View/Open - Scholarworks @ CSU San Marcos

More than Sex: Finding Friendships in Cybersexual
Webcamming Communities
Rachael McGlaston
California State University, San Marcos
Thesis Proposal Defense
Thesis Committee:
Dr. Mary Robertson, Chair
Dr. Sharon Elise, Second Member
Dr. Garry Rolison, Third Member
Table of Contents
More than Sex: Finding Friendships in Cybersexual Webcamming Communities
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1
3
INTRODUCTION
4
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
5
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
8
An Overview of the Sociology of Sexualities
9
Sex Work
11
Sex and the Internet
14
Emotional Labor and Bounded Authenticity
18
THEORY
21
Symbolic Interaction
21
Bounded Authenticity
23
METHODS
25
Setting
26
Data Collection
28
Analysis
30
Limitations
30
RESULTS
31
Community Building: Bromances and Beyond
34
Shared Intimacy with the Model
39
Gameification
45
Let’s Eat!
4948
Bounded Authenticity
5251
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
5756
REFERENCES
6564
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Committee:
Dr. Robertson, there are not enough ways to thank you for the work that you have put
into this thesis and with me these past few months. You have taught me so much over the
course of this project and there is no way it would be what it is without you. I’m glad you
took a chance on being my chair; no one else could have filled the seat like you did.
Thank you, captain!
Dr. Elise, thank you for teaching me what it means to be a proud, Black scholar and for
always shining a light on things left unconsidered. My work is always so much stronger
after a conversation with you.
Dr. Rolison, thank you for being the wizard that you are and for always making me look
at things differently. I’m so grateful to have worked with you over the last two years and
for everything you’ve taught me.
Family:
Mom, I would have none of this if it weren’t for you. Thank you for teaching me to go
get what I want and not stop until I do. I love you with all my heart!
Omi, thank you for always being my conversation buddy on my long drives to and from
CSU San Marcos. Thank you even more for being a reason for me to keep pushing
forward to get this done and make you proud. I love you!
Jason, thank you for being the most supportive, helpful, and patient partner throughout
this process. I love you lil baby.
3
INTRODUCTION
She felt the eyes of more than a thousand people watching her, but couldn’t see a single
face. As she closed her eyes, she ran her hands gently along the curves of her waist, and
she could picture her boyfriend’s face staring back at her. Listening to the slow, sensual
sounds of Marvin Gaye in the background, her hand traced her thigh as she began to
slowly move her head in a circular motion, allowing her long, dark hair to cover her
face. Flipping her head back, her hair whipped her shoulders and her big brown eyes
snapped open. She stared straight ahead into the webcam and lined her lips with the tip
of her tongue before biting her lower lip. She softly sang along with the music, and let out
a chime-like giggle as she ran her fingertips underneath the right shoulder strap of her
bra. She bit her lip again and then shook her head with a coy, closed-lip smile before
saying “Only 5330 to go.” Suddenly, a sound similar to a slot machine cashing out goes
off. She lets out a squeal of delight and clasps her hands in front of her mouth. It was him
again. “Geez, why does he keep doing this? How much money does this guy have?” she
thought before exclaiming, “DOOK! I can’t believe you! Whyyyy?”
The chat room explodes with applause emotes and nuclear bomb emojis.
Bright red font appears on her computer screen:
Dookstah:“You know how much I love you Jess. Consider it my apology for not being
here last night. Feel like going c2c before I have to go to bed?”
She laughs and says, “You know my rules, mister. But thanks to you, everyone gets to
enjoy a sexy little show before bedtime. What song do you want to hear?”
During my first year as a graduate student, I was struggling to decide what I
wanted to do my thesis research on. Initially, I had begun researching biracial identity
development and the hypersexualization of multiracial women, which led me to find
research that had been done about the Internet’s impact on identity development. My
curiosity was piqued and I decided to look more into the Internet and its effect on sexual
socialization. Over the course of a few weeks, I found the online world of webcamming
and immediately knew I had stumbled into something really interesting and exciting.
Upon further exploration, I found that there was a major lack in academic research on
these cam sites, even though the sites were some of the most frequented in the entire
4
Internet. This revelation both confused me and excited me: I wondered, how was it that
there was an entire social realm occurring online that had yet to be analyzed by some
researcher or another? I knew after a few weeks of lurking on the site that it would
become the location of my research and I would find the answer to my newfound
questions about the online world.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The Internet has created a new platform for people to establish connections with
one another. Over the past 15 years, the number of people who use the Internet has more
than quadrupled – in the year 2000, 738 million people had used the Internet, and by
2015 over 3 billion users accessed cyberspace (Davidson 2015).
People use the Internet for a number of reasons, but the desire and demand for
increased interpersonal connections is a strong contributing factor to the Internet’s
popularity. The tremendous successes of social networking sites such as Facebook and
Twitter are proof that people use the web to establish and maintain relationships outside
of face-to-face contact. In addition to interpersonal relationships, the Internet has been
wildly successful in creating a space for sexual exploration and commerce. Kibby and
Costello (2001) noted that the consumption of sexual representations is a significant
leisure activity that supports a multi-billion dollar industry. The Internet creates an
additional space outside of print and recorded media (e.g. books, magazines, DVDs, etc.)
for sexual entertainment consumption, and also allows for largely increased accessibility
and anonymity that in-person purchasing does not.
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As a new space to experience sexuality, the Internet is transforming sexual
culture, including through language (e.g. surfing, lurking, cybersex) (Ross 2004). In a
space that could allow for traditional cultural and sexual scripts to be abandoned, it is
surprising that much research indicates that pre-existing, self-replicating scripts often
shape online identities. Furthermore, people often adhere closely to the facts of their
actual lives and personalities when creating online identities and personas instead of
utilizing the anonymity of the Internet to try out new roles (Lynch 2010; Kendall
2000;Turkle 1995; Valkrie 2010). While some research has been done on those who use
the Internet as a sexual exploratory space, none has been done that combines that idea
with online sexual commerce.
There has been some research conducted on sexual commerce and consumer
preferences, but most of that research on commercial sex focuses on the experiences of
the sex worker or the platform being utilized (i.e. prostitutes and in-person sex commerce
vs. online pornography). The research that explores online and interactive sex
entertainment is sparse. There are studies that focus on interactive gaming platforms that
are also being utilized for sex entertainment, such as Lynch’s research on sex work in
Second Life (2010), but studies such as this explore how people use avatars in place of
physical bodies to interact sexually. Other studies have explored the use of videoconferencing software as a means of cybersex (Kibby & Costello 2001), but these studies
neglect to examine how the exchange of money impacts interactive cybersex.
MyFreeCams is an Internet relay chat (IRC) website that allows users of the site,
also called “members”, to interact via textual dialogue with a live, on camera model,
sometimes referred to as a camgirl. MyFreeCams is one of many cybersexual
6
webcamming sites that have live webcam models doing interactive sex shows for online
audiences in exchange for money. Cybersexual webcamming sites are some of the most
popular sites on the Internet. According to Compete.com, a web traffic analysis service,
some of these cam sites are regularly in the top 100 most frequently visited sites on the
Internet; one of which has 28 million unique visitors per month.
According to MFC’s “About Us” page, many models, all of which are
independent contractors on the site, earn over $10,000 per month by camming
(wiki.myfreecams.com, 2016). MyFreeCams’ Wiki page claims that models who are in
the Top 10 most popular (which is based on the site’s ranking system called “Miss
MyFreeCams”) earn over $50,000 per month. A lot of the models on the site have large
followings of ‘regulars’, and while they are camming live their rooms often have between
500 and 4,000 live viewers made up of premium and basic members and guests.
