View Full Version : Academic Research
SandyTheCheek
10-18-2016, 09:07 AM
Streamate is exploitative of the opportunity, not my rights. Of course I wish I got more of what is charged for my time, but I know how it works and it serves my interests well enough to continue contracting with them.
A PhD is a type of academic degree that is not necessary for amplifying voices and encouraging awareness and protecting images.
rstuart2
10-18-2016, 10:09 AM
Streamate is exploitative of the opportunity, not my rights. Of course I wish I got more of what is charged for my time, but I know how it works and it serves my interests well enough to continue contracting with them.
A PhD is a type of academic degree that is not necessary for amplifying voices and encouraging awareness and protecting images.
I am not sure what point you are making?
SandyTheCheek
10-18-2016, 12:39 PM
It's an argument to your point that Streamate exploits women who cam. You say you understand we are not victims in need of saving and then say we are being exploited-that's inconsistent.
It sounded like you were open to discussing the topic. I apologize if I misunderstood and I won't divert from the original post any more if that's the case.
rstuart2
10-18-2016, 03:36 PM
It's an argument to your point that Streamate exploits women who cam. You say you understand we are not victims in need of saving and then say we are being exploited-that's inconsistent.
It sounded like you were open to discussing the topic. I apologize if I misunderstood and I won't divert from the original post any more if that's the case.
Not at all- i misunderstood. I'm not good when I am tired. I dont think woman who cam are victims, far from it, camming is partly responsible for a lot of positives in my own life but there are certain areas pertaining to webcamming that i believe need examining and the big one i believe is to do with copyright of image. Its a theme that women i interview refer to over and over and which i wish to explore more with ny research
NikkiMonroe
10-19-2016, 01:43 PM
Just finished my interview and it was an incredible chat. I see so often people coming here to do interviews that is just for their own profit, books, articles, etc.
However, I feel these interviews are being conducted for an extraordinary purpose and was glad to be interviewed! She has a list of questions that she has asked every model, and it felt very professional but also very comfortable. We had some great laughs while discussing some of the more odd events that come with webcamming.
I would definitely recommend others to be interviewed as well!
rstuart2
10-21-2016, 06:06 AM
Hi Everyone,
Thought i would update you all on how my research is progressing. I have now interviewed 16 women and the data that they have provided has been amazing. Both eye opening and at times eye watering. I cant believe how fortunate I have been that you guys have been so generous with your time and experiences. If you would like to take part in an hour long interview please contact me.
[email protected]
AngelMari
10-21-2016, 01:30 PM
I just interviewed with Rachel and it was pretty interesting, I'm looking forward to reading her work!! I also felt very comfortable during the interview and felt like I was talking with a friend.
rstuart2
10-24-2016, 10:33 AM
Just to let the ladies I interviewed over the weekend that they will receive the Amazon Vouchers shortly
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 03:13 PM
The study is flawed from the start. You have stigmatized it with words like VICTIM & sex work. Sex work is in general illegal, camming isn't.
If you have read past post you will see that I & many others have fought & worked with some cam companies to see us as equals as partners. Correct Live Jazmin does NOT, but they are losing lots of top performers to companies like Streamate. There are so many cam companies now the competition for performers has given us better contracts than 17 years ago, than 10 years ago. Some pay out 50% & NO CHARGE BACKs. That alone says we are equal partners in this endeavor. With SM if you bring in your own traffic you can make 75% off of that person & 20% of what they spend on other performers
If you have read this site & many past threads you would also know there are lots of performers here who are independent cam performers.
So I do CALL Bullshit on this steady cause you are slanting it as though we are all still victims being taken advantage of by the men in this industry. Any of us can go to Elevatedx.com and start our own site, have camming on it build a network, with that CMS platform. Of course it is work & tolling away long hours, but the opportunities for us are improving constantly. Where is the victim it that?
Sex work is a term I don't agree with at all. I work in adult but sex is currently 5% or less of my job EVEN when on Cam. Ten years ago a porn star fucked & got paid for shoots & could earn a great living that way. NOW, it is a different story.
Entrepreneurs best describes performers these days. If you read all the helpful post on this site it is a wealth of information of how to be a success in many different ways. But you wont find how to stick more dicks in each hole in order to make money. NOOO! Marketing, branding, lighting, equipment, how to fix a tech issue, photography, videography, social media marketing, how to hustle, how to do sales, how to open a VOD store, what are all the options to make money.
Pretty much 90% of the advice & venues to make money on this site are ALL LEGAL!!! Which means your study for criminal activity is an insult as if we are all breaking the law.
I do feel stigmatized by people like you doing these studies. Since you have done this kind of work, then you should be ashamed in using that kind of bias in your studies premise. CAuse you are NOW apart of the problem.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 03:28 PM
Well, I don't really know why camming has to be anything at all other than a way to make money for doing some kind of performance usually of a sexual nature only in virtual context. It is what it is. I don't need to prove anything to anyone, certainly not radical feminists.
