Entrepreneurial working-class masculinities and curating the corporeal: social media influencers, porntrepreneurs and the case of OnlyFans Garth Stahl School of Education, The University of Queensland – St Lucia Campus, Brisbane, Australia, and Yang Zhao Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Abstract Purpose – For the most part, the majority of the research on entrepreneurial masculinities has focused on the traditional business and finance sector, capturing a masculinity infused with notions of dominance, a cut-throat disposition and corporate acumen. There has been relatively less attention focused on the reproduction of masculinities and monetized body work in digital forms of entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual article explores some of the entrepreneurial and performative skills utilized by male OnlyFans creators as they curate not only their bodies but also their sexualities in order to attract subscribers and maximize profits. Findings – Mapping the relationship between entrepreneurialism and masculinity on OnlyFans is significant considering the platform’s popularity and the changing nature of digital entrepreneurship. Drawing connections to previous research on working-class entrepreneurial masculinities, we highlight how male OnlyFans creators, who are largely from working-class backgrounds, are actively practicing entrepreneurial skills. Originality/value – We foreground the work of social media creators as sexualized and aesthetic labour, making connections between digital entrepreneurship, working-class masculinity, sexuality, and (idealized) bodies. Our article concludes with making recommendations for future research on the study of gender and sexuality within for-profit digital entrepreneurship. Keywords Entrepreneurial masculinities, Corporeal, Monetized body work, Aesthetic labour, Influencer commerce, OnlyFans Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction As living expenses escalate worldwide, along with inadequate pay hikes and a scarcity of well-paying full-time positions (BBC, 2020), a growing number of individuals, are turning to short-term gig economy roles (e.g. Uber, Lyft, OnlyFans, etc) and exploring opportunities as Social Media Influencers (SMIs) (e.g. Instagram, TikTok) to supplement their income. SMIs, as digital entrepreneurs, earn money through practices such as curating their bodies and lifestyles, sharing knowledge and experiences, fostering a community of like-minded individuals and endorsing a range of products and services. For example, we see a plethora of International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship The authors thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and useful suggestions which led to significant improvements of this paper. Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. AI: No generative AI were used in the writing and analysis of this paper. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1756-6266.htm Received 11 March 2024 Revised 1 May 2024 Accepted 20 May 2024 International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship © Emerald Publishing Limited 1756-6266 DOI 10.1108/IJGE-03-2024-0086