Members typically find and stick with one or two models and become very loyal to them,
which is how a model builds her clientele.
MFC has won a number of awards, including Best Live Chat Website four years
in a row, from adult sex industry giants such as AVN (Adult Video News), and XBIZ (an
American publisher of business news and business information for the sex industry)
(wiki.myfreecams.com, 2016). While MFC is primarily accessed for it’s wide variety of
live sexual content from a variety of women, there is a niche on the website for users that
prefer non-explicit content and interaction. Though there is only a small amount of nonnude and/or non-explicit models on MFC, there is almost always at least one in the Top
10 category. This means that, based on the site’s Wiki page which claims that top models
earn at least $50,000 per month, there is at least one model that earns this much or more
7
per month without getting fully naked or performing sex acts on this live, interactive,
pornographic website.
Sex work has extensively been researched from the perspective of the worker and
as such is lacking the perspective of the consumer. There has been some research done
that examines the desire for ‘authentic’ human connection in the midst of commerce (i.e.
Hochschild 1983, Bernstein 2007, and Monto, 2000 & 2001), but none of this research
has examined the additional layer of complexity that is introduced by the Internet. This
research seeks to understand how individuals’ decisions are shaped while using adultcontent interactive online communities. More specifically, I asked, how do anonymous
users of commercial, cybersexual webcam communities negotiate power and establish
relationships in virtual spaces?
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Scholarly literature that seeks to understand the relationship between sex,
sexuality, online cybersexual communities, sex work, and the Internet, is inundated with
findings from psychologically framed research. These studies are replete with findings
that pathologize Internet users and create a culture of blame for those who use the
Internet as a means of relationship building, social training, and for sexual pleasure. The
majority of the sociological literature that is available discusses sex, sexuality, online
cybersexual communities, sex work, and the Internet as separate entities. Sex and
sexuality are typically discussed using the same frameworks across multiple studies.
Research that studies sex and sexuality often focuses on social constructions and
historical links to deviance. Research that examines online cybersexual communities
8
primarily focuses on the gender differences within them and is often viewed through the
lens of pornographic content. Sex work is overwhelmingly studied via prostitution, and
almost exclusively through the viewpoint of the sex worker. And, finally, the Internet,
sociologically, has been researched in terms of technological communities and the ways
in which humans have navigated cyberspace to establish connections with others. My
research contributes to the current body of knowledge by answering how the intersection
of all of these concepts determine how users negotiate power and establish relationships
in these virtual cybersexual spaces.
An Overview of the Sociology of Sexualities
According to Gamson and Moon (2004), the sociology of sexualities was
traditionally the field of scholars who were interested in “deviance” of one sort or
another. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that the sociology of sexualities became
more interested in sexuality as a basis of community and political life (Gamson & Moon
2004). Once researchers began to examine sexuality as a foundation of communities,
instead of strictly a mode of deviance, varying theories began to arise in order to further
explain how an individual’s sexuality comes to be. Much of the current literature
regarding sexuality uses queer theory and feminist theory as a framework, while the
research that examines sex work uses deviance theory, the oppression paradigm, and
empowerment paradigm frameworks (Bernstein 2001; Rubin 1984; Sanders 2006; Stein
& Plummer 1994; Weitzer 2009).
One way that social norms regarding sexual behavior are maintained and
expressed is through sexual scripts (Simon & Gagnon, 1984, 1987). Sexual scripts are the
“stereotyped interactional patterns that are expected in social situations” (Hynie et al,
9
1998). Simon and Gagnon (1984, 1986, 1987) distinguish three levels of sexual scripts:
Cultural scenarios, which are the general guides to sexual behavior that exist at the level
of the society, culture or subculture; interpersonal scripts which are individuals'
interpretations of these cultural scenarios; and intrapsychic scripts, which are the
internalization of the socially shared scripts and scenarios.
Sexuality has largely been conceptualized as a socially constructed terrain of
power and a nexus of relationships between genders (Rubin 1984; Nagel 2003; Stein &
Plummer 1994). Within their Queer Theory analysis, Stein and Plummer (1994) argued
that, “Through symbolic interactionism, the notions of meanings, process, [and] invented
identities,” becomes central to the formation of ones sexuality (p. 184). Nagel (2003)
strengthened this idea when she concluded that the assumed connection between sexual
identity and behavior is not, nor has ever been, a cultural universal. Individuals form their
sexual identity via symbolic interaction, navigating culturally accepted sexual scripts.
Lynch (2010) explained sexual scripts operate at the cultural level to inform society of
the “norms and values attached to notions such as ‘intimacy,’ ‘romance,’ and ‘sex,’ as
well as how such ideas become socially defined and are performed” (p. 401).
Furthermore, Sanders (2006) argued that at the individual level, scripts are a “set of
shared conventions based on mutual dependency [that] set out the boundaries and roles
that determine control, power, initiation, pleasure and so forth” (p. 41).
Within society, certain sexualities and sexual performances are considered more
respectable than others. Rubin (1984) argued that sexuality is political and is “organized
into systems of power, which reward and encourage some individuals and activities,
while punishing and suppressing others” (p. 126). Typically, when this occurs, the
10
dominant group within the culture creates sexual stereotypes that commonly depict “us”
as sexually vigorous (men from the hegemonic group) and pure (women from the
hegemonic group), while “them” as sexually depraved (men from the subordinate group)
and promiscuous (women from the subordinate group) (Nagel 2003). This allows for the
organization of power and system of rewarding or punishing to thrive.
Sex Work
Sociologists have examined sex work as a form of deviant behavior, a type of
gender relations, and as a distinct occupational sector (Weitzer 2009). As previously
mentioned, research on sex work has mostly been theoretically framed around deviance
theory, the oppression paradigm, and/or the empowerment paradigm. Weitzer (2009)
explained that the deviance framework is based on the traditional stigmatization of sex
work and highlights the ways in which actors are subjected to social control and
discriminatory treatment. The oppression paradigm argues that sex work is a
quintessential expression of patriarchal gender relations because male managers and
consumers dominate female workers. The empowerment paradigm, in contrast to the
oppression paradigm, focuses on the ways in which sexual commerce “qualifies as work,
involves human agency, and may be potentially empowering for workers” (Weitzer
2009).
Most of the research related to sex work, regardless of the theoretical framework,
focuses on the provider instead of the consumer of commercial sex (Bernstein 2001;
Sanders 2006; Weitzer 2009). Usually this means that the studies emphasize the
experiences of the workers, which is typically a female prostitute. There is a significant
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amount of psychological research on the effects of consuming pornography, but there is
less sociological research on consumers of pornography. In-depth sociological work on
the adult film actors and telephone sex operators is lacking, but work related to strippers
is more widely available and has been thoroughly studied (Weitzer 2009). Bernstein
(2007) noted that many feminist scholars question what, beyond sex, is being purchased
in a commercialized sex transaction, which allows sex work to be researched much more
deeply than has historically been done. This emphasis and movement towards a different
focus adheres to the fact that sociological work, until now, has been geared towards the
provider. While psychological research has tried to understand the effect of commercial
sex consumption on the mind of the purchaser, sociologists must seek to understand why
the consumer purchases sex, how much value they attach to the purchase, and what—
other than sex—they expect in return. There is an imperative need to better understand
the motivations of consumers from a sociological standpoint.