I wish someone who is looking towards a career in statistics would venture into getting the real numbers. Now that's a thesis I would read. As for this one, it's already been beaten beyond the mummification phase in my opinion.
EXACTLY How many radical feminist are there in the United States or the world?
Nor do I concern myself what sexist bigot care about either OTHERTHAN at least I can make money off of them. LOL
Now if they want to boycott me camming & bring me free publicity.... then I will pay attention to radical feminist.
Otherwise the general population is watching us cam... men prefer to do their own research & ask us questions than to read some criminal research paper.
I do call out the Ethics Committee on their Ethics on the bias of this study. Since we are not breaking the law, very few of us are looking to be legitimized by others to begin with in general unlike prostitution & sex slaves. We don't need a champion to save us from a legal job.
Now, I do think it is criminal that so many corporations over charge for medications, raise insurance rates, don't pay a minimum wage of $15 while taking home bonus of $50 million or more. Don't understand how a bank teller can get arrested for stealing $20 from the company YET that same company steals millions & billions of dollars from it's customers & NO ONE goes to jail.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 03:51 PM
[QUOTE=rstuart2;2928308]Point taken. These are the questions that were submitted as part of my ethical clearance and which i have asked in the ten interviews I have so far conducted
1. How and why did you start webcamming? Why does anyone get a job? To make money. MOST redundant & idiotic question ever
2. Are you currently webcamming? Several places, contracts are no longer exclusive & you are blocked from working for another company for 6 months
3. How long have you/did you cam? 10 to 12 years
4. What has been your experience of webcamming? Positive or I wouldn't do it.
5. Are you open about webcamming? Who knows? Who don't you tell? It is the WORLD WIDE WEB. Yes, everyone knows, family, friends the works. Otherwise I need to up my marketing.
6. Are you employed in any other capacity? Do you do other kinds of work? I've earned an income in adult for over 20 years. First as a stripper, porn star, solo site owner & cam girl
7. How many hours a week do you webcam? 5 to 10
8. Where do you webcam? Living room, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom... My commute to work is a bitch. LOL
9. What do you enjoy most about webcamming? I'm a STAR!!! to many to list
10. What do you enjoy least about webcamming? Nothing, figured out how to turn a negative into a positive & to my advantage years ago. That is what successful people do, they don't keep complaining, the solve problems.
11. Have you felt stigmatised because you webcam? No... people treat a person how you let them
12. What have been your most positive/negative experiences of webcamming? Creatively freeing & each day is a new day to perfect my hustle & play dress up.
13. Do you consider webcamming to be a form of sex work? Do you consider beer ads, perfume commercials & many other things that use sex & sexy images sex work?
14. Do you think other people consider webcamming to be a form of sex work? Actually, don't think most people give a fuck & just worry about their own lives.
15. Have you or do you participate in other forms of sex work in the past? Well, we have a difference of opinion on that term. I am an entertainer. Cause if I'm boring then I don't make money. My job is SALES, I have talk & talk in order to get men to spend money.
16. Would you consider meeting up with someone you had cammed with? I've done Fetish con & Cam con, in the distant past done AVN
17. Has webcamming affected your personal relationships? EVERY single job affects personal relationships. MY BFF sales houses, she works 80 hours a week. I work 80 hours a week. Who doesn't try to find balance between work, home, personal lives & relationships. But GUESS our lives are vastly different from everyone else... BIAS BIAS BIAS
18. Are you contact with other webcam performers? Yes thousands of them due to this site & social media. We all look out for each other & try to help one another.
19. What is your sexual orientation? How do you portray yourself online Does gold digger arrogant snobby bitch a sexual orientation? My Dad married my Mom for her families money, but they disinherited her. Yet the lasted happily for 20 years.
20. Do you have any niche specialities that you perform online? Sph, verbal humiliation, gold digger, arrogant fat bitch, glamour girl, porn star, bbw, mature, cougar, milf, big boobs, fat ass, belly play, dirty talker... and all around southern bell smart ass.
21. Tell me how you feel about the web hosting site(s) you use to cam from. We've had our battles & they have come around to my way of thinking cause I had mine, other performers & the sites best interest at heart.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 03:58 PM
You can if you do your own marketing. Anyone who isn't signed up already to SM that does sign up through your cammodel link you will always make 75% of what they spend on you & 20% of what they spend on other performers. Sometimes I log in & already made $50 to $100 that day without even camming.
Or you can join their affiliate program & see just how hard it is to get traffic & convert it. SM does not always get the total of 65% they have to pay out affiliates, cover charge backs & credit card fraud which can literally be hundreds of thousands a month. Then there is bandwidth & tech support, infrastructure.
