stories as the world marked International Women’s Day. We celebrated those who publicly shared their stories of misogyny, sexism and abuse. We felt empowered to speak out as a result of this, we were empowered by our own femininity—to wear what we want to wear, and to express ourselves and our sexuality without fear of judgement.
Barely seven days later, the nude photo scandal on MAFS essentially just slapped us, and all of that momentum, in the face.
In the aftermath of the episode, viewers flocked to Twitter to call out Frazer’s behaviour.
“Literally feel sad & sick at the fact that they allowed this revenge porn humiliation tactic to be aired. It’s 2022 for fucks sake,” a Twitter user stated.
And to add fuel to the fire, the creator of OnlyFans herself, Ashley Fletcher, detailed her shock and disappointment in the scene.
“Women are finally taking back their power after many years of men sending around nudes illegally. The fact that it was leaked by another woman is absolutely horrific and very high school,” she told The Wash.
Fletcher added that the incident also highlighted a glaring double standard on the show: Earlier in the season, MAFS groom Mitch Eynaud revealed his bare bottom on-screen in a humorous, no-drama scene.
“Why is it OK for Mitch to have his bare ass out on national television and it be glorified, but a photo of a woman she shared privately is classed as a scandal?” Fletcher said.
During the episode, Calarco also said of the situation: “I’ve got no issue with people knowing that I’ve done that, and I told Jack [her MAFS groom] from day one. The issue that I’ve got here is I don’t know how you thought that was any of your business to spread that around. If people wanted to Google me, they could Google me, but you [Olivia] clearly sent that, that’s gossip.”
Yes, here we are in 2022 witnessing television that uses the defunct, traumatising narrative of slut shaming—one that’s literally been criminalised—as a means for getting viewers. If this isn’t enough to cancel the show that has consistently lost traction since it first began airing (which is likely why it has stooped this low to generate a narrative), then we’ll politely retreat from engaging with it ourselves.
Calarco and all women who have been victims of revenge porn in the past did not ask to be a part of this narrative.
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