The increase in the depth of sociological research on sex work correlates with the
increase of its consumption. In her ethnographic research on prostitutes, Bernstein (2001)
noted that the scope of sexual commerce has grown to include: “live sex shows,
pornographic text, videos, and images (in print and online), fetish clubs, sex emporiums,
telephone and cyber sex, drive thru venues, and organized sex tours” (p. 395). Because of
the increase in what is available as commercialized sexual content, she further argued that
efforts to problematize and regulate heterosexual male desire have occurred in the face of
this increasingly unrestrained ethic of sexual consumption (Bernstein 2001). This idea
contrasts that of sex workers being routinely studied under deviance theories, and shifts
the focus onto the male consumer. While it is important to research sexual commerce and
12
consumption from the standpoint of the consumer, it is problematic to use deviance
theories. Research that forces the pathological ideologies onto consumers inherits the
same risk that has been problematic for traditional sex work researchers. Literature that is
unable to look beyond social deviance theories will only further stigmatize consumers
instead of answering the questions that Bernstein and other researchers have proposed
(Bernstein 2001, Weitzer 2009).
One entity largely under debate is whether or not burlesque is a form of sex work.
Because burlesque is considered by many to be a historically situated instance of cultural
production, and specifically theatrical culture, its status as a performance art versus sex
work has been debated in academia. In their conversation about feminism, queer politics,
and the meanings of sexual performance, Gilmore and Wheeler (2012) spoke with one
academic who was also a burlesque performer who argued:
“I do not consider burlesque and drag to be sex work, and I resent that it is seen as such. There is a
huge difference in what we do in burlesque and what is done in the commercial stripping
establishments. Commercial stripping and all forms of prostitution are part of the service industry.
Burlesque is art. Art is not in the service industry. It is easy to lump any sort of visual form that
includes nudity or sexual content into the same category as pornography, and in my opinion this has
led to the marginalization of genres of performance as well an entire “class” of human beings. The way
that burlesque and performances that involve sexual content are treated in Europe compared to the
United States is completely different.”
To others, burlesque shows have been and still are performed sex acts. Early 20th century
authors of scholarly publications debated the makeup of burlesque performers, but agreed
that the dancers were all lower class, one step above prostitutes (Spies, 2004). With this
divide in academia on the status of burlesque shows, live online tease-based
performances are in a unique burlesque-esque realm of their own.
Academic research on sex work has been a regularly evolving field, with new
genres being added, removed, and debated as society changes. Just as the scope of sexual
13
research has grown, so has sexual commerce. This field has exploded over the past few
decades, and technological advances have had a major affect on this growth, it can be
argued that the Internet has had the greatest impact on the increase of sexual commerce.
Sex and the Internet
Adler and Adler (2008) described the Internet as, “A cyber world that occurs in a
new form of space both ‘out there’ and ‘in here’; it is simultaneously public and social,
while remaining private and solitary” (p. 33). Furthermore, the Internet is a postmodern
type of space that has been created by technology and populated by disembodied people
in a virtual universe, completely detached from the physical locations known as place
(Adler & Adler 2008). It is within these spaces that virtual communities form. Virtual
communities have been defined as social aggregations that emerge from the Internet
when enough people maintain public discussions long enough, with sufficient feelings, to
form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace (Adler & Adler 2008; Rheingold
1993). In such e-communities, users can typically distinguish site members from site
visitors. Members are usually represented to others by screen names and/or avatars. They
are often assigned greater site privileges such as access to special site features, ability to
customize profiles in greater detail, and, in some cases, the ability to private message
other site members. Members also tend to have greater responsibilities (such as being
responsible for site governance). Most sites require members to agree to follow a set of
discussion rules or guidelines and monitor others to ensure that they adhere to the same
guidelines. In effect, the technologies that filter information, connect potential
collaborators, and establish and enforce standards of community conduct, represent a de
facto system of community governance (Johnson & Scott, 2005; Shirky, 2003).
14
Because the Internet allows for complete anonymity, people with concealable
stigma identify more strongly with these Internet communities and consider them more
important to their identities. As these communities have been created, researchers have
referenced these deviant cyber subcultures as Goffmanian (1963) “‘back places,’ where
people of similar preferences [feel] no need to conceal their pathology and openly [seek]
out one another for support and advice” (p. 40) (Adler & Adler 2008; Deshotels &
Forsyth 2007; McKenna and Bargh 1998; Quinn & Forsyth 2005). The Internet has
provided users with an alternative platform for human connection in more ways than
communication and support (Lynch 2010). Web users are granted access to areas of
sexual exploration that are unreachable in face-to-face interactions. Users of online
sexual content are able to simultaneously participate as the producer and consumer of
said content, an unimaginable option in the “real” world (Kibby & Costello 2001).
Additionally, virtual sex allows individuals to circumvent unwanted labels and meanings
associated with real-world behavior (Lynch 2010). In other words, because of the
anonymity that the Internet provides, people are able to try on different sexualities and
scripts that are inaccessible to them in face-to-face interactions.
Most scholarly research related to sex and the Internet focuses on pornography
(Weitzer 2009). Because research on pornography is framed similarly to sex work, the
main theoretical focus of such research is the oppression of the female adult film actress
and the pathologization of the adult film consumer. Kibby and Costello (2001) argued
that there are two sides to the debate in terms of whether pornography should be labeled
as solely an act, or as purely an image. They described the anti-pornography movement
as seeing pornography as an act “inseparable from the brutality of male history”
15
(Dworkin 1979; Kibby & Costello). This position argues that pornography is an act of
objectification, which perpetuates the victimization of women and falls in line with
oppressive theoretical frameworks pertaining to sex work. The other side of the debate
argues that the real problem of pornography is women’s exclusion from the production
and consumption of sexual images. This position advocates that women reclaim their
right to a sexual image, particularly through the creation of alternative erotic
representations (Kibby & Costello 2001). It is important to note that most scholarly
literature focuses on either pornographic consumption by heterosexual men, or the
oppression and victimization of female actors, regardless of the fact that the Internet can
be and is used for a multitude of interactions with sexual content far beyond either of
those that are primarily studied. People use the Internet as a space to explore sexualities
that may vary from the ones they embody in face-to-face interactions or those that society
may consider deviant (i.e. exploring different fetishes, “trying out” different genders,
etc.).
The Internet has been established as a communication technology, and as such has
facilitated the cooperative production of sex entertainment (Kibby and Costello 2001).
Kibby and Costello argued that online sex entertainment “both reflects and influences
social attitudes and personal practices, and therefore, redefine[s] the parameters of sex
entertainment and potentially reshape[s] other aspects of lived experience” (p. 354). The
Internet and online sexual content has the potential to contribute to a revision of cultural
definitions of sexuality and the ways in which sexuality is experienced, but this is
dependent upon a number of factors. One of the main factors is that online erotic
experience is contingent on a belief in the ‘real person’ beyond the image; without the
16
possibility of a connection there is no actuality of sexual arousal (Kibby & Costello 2001;
Lynch 2009).
Another primary factor of online sexuality is authenticity. A study of interactive
sex entertainment on Internet Relay Chats (which are online applications that facilitate
textual chat, also known as “chat rooms” or IRCs) found that ‘authenticity’ was a
fundamental criterion in managing the online interaction (Kibby & Costello 2001; Slater
1998). Researchers have argued that a desire for personal involvement leads participants
in online sex to develop and pursue strategies for revealing a managed yet ‘authentic’
identity, and for authenticating the identity performances of others (Kibby & Costello
2001). With online sexual content and interactions, the perception of intimacy
particularizes said online sex entertainment as an act, but the inability to fix the identity
of the other in a touchable body marks the experience as an image (Kibby & Costello
2001).