SM is one of the best sites to cam on due to all the traffic other performers and affiliates bring to it. A business minded person always has to keep the whole picture in mind.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 04:12 PM
Lol, harsh, i find the idea of the numbers involved mind blowing. Live Jasmin is the big hitter but stream mate and mfc figures would be interesting to read
Live Jasmin spends lots of money on ads on xbiz, avn & such. They have won many awards, is that why you are posting about them. Did you go to GFY.com and ask all the affiliates they have skimmed profits off of or just ripped off.. Which by the way are 99% male.
Hence the built in bias of this study to find cam girls are still being exploited, taken advantage of & VICTIMS!!!!
Did you do research & figure out who are the most money making performer are in the cam industry?
Those would be the top 20 girls on MFC #1 $1.4 million then it scales down to $400,000 for #20
MFC pays out 50%
I don't work hard enough or enough hours but there are performers on SM who make $500,000 to $250,000 a year.
Now Little Red Bunny reportedly BUT never confirmed by her made $1 million a year camming on LJ, but seen she has been camming on SM.
The REAL kicker is the top money making performers on MFC are NON-NUDE no sex... Those girls are just fantastic sales people. Would you still qualify them as sex workers or victims?
sexysusie
10-25-2016, 04:16 PM
Hey Sam, I don't agree with the study either (for different reasons) but she wasn't saying sex workers ARE victims, but that we are often seen as such x
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 04:23 PM
Webcamming is also illegal in Thailand and UAE too
And there are cam companies that absolutely will NOT hire performers from those countries or even if they live somewhere else & have IDs from those countries. You are TOTALLY misrepresenting the camming industry. Those documentary on the Philippines was on child rape & exploitation.
EVERY legit cam company has to take VISA & MASTERCARD, bank cards for billing. There is NO cash... Having an underage child on cam gets that billing pulled in a heart beat.
I used to be really close with an Hungarian who did work in those cam studios in Budapest & such over a decade ago. All those girls work there voluntarily & make more money in a week than a normal job would pay in a month. They cam for a year or so, get married & move on with life. She ended up becoming a famous porn star. Even though she has not done porn in years, STILL a major star with her own radio show daily there & on every Hungarian reality show, regular on Hungarian talk shows. She does NOT suffer any stigma at all in her home country or Europe.
Thailand is a country where kids are sold into sex slavery that has NOTHING to do with legitimate cam companies. UAE has many laws in general, if you are raped there & report it then YOU go to jail. Being gay is illegal.
These pathetic attempts to associate a legal & good cam companies is insulting.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 04:40 PM
First off this is not a degree, its a PhD and so it isn't lumped in with anything. When you study for a PhD you study just one topic and you study it exclusively. Secondly my academic background is that i study criminology AND cultural studies as my undergraduate degree. My masters is in law and i studied criminal justice and human rights .In my university we are extremely critical of the law and how it uses crime to control certain sections of society rather than as a way of administering justice. In effect the law is a tool of manipulation used by powerful elites to control the masses. The war on drugs is a classic example. In the USA more black men are now incarcerated due to the sale of cannabis than were enslaved at the point of emancipation due to the sale of a drug that was legislated against in order to protect the interests of the cotton growing plantocracy after the end of slavery.
In my own case and as an intermittent life long sex worker I used my degree to study how women have been affected by the law and how the law has not protected them but marginalised and persecuted them. Sex work being the prime example, the fact that sex work in general is increasingly legislated against is I believe all about the control of women's bodies and furthering political ambitions rather than any attempt to protect them. Since 2000 the world globally has taken an increasingly abolitionist approach to sex work making iy more dangerous and stigmatising for women who work in the sex industry. I cannot describe how opposed i am to this stance both as a woman who has worked in practically every type of sex work and as an academic.
Which brings us to webcamming and here i should point out categorically that i do not believe that it should be regulated and legislated against any more than any other job in the service sector should be regulated. The reason I chose to pursue this line of inquiry for my PhD was because in the UK in 2014 it became illegal to upload certain types of pornography. The rationale being that kids with direct debit cards could access this stuff, I was struck (and very pleased!) that there was no mention of webcamming in this legislation as it would have been the perfect opportunity to legislate against it. I did some research and came up with several explanations of why this might be the case. The first was money, it is very hard to pinpoint how much money is generated by webcamming as no one is really studying it but to give you an example Gyorgi Gattyan, the founder of Livejasmin.com, the most popular webhosting site is Hungary's richest man as well as being very corporate (The Economist 2015). The second reason was that webcam performers challenge the idea that all women involved in sex work are victims in need of rescue, that webcamming empowers women to define their own identities because the webcam performer is able to maintain control of their representation and set the terms and conditions of viewing. This isn’t to say that there aren’t abuses, I believe there are especially around issues of copyright and intellectual property, but I think webcamming allows women who wouldn’t normally participate in sex work to do just that. It’s their stories of how they experience webcamming that is the central focus of my research, I am interested in how women came into camming, how they experience it as a form of labour, I am not interested in what you perform so much as your experience of working in a form of sexual commerce that hasn't been regulated against .
