Synopsis: Adult Webcam Model's Negotiation of Pleasure and Danger

Angela Jones, "“I Get Paid to Have Orgasms”: Adult Webcam Models’ Negotiation of Pleasure and Danger," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 42, no. 1 (Autumn 2016): 227-256

This text is a more recent text written by Angela Jones. Sociology and Anthropology Department and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program Farmingdale State College, SUNY.

Abstract

This article makes several important contributions to the burgeoning literature on sex work in a digital era. The scholarly literature that has documented the use of the Internet by sex workers has focused almost entirely on prostitution and has yet to make adult webcam modeling a focal point of analysis. This article critically examines the ways in which entry into adult webcam modeling is facilitated by an expectation that sex work in cyberspace maximizes pleasure, primarily because it minimizes the risk of dangers associated with street-based sex work. I conduct content analyses of discussions on a popular online forum for webcam models to explore the themes of pleasure (erotic and affectual) and danger (capping, doxxing, and harassment) in adult webcam modeling. I argue that adult webcam models experience sexual and affectual pleasures in the course of their work and that they are able to experience these pleasures because the computer-mediated sexual exchange acts as a psychological barrier, and that the computer in turn becomes the primary tool that performers use for emotional management. My analysis focuses on how sex workers reconcile the pleasure in their work with the exploitation that is also found there. Here, these camgirls use neoliberal ideas to minimize the perception of danger of their work so that they can experience high levels of pleasure. I further open up a new dialogue about neoliberalism and sex workers by focusing on the neoliberal subject in this new form of sex work.

Synopsis

in progress

There are two main issues I have with the text. On of them is that the data used for this research is based on data from the Amber Cutie Forum, a forum used by webcam models to talk amongst each other, but also a forum for 'clients'/viewers. The writer of this text, Angela Jones, tells us in the beginning that she analyzed the data that was part of the 'public forum', the part that can be viewed by other models as well as clients. For example, they have a 'promotion' section in this forum as well, for models to advertise themselves. There is also a 'private' part of the forum, that is only accessible by verified webcam models. Next to that, the models using this forum are mostly caucasian American women, who are already greatly independent. The text has a serious sex-positive feminist undertone. And although I totally agree with sex-positive feminism, the text handles the word 'pleasure' in a way I don't agree with. The pleasure discussed here is the bodily pleasure, orgasms, intimacy, etc. But I think one of the biggest pleasure these models enjoy is financial pleasure. Next to that the text completely ignores the fact that a lot of models discuss a lot about the 'addiction' of webcamming. Not only financially but the attention they get. A lot of girls cam for 6 hours or more a day. They mostly have a totally different social life then non-webcammers. They spend a lot of their time, even offline, contacting viewers/fans/clients. They 'live' online, but they also only represent a distilled version of themselves online.