While authenticity is an imperative characteristic for managing online
interactions, the Internet provides a space for individuals to “try on” different personas
and sexual scripts. Kibby and Costello (2001) observed that through the breakdown of the
distinction between producer and consumer, “Interactive sex entertainment has the
potential to enable individuals to write their own sexual identities, accommodating
diverse desires and a range of cultural meanings” (p. 360). The inclusion of nonhegemonic groups as producers and consumers of sex entertainment products is an aspect
of online sex entertainment that “could have an unparalleled appeal for [them] as they
could finally be able to customize their own erotica” (Wagner, 1994, p 3.). This
breakdown of such distinctions and sexual scripts allows individuals to write their own
17
sexual identities and gives access to sexual commerce to a new group of people.
The Internet is a distribution mechanism, and as such is used to circulate
traditional forms of pornography based on capitalist relations of production and
consumption (Lynch 2010). Commercialized online sex entertainment has transformed
into many things, largely due to its accessibility to the vast majority of people. It is now a
product made and sold worldwide in a multimillion-dollar industry; a set of culturally
coded representations of sex, sexuality and gender roles; and a particular form of sexual
and cultural practice. “Sex entertainment has become another consumer item to be
purchased, rather than created by the individual; a representation acquired, rather than an
activity undertaken” (Kibby & Costello 2001, p. #358). Because the commercialization of
sexual entertainment is highly dependent upon authenticity from those producing and
using it, it is imperative to discuss and understand this and how this authenticity impacts
other realms of society and sexuality.
Emotional Labor and Bounded Authenticity
Emotions and commerce have long been intertwined. In his 2010 study on sexual
scripts in virtual environments, Lynch argued that there is a link between emotions,
culture, and economy if we accept the idea that emotions are situated at "the threshold
where the non-cultural is encoded in culture, where body, cognition, and culture converge
and merge" (p. 40). He framed intimacy as a cultural practice, one that is simultaneously
informed by the cultural practice of capitalism. He also examined intimacy’s coexistence
with monetary transactions and discussed how economic activities have long been
embedded in creating and sustaining intimate connections with others (Lynch 2010;
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Zelizer 2005). It is necessary to examine what occurs when the idea of intimacy
combines with sexual commerce.
In her ethnography of flight attendants and bill collectors, Hochschild studied the
inclusion of human emotion and feelings within commercialized interactions. Her book,
The Managed Heart, breaks down the management of human emotions into two parts.
The first is the emotional system that is part of a person’s private life, which she defines
as emotion work or emotion management. The second is what she calls emotional labor,
which is the commodification of private emotions sold for a profit in a capitalistic
economy. In order to perform the proper emotions within a situation, Hochschild found
that individuals engage in conscious acts of evoking, shaping, or suppressing feelings
within themselves by changing their thoughts, physical conditions, and gestures through
“surface acting” and “deep acting.” This conscious shaping of feelings is not exclusive to
flight attendants and bill collectors; other researchers have used Hochschild’s theory of
emotional labor to highlight the idea in other commercialized sectors, including sex work.
One such example of emotional labor comes from Bernstein’s (2007) seven-yearlong ethnographic study of sex workers. She found that within this particular realm of
sexual commerce, sex workers embody a sense of authenticity to their customers in order
to make the experience more pleasurable for their johns, as well as to create a more
lucrative outcome for themselves. This effort at authenticity is known as the girlfriend
experience by commercial sex consumers and has been used by researchers as well. In
her research, Bernstein utilized this term regarding the bounded authenticity and
emotional labor that she witnessed by the sex workers. Lynch (2010) summarized the
concept of bounded authenticity by explaining it as “the involvement of monetary fees
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that make up the crucial element of negotiation of boundaries between prostitutes and
their clients in order to create the highly sought-after sexual commodity that is
characterized by an authentic, yet bounded, form of interpersonal connection called the
girlfriend experience” (p. 42).
In her ethnographic field research on three different sectors of the contemporary
sex industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Hoang (2010) utilized a combination of
Hochschild’s theory on emotional labor, and Bernstein’s theory on bounded authenticity,
to examine how women in the low-end commercial sex sector engaged different forms of
emotional labor compared to women in the mid-tier and high-end sectors. She found that
this was primarily because the wants and needs of the client differed in each tier. The
consumers from the mid and high-end sectors of Hoang’s study fell in line with the men
from Bernstein’s study on sex work; clients of higher-end sex workers seek more than a
quick sexual fix. In fact, they desire real and reciprocal erotic connections, but limited
ones (Bernstein 2001).
It is at the intersection of the aforementioned theories, concepts, and studies that I
find my own research question. While there is a wealth of sociological knowledge
regarding sexuality, sex work from the workers perspective, and a number of studies that
utilize the theories on emotional labor and bounded authenticity to understand
commercial sex, there is a lack of research on interactive online communities that are
centered on commercial sexual content. These online communities are unique because
while they embody similar face-to-face interactions that other commercial sex does, they
are mediated and maintained via technology like pornography. This allows the consumer
and provider to interact with one another in real-time and with present emotions, but
20
perpetually from a distance. How does the intersection of all of these concepts shape
individuals’ decisions while on interactive online communities centered on sexual
content? More specifically, how do the anonymous users of commercial, cybersexual
webcam communities establish relationships and negotiate power in virtual spaces?
THEORY
The commercialization of sex and emotions within the context of virtual spaces
requires a critical theoretical approach for study and analysis. I used the sociological
theory of symbolic interaction and Bernstein’s (2007) theory of bounded authenticity.
Both are critical to my proposed research because they allowed me to conceptualize and
explore the meanings that users of adult-content web cam sites make.
Symbolic Interaction
Symbolic interaction considers social interactions as the place where “society”
exists. The theory consists of three core principles: meaning, language and thought.
These core principles lead to conclusions about the creation of a person’s self and
socialization into a larger community (Griffin, 1997). Symbolic interactionists believe
that humans give subjective meanings to their behaviors, and that this is how they
interpret other behaviors, events, or significant occurrences (Andersen, Taylor, and Logio
2015). Cooley’s (1902) concept of the ‘looking-glass self’ explains our individual sense
of self is really our perception of society’s evaluation of us. Robinson (2007) explained
the ways in which the Cooley’s concept of the looking-glass self is based on a threefold
process. First, the self imagines how it appears to others. Second, the self then imagines
the other’s judgment. Third, and finally, the self develops an emotional response to that
judgment. Goffman (1959) expanded on the theory of symbolic interaction with his
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concept of dramaturgy. In his studies on dramaturgical interactions, Goffman found that
the self conducts its interactions strategically and performs in a calculated manner in
order to project an image that others will find credible. Interactions are framed through
these performances as the self attempts to express an identity that is consistent with the
expectations of the audience and the situation (Robinson 2007).
The construction of the virtual self has been studied since the Internet began
changing the ways in which people form identities online. Based on interviews with the
players of virtual, multi-user dimensions (MUD), Turkle (1995) finds that ‘cyberselfing’
offers a ‘fresh slate’ for MUD users to create new online identities. Moreover, Robinson
(2007) argues, cyberspace may provide the space to work through unacknowledged or
troubled parts of offline physical selves. Research studies such as these beg the questions:
What are users getting online that they can’t get in face-to-face interactions? If
interaction, as Cooley states, is how we make sense of ourselves as individuals, how does
virtual interaction differ from face-to-face? Furthermore, what impact does this have on
society on a larger scale? My research answers some of these questions that have been
left out of academic analysis so far.
Robinson (2007) asserts that while the norms of online interaction may be
different from their offline counterparts due to the interactive limitations of computer
mediated interactions, the ‘self-ing’ process remains the same. Because the cyberself is
the product of social interaction in which the self masters the ability to be both the subject
and object of interaction (Robinson 2007), it is important to understand how people
create these subjective and objective meanings online. As symbolic interactionists
believe, people react and respond based on what they believe to be true, not what is
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objectively true. Because of this, it can be argued that society, both virtual and face-toface, is completely constructed through human interpretations and meanings, which are
constantly modified depending on the situation. Online, a person can be whoever they say
they are and change their race, social class, gender, or any other social categorization as
they please. This would then have an impact on how they act as well how others perceive
and treat them.