So in answer to your question its a criminology Phd because that is my academic background but my interest is in the lack of legislation pertaining to webcamming and not because i either believe it should be criminalised or want it to be,I categorically do not agree with that in any shape or form. Incidentally my funding is entirely independent as I am funded by the alumni of my university.
Hope that helps!!!
Rachel x
EVERY cam company will fire a performer if they don't report a minor in private paid chat.
Every cam company has a billing company. All transactions are tracked & this is NOT the dark WEB!! Visa, Mastercard, banks are billion dollar industries that are NOT going to risk having all assets frozen or taken by the U.S Gov for exploiting under 18 human beings.
Anyone underage with a credit card or bank card has to have a parent or guardian co-signed & responsible for that account. NO cam company wants a kid with a credit card or bank account to pay for shows cause all that money will be refunded by LAW...
Now, I do have an issue with the Republicans & Angelicans trying to legislate female bodies & defund Planned parenthood. Absolutely, that has NOTHING to do with the camming industry.
Do I think all the sex shows & all that goes on sites like MFC & CB will later on cause some laws to be passed. Yes, and I would be for it. I know that we all would make a lot more money if men have to pay to see the goodies. The problem with the British laws is that the web is world wide, they can only control those who own or work in that country. Same with the U.S. if they were to pass similar laws then some companies would not be affected at all cause they are not based in the U.S.
Which is why I think the U.S. gave control over the ICANN to more international so that such controls & issues such as copy rights, stealing of content( mainstream movies, music, tv shows) and such can be handled world wide.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 04:45 PM
I would love to take part in this study but Im coming from Porn and into webcamming so Im not sure if my personal experience would be a benefit to your research. I cannot agree more that we need more research in this area. The little I have found relating to webcam is never a reflection of my own perspective or experiences and I tends to feel as though its taking a very small look at something that is truly revolutionary for so many reasons (many which you have already stated so I wont bother restating them). I love reading the research done into Prostitution. I find it very enlightening although I have lukewarm feelings for the research done on porn as it mostly highlighting the Hollywood porn and not considering internet porn. Never the less I would love to read your research when your done I hope you will follow up this thread and let us know where we can find it or purchase it.
Since I have discovered Camming connection I have noticed that this is really a message pushed by the more successful camgirls that contribute here. Sam38g comes to mind. She is often touting the benefits of cam as a full time job.
You are such a doll. Actually I don't cam full time. I do marketing full time so my sales are great when on cam. Probably cam on average 5 hours a week.
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 05:11 PM
What regulations do you think camming as a service sector job requires?
What exactly is the "reasonable" case that performers are "potentially being financially exploited" by Streamate?
Do you think camming should be mainstreamed?
How do you plan to use your degree?
Cam sites get MILLIONS of hits or visitor a day. How is that not mainstream?
We are Mainstream
Porn is Mainstream
Porn is no longer a few magazines hidden under the bed or videos buried deep in the closet. Everybody pretty much watches porn & cam sites are growing in popularity. Once upon a time men hide & lied about watching porn. Now they go on social media & name all their favorite stars & what kind they like to watch in order to get off.
Aurora Snow writes for The Daily Beast
Lisa Ann has a contract, radio & tv show for ABC which is owned by Disney.
Change is HERE!!!
Sam38g
10-25-2016, 05:58 PM
The study or that school comes with the bias we are victims or being exploited. They assume the general public thinks to too. Which confounds me, cause no one except for people doing these polls asking those kinds of questions.
They are NOT surveying cam performers & what we think of them..
The U.S. requires by 2257 that we are all over 18 paperwork & copies of our IDs proving this that must be held in an office for Gov. Agents to check during business hours. Comparing cam companies to what goes on in the Phlippenes is BULLSHIT... These are not illegal corrupt exploiting children as a legitimate biz.
Anyone of legal age, no matter what sex, sexuality, looks, body type can sign up pretty much most of them & try to make money. There is no being to old, to fat, not pretty enough, it is an equal opportunity job.
Majority of the companies do NOT require you to work a set amount of hours. How much you work or work at all is up to you.
No company forces you to fuck, suck, masturbate, do anal, stand on your head, do back flips or even get naked. It is all your choice or you can do nothing, but chat with customers if you chose to do so.
There are NO quotas. You will not be fired for not making enough money. Your hours will not be cute back if you didn't make enough sales that day, week or month. Your hours will not be cut back cause you didn't blow the boss. Now break the rules, yes, you can be suspended or fired. The rules are clear & available for review at anytime.
If you don't like what one company pays out percentage wise there are others that might pay out more percentage wise but HAVE NO TRAFFIC.
Now, most don't know or do this but ALL contracts are negotiable. Become a top girl with lots of sales & trust, they will renegotiate. I know, I've done it. Sometimes before I even signed onto that site. Now, I happen to think SM, MFC & CB contracts are fair & had no issue with them.
For someone to be a victim or exploited there has to be no choice or threat of harm or coercion.
This site & many of the wonderful, brilliant ladies on this site has made cam companies see performer as biz partners. No longer do they think of us as disposable and post derogatory statements on sites like GFY as they did for decades. Cause they know we will call them out on this site.
Good sites and the top sites let the performer ban anyone for any reason with no explanation needed.
Every cam site is pretty much scared to post on here. They are terrified we will chew them up & spit them out. The ladies here call them out on their bullshit & we don't let them get away with it anymore. We have empowered ourselves & don't need universities & studies to change how the world sees & treats us. We got it covered.
Who the fuck work for Live Jasmin anymore!! The Juggernauts in this biz is MFC, SM, CB currently. Then what I'd call second tier Cam4, Lovecams, Adultwork. The old guard Imlive, Flirt4free, Friends iCams.com and the most then LJ which some are still trying to run it like the old days but have majorly lost their placement in the camming world or lost their top performers to the top 3.
http://Samantha38g.cammodels.com if you want to catch me on cam. Lots of performers enjoy my free chat & telling men "NO".
I don't wait for studies, sociologist, magazine articles, tv news programs to change how the world sees me. Cause never had a problem doing that all on my own. Example: porn in general, BBW porn & bbws older females being top girl on cam sites too. Ya'll are way behind.
rstuart2
10-25-2016, 11:24 PM
The study is flawed from the start. You have stigmatized it with words like VICTIM & sex work. Sex work is in general illegal, camming isn't.
If you have read past post you will see that I & many others have fought & worked with some cam companies to see us as equals as partners. Correct Live Jazmin does NOT, but they are losing lots of top performers to companies like Streamate. There are so many cam companies now the competition for performers has given us better contracts than 17 years ago, than 10 years ago. Some pay out 50% & NO CHARGE BACKs. That alone says we are equal partners in this endeavor. With SM if you bring in your own traffic you can make 75% off of that person & 20% of what they spend on other performers
If you have read this site & many past threads you would also know there are lots of performers here who are independent cam performers.
So I do CALL Bullshit on this steady cause you are slanting it as though we are all still victims being taken advantage of by the men in this industry. Any of us can go to Elevatedx.com and start our own site, have camming on it build a network, with that CMS platform. Of course it is work & tolling away long hours, but the opportunities for us are improving constantly. Where is the victim it that?
Sex work is a term I don't agree with at all. I work in adult but sex is currently 5% or less of my job EVEN when on Cam. Ten years ago a porn star fucked & got paid for shoots & could earn a great living that way. NOW, it is a different story.
Entrepreneurs best describes performers these days. If you read all the helpful post on this site it is a wealth of information of how to be a success in many different ways. But you wont find how to stick more dicks in each hole in order to make money. NOOO! Marketing, branding, lighting, equipment, how to fix a tech issue, photography, videography, social media marketing, how to hustle, how to do sales, how to open a VOD store, what are all the options to make money.
Pretty much 90% of the advice & venues to make money on this site are ALL LEGAL!!! Which means your study for criminal activity is an insult as if we are all breaking the law.
I do feel stigmatized by people like you doing these studies. Since you have done this kind of work, then you should be ashamed in using that kind of bias in your studies premise. CAuse you are NOW apart of the problem.
What I said and the purpose of this study is to investigate how women experience a type of sex work that has managed to not be labeled with the victim stigma that is attached to other types of sex work such as porn or prostitution. In no way have i slanted it to suggest in any shape or form that women involved in webcamming are victims , far from it, I would say that webcam gives women the opportunity to improve life chances and they seize that opportunity.
All universities insist on you submitting to an ethics committee if you wish to interview people that they consider could be vulnerable, I too have issues with this as I don't consider women who cam to be anymore vulnerable than any other sector of the service industry but no ethics means no study and i think its an important topic.
You are ill informed if you assume that criminology is only concerned about criminal activity. I am interested in the way that the law victimises women who work in other forms of sex work and comparing that with the way that women involved in a form of sex work use it to improve their financial situation. I don't think anyone would disagree that women are generally disadvantaged when it comes to equal pay and that is global. Even Iceland which is generally considered to be the most equalitarian of societies sees women in general earning 14% less than men. Camming gives opportunity to equalise this type of discrimination. So I am far from ashamed for giving women performers the opportunity to demonstrate just how entrepreneurial they are.