Working from the perspective of symbolic interaction allows me to examine what
meanings users make of their interactions and relationships with other members and with
the webcam models. Additionally, I am able to establish how the use of the Internet as the
medium influenced these interactions. Finally, symbolic interaction enables me to better
understand what meaning members attach to the exchange of currency in certain parts of
their interactions. This is especially important in combination with the theory of bounded
authenticity because it allows me to explore how members interpret the authenticity of
their online relationships with other users and the models in combination with negotiating
power with the use of money
Bounded Authenticity
Bernstein’s theory of bounded authenticity examines sexual encounters as a
financial transaction (2007). Bounded authenticity may best be defined as monetary
payments as the primary factor of the negotiation of boundaries between sex workers and
their clients. Furthermore, bounded authenticity is dependent upon the assumption of
intimacy being commoditized between the sex worker and the client. According to
Bernstein, one of the newest types of highly desired sexual commodity is an authentic,
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yet bounded, form of interpersonal connection called “the girlfriend experience.” The
girlfriend experience is one in which the client and the sex worker attempt to create a
sense of personal, emotional intimacy in addition to sexual arousal. Bernstein highlighted
that in this way, the role of the sex worker is not just sex as work, but she may also be a
listener, therapist, or an intimate fantasy creator.
Bernstein's theory of bounded authenticity and concept of the girlfriend
experience can be applied to the sex industry of the virtual world, where virtual escorts,
strippers, and those who sell virtual role-playing services also engage in sexual
commerce that is often characterized by varying degrees of anonymity (Lynch 2010).
Lynch (2010) argued that, in this way, intimacy becomes a “fluid interconnection that is
no longer founded upon the conventional face-to-face, local interaction” (p. 42). As
Bernstein observes, technological advancements have created a sense of "global
intimacy" (p.42) in which boundaries have expanded beyond what has typically been
acceptable in "real life." Because of this, Lynch (2010) argued that we should consider
the Internet as a mediating technology that facilitates and maintains increasing numbers
of opportunities for intimate social and sexual relationships.
Applying the theoretical framework of bounded authenticity to the virtual
environment of MyFreeCams is useful in multiple ways. First, it allows me to explore
how the exchange of currency influenced online sexual encounters. Second, it allows me
to ascertain how culturally scripted notions of authenticity translated onto the Internet and
in the interactions between webcam models and their clients, as well as member-tomember. Finally, it allows me to examine the ways in which clients of non-nude and non-
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explicit webcam models navigated the virtual version of the girlfriend experience, since
the models are not typically providing explicit sexual content.
Individuals construct subjective meanings about their interactions with others,
including commercial sex interactions. This concept becomes particularly interesting with
the overlay of bounded authenticity, a theory that deems authentic
friendships/relationships as a key component of the commercial negotiation of boundaries
between sex workers and their clients. Using the theoretical frames of symbolic
interaction—how we make meaning of ourselves through our interactions with others,
and bounded authenticity—the negotiation of authentic relationships within commercial
sex transactions, I explore the world of cybersexual webcamming communities.
METHODS
In order to explore the occurrences within non-nude and non-explicit chat rooms
and to find out how users of online cybersexual websites negotiate power and establish
relationships, I employ the qualitative methodology of complete observation. The
complete observer role entirely removes the researcher from any form of participation so
that the purposes of the research are not revealed (Junker, 1960). Qualitative methods
allowed me to observe, engage with, and analyze findings based on my target population
in the most natural and comfortable environment possible to them. Because users were
already in an online space, the setting and procedures of my methodology fit in with their
everyday lifestyles and habits without much interference.
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Setting
MyFreeCams.com is a free, public, IRC website that is accessible to anyone over
the age of 18. Upon entering the site, individuals must agree that they are of age and
submit a brief consent agreement. Once an individual is on the site, they have access to
any model that is online and engaged in a live, public chat. The website provides live
streaming webcam videos of sexual performances by female-only models and allows
users to communicate primarily via text chat. MFC is an interactive community where
there are consumers, who are defined as either “members” or “guests,” and providers of
entertainment, who are referred to as “models.” Members are either premium, which
means that they have purchased virtual tokens at some point of their membership, or
basic, which means they have created a username and password but have never purchased
virtual tokens. This setting will allow me to examine the online relationships and
interactions between users and models and simultaneously collect data.
MyFreeCams (MFC) combines the two entities of live, interactive sex
entertainment and commerce. The site provides live streaming webcam videos of sexual
and non-sexual performances by female-only models and allows users to communicate
with the models and other users primarily via text chat. The website is an interactive
community where there are consumers, “members” or “guests,” and providers, models, of
sexual entertainment. Models are paid by members through virtual tokens purchased
through a membership service. Members are either “premium”, which means that they
have purchased tokens at some point of their membership, or “basic”, which means they
have created a username and password but have never purchased tokens. Anyone who
logs onto the site is given a guest username that is automatically generated by the
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website, and these users have no site privileges. The site claims to have over 100,000
active models, and upon a typical access there are usually around 5,000 models actively
online. In 2014, MFC was the 344th most visited website in the world (Conti, 2014),
attesting to how popular the site is.
A person can buy different amounts of tokens on the site, and typically the more a
person purchases, the less each token costs. Currently, the token package options are 200
Tokens for $19.99, 550 Tokens for $49.99, and 900 Tokens for $74.99
(myfreecams.com). Members who have had “premium” status for several months are able
to purchase larger quantities of tokens at one time. MFC pays models about .05 cents per
token, or approximately 50-60% per token of what the consumer spends on their token
package. Members use tokens for private shows, group shows, and spy shows with the
models, and also use tokens to “tip” models for various reasons. Usually, models receive
tips for performing sexual acts that range from strip-teasing and dirty talking, to various
types of masturbation with sex toys. Models also often have items and services for sale,
ranging from custom calendars or coffee mugs, the ability to contact the model offline via
mobile apps like Snapchat and Skype, custom sex videos, and their used underwear.
These items are usually paid for using the token system on MFC, but occasionally a
member will send money to a model in the form of a Visa gift card or purchase an item
from of her online wishlist to be sent to her directly.
The types of sexual entertainment on the site vary greatly. The majority of the
models on the site perform sexually explicit acts such as countdowns to different types of
masturbatory shows. Some use sex toys as part of their performances while others
perform shows in various locations such as in the shower or in a library. Models that are
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non-nude or non-explicit focus on performing more burlesque-like shows that focus on
the art of teasing and seduction. For example, a non-nude model might do a countdown to
a “topless tease show” where she slowly takes off her clothes and then uses a feather boa
and manipulates camera angles to keep her nipples from being completely exposed. Most
non-nude and non-explicit models utilize camera angles and props to avoid showing
certain parts of their bodies but some occasionally allow “accidental” slips to occur.
Many non-nude/non-explicit models also perform shows that are performance art based,
such as singing or playing an instrument, dancing, or erotic story telling. Often, during
these more performative acts, the models will wear something like a bra and skirt or a
matching lingerie set.