Having interviewed the former CEO of LiveJasmin and who is now employed as consultant at SM the only countries they don't stream into are ones where they aren't allowed to. They don't take a moral stance they stream where they can regardless of the legal standing of camming in that country, the Philippines is a prime example of this. Camming is illegal but there are many performers across all cam sites streaming from there.
Not sure why you think that only some countries experience child sexual exploitation , unfortunately it exists in every nation and definitely in every nation where webcamming occurs. Including the Vatican where people also log on.
I agree that there are some very well paid cam performers but having interviewed accountants that specialise in cam girls, most full time cammers can expect to earn around a thousand a week (That's an 8 hour day, 5 days a week), but there are huge fluctuations depending on the hours you work.
Unfortunately radical feminism is a very powerful political lobby and have had a significant influence on the increased legislation world wide especially in the USA. As an academic who is critical of the way they use sex workers to further their political gains i get ag from them and I have interviewed cammers that have been attacked online by them. Just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't meant it doesn't happen.
What i see most from my research is that the most negative experiences that women have are around the use of their image either by hackers or by cam sites promoting on affiliates. My initial feelings about the amount that cam companies charge are being altered by the findings that the merchant companies charge the hosting sites far more to process the credit card payments than they do other businesses . Typically 15% compared to 2-3%. But as ever resourceful performers are finding ways round this Skypeprivate being an example of this.
That's my academic opinion .
My personal opinion is this. You called me out on my supposed bullshit now I am calling you out on yours.
Dont assume that I have changed allegiances just because I am using my experiences of sex work to inform my studies. Yes I used the term sex work, people get naked, people orgasm , that's sex work, deal with it. I used webcamming to feed my children and take my extremely wealthy ex husband to court in order to force him to pay maintenance. I then used webcamming to fund my first degree. A degree in criminology and cultural studies for which i received a first class honours and which i used to explore how the law disadvantages women. I webcammed because I am a survivor, a fighter and a hard worker. I work on the assumption that this is the case for the majority of women who cam. The more interviews I conduct the more impressed I am with the women I talk to and I was already a fan. I would like to conduct an academic study that is rigorously researched so there is an opportunity to put our experience out there . If we don't tell our story it will get told for us and I am just not down with that
Thanks for the time you took to post. I do appreciate your input.
Namaste
Rachel
rstuart2
11-30-2016, 05:41 PM
Hi, just thought i would let everyone who has let me interview them see what I have been up to.
http://www.xbiz.com/articles/214866
justanothercamgirl
11-30-2016, 06:21 PM
Hi, just thought i would let everyone who has let me interview them see what I have been up to.
http://www.xbiz.com/articles/214866
Although I didn't do an interview with you, I do appreciate your checking in. :)
rstuart2
12-01-2016, 10:09 AM
It was the least i can do, i have interviewed 25 women now and its blown me away how generous people have been, least i can do is keep them the loop and say thank you x
SkoomaQueen
12-01-2016, 01:48 PM
I just did an interview with Rachel and it was a very positive experience. It didn't hurt to have a fun chat about work for an hour and get compensated for it. She is open minded, fun to talk to, friendly and certainly doesn't see us as victims. I look forward to reading her work.
rstuart2
12-07-2016, 10:04 AM
To the ladies i interviewed over the weekend, the uni has despatched your Amazon vouchers. Thank you all so much. I have interviewed 35 women now and have been overwhelmed by the response and warmth of the women involved. I am going to interview for one more week, so if you would like to share your experience of camming I would love to hear from you.In case you missed it this is the article of mine that Xbiz published last week.
http://www.xbiz.com/articles/214866
drearea
12-10-2016, 02:58 PM
Just interviewed with Rachel! It was really nice, almost like a really productive therapy session but I'm sure that's mainly because I dug deeper than she was asking for on some questions lol
QueerCrip
12-13-2016, 01:07 AM
[QUOTE=rstuart2;2928308]
1. How and why did you start webcamming? Why does anyone get a job? To make money. MOST redundant & idiotic question ever
I actually don't think this is a bad first question to start off with. Yes, everyone does it to make money like every other job, but I take it to mean why webcamming specifically. I personally do webcamming because I have disabilities and it is more accessible to me than other forms of work. This fact is never to be used as evidence that cam models are helpless victims as you say, which I actually don't think the OP is saying. I am happy I ended up doing this work and the interviewing of health and cam work is an important and proud part of my identity.
It
Secondly, this kind of basic opening question is a common interview tactic. It can often help the interviewee get more comfortable and establish a basic understanding or relationship between the interviewer and interviewee that can be referred back to or dug deeper into later on.