Data Collection
I utilize complete observation as my methodology in order to watch and record
field notes of the exchanges between members and models on MyFreeCams
My goal was to do observe the rooms of two different non-nude models over the
course of 2 months, or until data saturation. I am specifically interested in the clients that
frequent the rooms of non-nude/non-explicit models because they are visiting an adult
website, but not viewing adult content while in these particular chat rooms. Though there
is a filter on the website that allows users to search for particular “tags” that a model
gives herself (i.e. big breasts, shaved, funny, etc.), many self-proclaimed non-nude and/or
non-explicit models choose not to tag themselves as a non-nude or non-explicit. Instead,
through frequent, brief conversations and mentions, these models and their regular guests
let the others know that they do not get fully nude or do not do sexually explicit acts. I
singled out a few non-explicit, non-nude models based on exploratory research that I had
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conducted on the site, but upon embarking on my data collection, I found that I was
unable to get online at the same time as the two non-nude/non-explicit models. After this
discovery, I identified four additional models to observe who are non-explicit, but not
non-nude. I primarily observed the two non-nude/non-explicit models, but went to the
rooms of the other four models if one of my primary ones was not logged on.
Upon selecting and entering a room that is available, you are able to see the
textual dialogue between all of the users and the model. It is within this space that I
conducted my observations. During these observations I took detailed field notes that
recorded the conversations between users and the model as well as users and other users,
notes on what the model was doing and how users were reacting, and I recorded the
number of users in the room as members come and go. I observed and recorded the use of
emojis and GIFs. Emojis are small digital images or icons that are used to express an
idea, emotion, etc., in electronic communication whereas GIFs (Graphics Interchange
Format) are small images that are clips of a video, and typically aren’t longer than 5
seconds. Emojis and GIFs are extremely popular in electronic communication, and on
MFC members and models often use them in place of text. In addition to observing and
taking notes, I took screen shots when relevant of text conversations for additional
analysis. I then coded the data looking for patterns and significant sociological
phenomena based on these observations, field notes, and screen shots.
The privacy and confidentiality of the users I observed are protected to the degree
that their user names are aliases and not personally identifiable information. I have used
aliases for all of the users in any written or published version of the research. There are
no photos of users in the chat rooms; the only person that is physically visible is the
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model. The model’s identity is also semi-anonymous because models create aliases upon
creating a profile and are discouraged by the company and the culture of the website from
sharing their personal information such as age, location, name, and any other information
that could allow their true identities to be known by users.
Analysis
Upon completing my observations, I analyzed the data collected based on the
themes that surfaced during my coding process. Some of the important themes I
discovered include mention of family, work, hobbies, food, community building,
gameification, instances of apparent bounded authenticity, and shared intimacy. Since
many users frequented the same rooms day after day and public tips are visible to all, I
was be able to get a general idea of how much time regular members spend in a particular
room as well as an estimate of amounts they tip.
Limitations
Though my research enables me to reach a broad base of consumers and cam
models, the individuals that I observed are from just one of many cam sites. The results
that I obtained may be different on another cam site, particularly sites that allow for both
male and female cam models on cam. Furthermore, because I observed a particular niche
on the site, my data is limited to a small number of models and members. Finally,
because I had a limited time to compile and then analyze data I was unable to administer
surveys or interviews, which would have given deeper insight to the users of the site.
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RESULTS
During my observations on MFC, I spent over 40 hours in the rooms of 6 models,
two of which are completely non-nude/non-explicit (whom I will refer to as Punch and
Cookie); the four other models are non-explicit but not non-nude (whom I will refer to as
Kelly, K8, Joey, and Taylor). While I had originally planned on observing just the two
non-nude/non-explicit models, I found that I wasn’t able to get enough observational
hours to coincide with the times that they were online. I didn’t want to stray too far from
non-nude/non-explicit because I was trying to understand why people frequent the rooms
of non-nude/non-explicit models on adult-content site so I identified the other nonexplicit models for my observations. I observed a number of similarities amongst the
rooms aside from the narratives that I describe and analyze later.
There is never an observable average number of users in a models room, at any
given time a room could have anywhere from 50 to 3,000 people in it. Though there was
never an average number of viewers, each model’s room count (number of people in her
room at any given point) increased while she was doing a performance and/or when she
was posing in an explicit manner for the camera. For example, the model might put the
camera on the floor and angle it upward where users could see up her skirt or pull the
camera up close to her cleavage or the underside of her breasts. All of the models that I
observed are White women except for Joey, who is Black. The number of basic members
(those who have screen names, but have never purchased tokens) and guests (users who
do not have a screen name and are simply logged onto the site) always heavily outnumber
the premium members (those who have screen names and have purchased tokens at some
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point of their membership). Finally, each room has its own set of regulars who are online
every time the model is on and usually maintain the conversation flow.
I decided who to observe based on a few different factors: whether or not the
model was a known non-nude/non-explicit model, how many members were in the room
(this sometimes enabled me to estimate how long the model had been online), and what
the model was doing in her room when I saw the room preview on the home page (at
times I wanted to observe the build up to a model’s show, other times I would skip the
build up and just observe the performances). I found that regardless of whose room I was
in, members usually participated in group activities such as conversations, games, jokes,
and acts or showings of solidarity.
The two non-nude/non-explicit models are both well known on the site, a factor I
based on their ranking on the site’s monthly competition, Miss MFC; Punch and Cookie
are both in the top 100 on the site. According to her profile, Punch has been a webcam
model/performance artist (her term) for five years. She has dark, wavy, shoulder length
hair, big brown eyes lined with winged eyeliner, and pale skin. Her specialty performance
is a monthly body-art show, during which she paints her entire body in a different theme.
Punch is extremely personable, and her room is well known for her dedicated regulars,
her eclectic music selection, and constant “fun” vibe; she is rarely caught in a bad mood
and has a smile on her face almost the entire time she is online. Punch is also well known
on the site because she regularly places in the top 5 and has almost won the top prize on
Miss MFC numerous times, all without getting naked. During one of my observations,
Punch received a 450,000 token (~$22,500) tip, which was reportedly the second highest
tip ever given on MFC.
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According to her profile, Cookie has been a webcam model for 3 years. She has a
British accent and a very soft voice that many members find endearing and her shows are
usually focused on her playing original songs on her keyboard, singing, and/or dancing.
Cookie has waist length, light strawberry blonde hair and bangs that frame her very pale
skin. Her room always has a mellow tone to it and everyone in her room is always polite.
She regularly giggles and the tone is very bell-like; she reminds me of a Disney princess.
The four non-explicit models that I observed are all lively. Kelly has a wild nature
about her; she has multiple tattoos, including one that has the name “Dad” inside of a
large red heart on her chest. She curses a lot and is often very loud. Her long brown hair
is always styled differently and she tends to only wear mascara, which makes her large
blue eyes really stand out. Kelly has the largest physical frame out of all the models I
observed, but she isn’t fat. All of the other models that I observed were small framed,
with lean legs and small chests, but Kelly has large breasts and a fuller midsection and
thighs. K8 is the smallest framed out of all the women and there were a number of times
that members commented on her girlish figure during my observations. She has ocean
blue and teal hair and regularly has on a lot of makeup; a number of times she mentioned
that she enjoys doing freelance makeup in her spare time. K8 is very no-nonsense and
will quickly call someone out if she thinks they are being “a dick”, which is one of her
favorite terms to use. She is also the most quick to ban members from her room if she
feels that they are messing up the vibe. Joey is the only model of color that I observed.
Many times members commented on “how white” she sounds, and often she uses
somewhat of a baby voice or a “valley girl” type of speech when conversing with
members. She has milk chocolate colored skin, long black hair, and a small frame with
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noticeably fake breasts. Taylor is the last of the four non-explicit models that I observed.
She has a pinup girl look and regularly has her long red hair in a 50s style. She normally
wears some sort of lingerie or latex outfit and plays a lot of burlesque and 50s jazz music.