[QUOTE=rstuart2;2928308]
10. What do you enjoy least about webcamming? Nothing, figured out how to turn a negative into a positive & to my advantage years ago. *That is what successful people do, they don't keep complaining, the solve problems.*
11. Have you felt stigmatised because you webcam? No... people treat a person how you let them
I know these kinds of sayings are supposed to be inspirational, but I feel like realistically it is sometimes not possible for everyone to get out of bad situations, no matter their effort. I think these kind of quotes does a great diservice to and blames people for their problems, being abused, etc. I personally don't believe in meritocracy or "victim"-blaming.
Selenasecret
12-13-2016, 03:19 AM
I kinda enjoyed my time on this. It was nice to actually be able to talk about my experiences over the last 10 months
miss cleo
12-13-2016, 10:59 AM
Well, I don't really know why camming has to be anything at all other than a way to make money for doing some kind of performance usually of a sexual nature only in virtual context. It is what it is. I don't need to prove anything to anyone, certainly not radical feminists.
I wish someone who is looking towards a career in statistics would venture into getting the real numbers. Now that's a thesis I would read. As for this one, it's already been beaten beyond the mummification phase in my opinion.
Agree completley! In just trying to earn a living in this shitty post recession economy, nothing more.
rstuart2
12-14-2016, 02:55 AM
Doesnt it strike you as odd, that country as historically anti all types of sex work as the USA has not legislated against camming? Dont get me wrong, I am glad that webcamming isnt subject to regulation - long may it continue!!!!! But it seem disingenuous to me that there should be an abolitionist approach to sex work except when the banking system is making huge gains out of it. The webcam hosting companies are charged between 7 and 15% of each transaction by the credit card companies. Thats a massive profit. Thats why I am interested in this fascinating topic
sexysusie
12-14-2016, 03:16 AM
Unfortunately your 'interest' is exactly what they'll be turning to when looking at why and how to legislate us.
rstuart2
12-14-2016, 03:30 AM
Not going to happen , if it was it would be happening already. The digital economy bill is a perfect opportunity to do that but its myopically focussing on video streaming. I have spoken to and interviewed a couple of industry insiders including the ceo's of streamate and cams. com . They are predicting profits of between 2 and 3 billion dollars this year and 10 billion by 2020. Where is the drive for regulation? The women working by and large pay tax on their earnings, there are no highly visible "victims" in the same as has been attributed to say pornograpghy or prostitution and it is a massive money maker for the banks. The political advantages of legislating against camming are I believe out weighed by the corporate interests invested in webcamming. If they do turn to my interest they will find qualitative and rigorous data that shows that camming is a career option for women, many of whom have the type of social capital that means that other career paths are open to them but they are choosing to cam out of preference,. In large because it offers the considerable benefits of self employment without the type of substantial monetary investment that so often makes self employment prohibitive to women
DancesWithSloths
12-14-2016, 03:39 AM
They are predicting profits of between 2 and 3 billion dollars this year and 10 billion by 2020.
Are they talking about their own sites here, or guesstimating for the industry overall?
rstuart2
12-14-2016, 04:12 AM
The industry overall. Can you imagine streamate making 10 billion profit? Exxon made just over 16 billion this year. Does give you an idea of what a lot of money is involved .
BlueBunny
12-15-2016, 10:26 AM
I had a lovely chat with Rachel today, and it was a positive experience (professional and comfortable), just like everyone has expressed here so far. I personally feel like I was all over the place with my answers, but I hope my experience still contributes to the purpose of her interesting project.
What kind of legislation could we be afraid of in this field? Maybe something shitty like a sex work tax? I could see something like that putting a damper on all kinds of legal sex work, but with cam sites already paying us such a small percentage of the pie, I think there would be strong lobby against something like that; additional tax on providers could mean a decreased pool of available models and decreased profits for cam sites. Money is stronger than "morality" at the end of the day.
If you want to share your own camming experience with Rachel, I certainly recommend doing the interview while she's still gathering data. Best of luck with your thesis Rachel, and I look forward to seeing the end product!
rstuart2
12-19-2016, 03:12 PM
This got published today. Its a news/interest article and not really what I consider academic. Wondered what you thought? Was only allowed a 1000 words so difficult to go in depth
https://theconversation.com/webcamm...on-that-no-one-is-willing-to-talk-about-69834
justanothercamgirl
12-23-2016, 02:12 PM
It would appear that the UK Independent picked up the article and ended up outing a camgirl that had nothing to do with the original article by stealing an image of her off of Google as click-bait for Facebook all while using the headline 'Is enough being done to protect them?'
This is not a good outcome to say the least.
justanothercamgirl
12-23-2016, 02:21 PM
I was just about to come post about that. It's all over my Twitter feed. :-\
I can't express how much my heart hurts about this. The title of this thread is 'Academic Research' so I can't help but wonder why the story ended up being written up into an article form in the first place.