Her shows are primarily about the “art of tease and seduction” and she regularly uses
feather boas and leather whips as props.
There were many similarities among the rooms, but the following emerging narratives
were the same regardless of the model’s status. Two primary narratives emerged from
this data: “Community Building” and “Bounded Authenticity”. Within the Community
Building narrative, sub-narratives include “Bromances and Beyond”, “Shared Intimacy”,
“Gameification”, and “Food”. Within the Bounded Authenticity narrative, the subnarrative “Commodification of Personalized Intimacy” emerged.
Community Building: Bromances and Beyond
Baumeister and Leary (1995) concluded that humans have a need to belong,
stating that humans have “a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a minimum
quantity of lasting, positive, and impactful interpersonal relationships” (p. 497). Sigmund
Freud (1921) discussed group psychology and behavior as a process that is extremely
different from that of the individual. When in a group, he argued, people behave
differently than they would when alone because a being in a group provides anonymity
and power. Sociologically, the concept of sociality further examines and explains how
people decide which groups they prefer to socialize with. Sociality is a term that
describes nonsexual interpersonal attractions, and homosociality refers specifically to the
nonsexual attractions held by men or women for members of their own sex. The popular
portmanteau to describe these types of relationships that occur between men is the word
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“bromance.” The term bromance has been increasingly used in our culture to describe a
loving, non-sexual relationship between two or more men. Around the time that this term
was becoming popularized, Bird (1996) found that there are three typically shared
meanings that are perpetuated in male homosociality: emotional detachment,
competition, and the sexual objectification of women. The concept of a bromance
minimizes the importance of the first of these ideas, because bromance relationships
highlight the idea that men, “Are getting more secure in showing off their sexuality, and
the idea of nonsexual attraction between guys has even become fashionable” (Scola,
2009). I use the concept of bromance to frame my discussion of the relationships that I
observed in the chatrooms because the members all represented themselves as men and if
there was ever a woman or non-heterosexual person present in the room other than the
model on camera, I was not aware of them.
One commonly found example of bromantic interaction would occur when a wellknown group member would enter or leave the room for the day, or if a potentially new
group member joined. During these occurrences, the other members would always greet
or bid them farewell with representational GIFs and emojis such as the following:
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Members would also input a flood (also referred to in the chatrooms as a “wall”) of the
same or similar emojis or GIFs in celebration of something happening, whether it was a
large tip, a countdown or game ending, good news from the model or a member, or as a
joke or tease. After a basic member decided to become a premium member and give his
first tip ever to a particular model, the room reacted as follows:
In order to express excitement over something the model did, members would frequently
use a GIF that was of a crowd celebrating:
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Aside from using the same virtual characters, it was common at least once during
every observation session I completed, for members to speak with one another separately
from the model. These conversations were often ordinary, like users following up on
previous conversations or discussing the occurrences of their days. In one conversation, a
member (who was also a member of the corresponding model’s clubs, which was called
the “krew”) was stating that he didn’t feel like he belonged in their “krew” because he
wasn’t able to tip regularly, and felt like he was always the odd man out even in “real
life”. Other frequent members of the room objected to his statement and ensured him that
“this room [was] where he belonged.” The original user acquiesced, which prompted one
of the other commenters to say:
CountCastor: aqua, i get it how you feel some times, life's easier on the net
Given this particular scenario, it’s easy to see why many of the regular members
spend so much time online. In these chatrooms, members are finding friends and
establishing relationships or “bromances” with other members whom they begin to trust
and depend on for a feeling of belonging within these homosocial spaces. Online, the
members are able to say how they feel – as the user in the above example did – without
the pressure of being judged by physical appearances or, perhaps, some of the stereotypes
that come along with particular genders, ages, or races. In many cases, members
discussed not having any family or friends in “real life” that they could talk to or get
together with, even on holidays. In these situations, the members depend on the model
and one another to provide a space to come to for a sense of community.
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One example of this came during a conversation about Easter plans. The model
asked the room if she should get online on Easter Sunday and said she wouldn’t if
everyone already had plans with their families. Many members commented on not having
family to spend it with, or the desire to still “hang out” with everyone online before or
after their own familial commitments.
Users very obviously consider the model and other members to be their close
friends, either temporarily substituting or altogether replacing their time with their inperson friends and families to be with their online community. While many people view
the Internet, and particularly these types of online chatrooms, to be isolating, it’s evident
that thousands of people are actually using it to gain a sense of solidarity and friendship.
It also appears that members are actually using these sites to supplement their
daily lives and interpersonal relationships. Users of the site regularly discussed their
wives or partners, some admitting the site was something of a “guilty pleasure,” whereas
others disclosed that their significant others knew of their frequent visits to the site. In
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one conversation, a member that I regularly saw online in multiple rooms talked about
how he and his wife had come to the agreement that he was allowed to go on the site but
only spend a predetermined amount of money (tip) every month. He went on to explain
that while he loved his wife and they had a great sex life, there was just something
different and exciting about being online in a “community of pervs.” At that time, the
model asked him why he was always in non-explicit rooms if he liked being “such a
perv,” and he responded that it was more exciting and more of a turn-on to see the
occasional “slip” from a non-nude model than the regular “sexcapades” of an explicit
one. Several members agreed with him either by inserting his name followed by applause
emojis or agreed with words.
The above stated examples of acts of unity, regular greetings and valedictions,
emojis, and group conversations that don’t include the model, make it apparent that many
of the users of this site feel that the rooms they frequent are far more than virtual realms.
In the chatrooms on MFC, many users act the same way as people who frequent the same
bar for daily happy hour. Instead of this online adult site being strictly for lonely men to
get on and get off, they are using it to establish long-term relationships that are founded
upon a similar taste in a particular woman. One primary difference between this virtual
space and a face-to-face one is the fact that during these routine, friendly, bromantic
situations, there are overlaps of intimate moments with the model whom the users are all
focused on and share.
Shared Intimacy with the Model
The members of the chatrooms regularly participated in what appeared to be
moments and acts of shared intimacy. Often, acts of solidarity would also occur within
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the rooms that were representative of this shared closeness. For example, in all of the
rooms that I observed, there were a number of members whose usernames incorporated
the model’s name or a representation of her name. By doing this, members were
simultaneously showing the model their gratitude and faithfulness to her and her
chatroom, but also allowing themselves to be identified with other members of the
“team”.
Another way in which members showed their solidarity and familiarity with one
another was by creating and/or using custom GIFs (small thumbnail images that play a
short clip of an action) and emojis of the model during conversations. For example, in
multiple instances when music was playing in the model’s room, instead of using a stock
image or GIF of, say, a dancing cartoon monkey, a number members would
simultaneously use different moving images or emojis of the model herself to represent
themselves dancing to the music; the scene altogether would look like a virtual dance
party with all of the different images and the model on screen dancing.
Many conversations within the rooms are habitual; an example of a typical start to
an observation is as follows:
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I enter Kelly’s room. She is sitting on her bed laughing, wearing a white tshirt and has a fluffy white down comforter covering her lower half. She
doesn’t seem to be wearing a bra. The members in the room are discussing
something sports-related that I can’t yet follow while she seems to be
responding to a private message (typing and laughing, but none of her text
appears in the main room’s dialogue). I figure out that the members, all of
whom I’ve seen in her room before, are discussing a Golden State
basketball game that had just ended. Ks_Attica asks Kelly a question
about the game and she responds, “Attica, how many times do I have to
tell you…I hate basketball?! If we ain’t talking football, I’m not part of the
convo bud.” Attica inserts an emoji that rolls its eyes and flips its hand in a
dismissive manner and says “didn’t wanna talk to you anyway”. Kelly
laughs.