By the way this was all presented on the first post in this thread I assumed the information was being gathered for her thesis.
sexysusie
12-24-2016, 03:50 AM
This is what happens. Stop contributing to it!
Sally Says
12-24-2016, 02:25 PM
we need to link people to this thread in future, this has messed up a girls life, for 'academic' research. Utter tripe, is this really what is classed as academic now?
rstuart2
12-25-2016, 03:48 AM
I am sorry it has taken a while to post this, but I am working over the Christmas period. Let me say this, the purpose of the interviews was and is to feed my PhD thesis and future academic journal publications
The idea of The Conversation article was sort of an academic staking out of territory. The Conversation only allows you to publish an article if you are an academic studying at a university. I wanted to let the other academics that are starting to write about camming know that a rigorously researched thesis was on its way. I don’t know if you know this but an American academic has just written an article based on her observations of what is being said by women in public webcam forums. The title of the work is I get paid to orgasm and I felt that it was belittling of the serious work ethic that a lot of the women I have interviewed have. I cannot emphasise enough that my thesis when published will be a serious work that explores themes of precarity, entrepreneurialism and the repossessing of a form of sex work by the women who are engaged in it. My intention by letting the academic world know that my work is based on qualitative interviews was to stop further works based on the ethnographic observations of forums such as this one. My own work will be based on the anonymised content of the interviews that I have conducted for which I have gained the informed consent of the women interviewed. I think it morally ambiguous to use observations of public forums to inform academic studies.
I was horrified when the article, which I don't consider to be academic was picked up by The Independent.A newspaper I would never write for yet alone buy based on the fact it is owned and run by the Lebedev family who make Rupert Murdoch look like a boy scout. I was even more gutted when I discovered that they had used a random image of a woman and have caused such devastation to her life. The intention was and still is to publish a thesis that shows how a form of sexual labour develops when we don’t have that old crap about victimisation, so when the Independent used it in and in such a salacious way I literally cried. That they have victimised a woman in such a way is horrifying to me.
I cannot describe how upset I am over what has happened. I owe a massive debt of gratitude to the women I have interviewed. Their insights will be used to inform a 100,000-word doctoral thesis which I hope will be met with the approval of the webcam community as a whole as it will illustrate the lived experiences of the women involved.
sexysusie
12-25-2016, 11:08 AM
The kicker is that poor girl wasn't even one that you interviewed. She had no idea what any of this was about. They stole her picture because it was two girls together.. pure titillation factor. The fact that it only stayed up two hours doesn't make up for however many people might have seen it before that.
rstuart2
12-25-2016, 11:11 AM
The kicker is that poor girl wasn't even one that you interviewed. She had no idea what any of this was about. They stole her picture because it was two girls together.. pure titillation factor. The fact that it only stayed up two hours doesn't make up for however many people might have seen it before that.
I know, I cant verbalise how distressed I am that this has happened.
Selenasecret
12-25-2016, 11:20 AM
Given the state of the UK right now I worry about the just a laptop and fast Internet connection will do. I already seen an instance on here where a girl paid £220 for a laptop that wouldnt run minesweeper let alone a camsite encoder.
We dont use normal run of the mill tech. we use above gamer tech. Twitchers dont use as high spec as us so feel the tech side was down played into thinking some one could outlay £1000 and have a few girls working for them.
The expectation is set to high for just a laptop
winnipeg
12-25-2016, 12:09 PM
how did they even get the girls picture? :/
Selenasecret
12-25-2016, 12:11 PM
Prob a stock image search. The independent prob didnt realise
The BBC a few years back asked the UNFC to help people in a war torn country and they used an image from halo the computer game.
justanothercamgirl
12-25-2016, 02:31 PM
This whole situation has been rather eye-opening for me. I've been thinking a lot about it over these last few days.
To me, the main question that needs to be asked is this:
Is it really worth it for camgirls to contribute to academic research/articles no matter how well-intentioned the original work is at the risk of that work then being taken, exploited and twisted with whatever agenda another website wants to do with it when it is reprinted....including using it as click-bait. Whether we like it or not camming, like all other sex work is a titillating topic. I don't really see an end of the public fascination with it any time in the near future.
This question is one that only each of us can answer for ourselves. In no way is it something that is going to end up being 'one-size-fits-all'. That being said I already know what the answer is now for me.
Just to clarify, I do not lay any of the blame of what happened with the Independant at rstuart2 feet. It isn't her fault that her academic work was used in the way it was. I am only pointing out that because we work in the adult industry there can be real life consequences for participating to these academic calls for research and it is something that we should all take a moment to think about.
Selenasecret
12-26-2016, 02:23 AM
The independent are scrambling to make sure they cant get sued. she should ask them for the direct link in Google images to the picture.