The flow of this conversation was typical, and frequently when I entered a room I
would come in during the middle of a conversation taking place between the members.
Sometimes the model was included as part of the discussion, and sometimes only the
members were engaged amongst themselves while the model and whatever activity she
was hosting served as somewhat of a background occurrence. I refer to these interactions
as shared intimacy or communal bounded authenticity because, by itself, bounded
authenticity refers to the involvement of monetary fees that make up the critical element
of negotiation of boundaries between sex workers and individual clients in order to create
the authentic, yet bounded, form of interpersonal connection; these communal
interactions were never between less than 4 people.
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Woven through the everyday, mundane conversations that unfolded in the
chatrooms, were moments that reflected the premise of the site: the model would begin to
perform her chosen method of tease and the vibe of the room would shift. In these
moments the camaraderie would not subside, rather it would change from ordinary group
banter to synchronized ogling. Often, the rooms would go textually silent for a few
moments, and the previously rapid upward scrolling text would cease until someone
either commented or tipped. The following screenshot depicts such a situation. The
model had begun an oil tease show and about two minutes had gone by without anyone
saying anything. Her room count steadily rose, starting at about 200 when she started the
show, to 450 at the end of this screen shot1. After bMan commented on the model’s
appearance, Buddha (a regular in this model’s room) seemed to tip in agreement. Once
Buddah tipped, a few members applauded him, some inserted emojis that showed their
shared infatuation, and others gave tips as well:
– an increase in room count during a show is typical for any model, due to the fact that upon logging onto
the homepage any user can hover their cursor over a model’s image and get a live preview of her room.
While a show is in progress, the model is usually doing something sensual or sexual, thus making her room
preview more exciting, which attracts more viewers.
1
42
43
During their shows, the models didn’t typically interact or converse with
members; instead she would be in a performative trance while the room watched her.
Because of this, it was typical for members who felt like talking to talk to the other
members in the room. Members would comment to each other about the model’s looks or
performance, often agreeing on how sexy or hypnotizing she was, while continuing to
praise one another if a tip was given. They would also frequently insert GIFs and emojis
that showed their infatuation or anticipation for the show:
Members would also sometimes engage in “tipping wars” during shows, in which two or
more members would either try to out-tip each other or fill up the text box with a “yellow
wall” and discourage other members from breaking it:
44
These instances of shared intimacy were particularly interesting because of the
fact that the camaraderie and group conversation didn’t stop while the model was
performing intimate acts. Instead of feeling the need to be silent and individually partake
in watching the on-screen show, members were compelled to continue the group
dynamic; a phenomena that occurs in “real” face-to-face interactions as well. Similar to
the acts of solidarity that I discussed in the previous section, these moments of shared
intimacy suggest that the members of this site feel that they are part of a bigger
community. Like fans of a sports team rallying together for a play, the members in the
chatrooms unite over the model and her actions. Being “part of the team” gives members
another reason to return to the same room everyday. It’s a space that allows them to
interact with friends, hangout with a woman of their liking, and gives them the option to
partake in or simply observe play time.
Gameification
Bernstein (2007) defined bounded authenticity as the sale and purchase of
authentic and physical connection with predefined limitations from both the consumer
and the provider. The commodification of authentic intimacy is what makes it bounded.
The virtual space of MFC provides a metaphysical connection between the members and
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the model, with the model’s on-camera actions having very real physical effects on the
people watching her. Often during a performance, which can be considered a model’s
version of a predefined limitation, members would comment on the physical reactions
they were having because of her show. Once, while a model was doing squats (which a
member had “won” off of a prize-wheel spin) she placed the cameral on the floor, giving
the viewers a clear shot up her skirt, and a member commented:
This interaction wouldn’t have been possible if the model hadn’t added
predefined actions like squats to her prize wheel, which, in turn, someone had to tip to
receive. Interestingly, the bounded authenticity that occurs in these chatrooms is
interdependent; one member’s paid interaction commodifies a bounded authentic event
for hundreds of other people. In other words, one person, or a small group of people, pays
while hundreds of people enjoy the model performing her bounded authentic and
predefined action.
In a typical room on the site, models require members to tip in exchange for
sexual acts or for removing their clothes. Because non-nude and non-explicit models
don’t perform sexually explicit acts or get fully nude, they have had to create alternative
ways to encourage tipping from their users. All of the models that I observed had a
number of games in addition to the typical countdowns they used to get to their
performative shows. Some of the games they would play with their members included
card games like blackjack and hi-low, games on technological devices such as tablets
including spin wheels with various prizes, and clear-the-board games where members
have to tip the numbers that are on a board in order to try to win a prize.
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These games were usually not the primary focus of the room; typically they were
supplementary to the conversations that were taking place and members would tip at
random to play a game, which would also contribute to any countdown that was
happening simultaneously. While most games were not the center of the room’s attention,
certain games would often provoke more interest and involvement from the members.
Most of the games that involved some sort of betting were the ones that members became
the most involved with. Often it seemed as though members would become addicted to
the thrill of guessing a number correctly or landing on a good prize on the spin wheel,
and would often make comments such as “ok, just one more time” or “I should have
stopped while I was ahead!” Similar to how they would react when another user would
give the model a large tip, members would also regularly celebrate if someone won one
of the games. In these addictive and celebratory moments, members were much like
friends at a casino; sometimes trying to “out gamble” each other or “win bigger” than the
other, while other times congratulating a friend on a big win. The model rarely had to
encourage members to play once on person got started, which maintained her incoming
flow of money and her performance countdowns moving in the right direction. This is
significant because it is yet another example of bounded interactions that allow the group
to maintain their relationship with the model while also making them feel like they are
part of a team. The two screenshots below provide examples of this idea: once one
member tipped to play one of the games, at least three others followed suit.
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Gamification situations were not the only ones that created camaraderie between the
members and models. Often the groups discussed their meals and it quickly became
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apparent that conversations revolving around food were common and purposeful
occurrences.
Let’s Eat!
Throughout my observations I encountered frequent, simple references to food
and drinks. Models and members regularly discussed eating and drinking and the
chatroom transcript regularly contained food and beverage emojis and GIFs. Fairly often
the model would broadcast from her kitchen or have a countdown or room topic that
included having a glass of wine or another drink. While these are also examples of the
commodification of the relationship between the model and the members, the constant
non-performance related references to food is a prime example of the humanization that
occurs within the chatrooms. At least once during every observation, the models would
either drink or eat something on camera, and members frequently referenced currently
eating or having just eaten a meal. These occurrences are not part of a performative act;
rather they are incidental and common happenings that highlight the ordinariness of the
rooms.
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For example, one of Taylor’s regulars got online and greeted everyone, only to
then say he would be back momentarily after going to get something to eat. When
someone asked him why he came on just to leave again, he responded that he saw Taylor
was on and didn’t want her or the guys to leave without him saying hello. Within about
10 minutes, he inserted a GIF of Jack Nicholson saying “Here’s Johnny” to let everyone
know that he was back with food from a fast food place. He was greeted with the normal
show of affection and a few questions about what he got. Taylor went on to say that she
avoids all fast foods and then the conversation shifted to how amazing her body is.
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Another example that occurred a number of times was when one of the models
would mention she was hungry. Most of the models’ regulars know what types of food
the model likes, and as such would post emojis or GIFs of that food to tease her. One day
Kelly was ranting about how hungry she was but didn’t have anything at home to make.
While she was talking about all of the different foods she would like to eat at that
moment, the members started inserting GIFs of waffles with syrup being poured over
them, a slice of pizza being pulled from the pie with the cheese clinging to the other
pieces, a cheeseburger seemingly falling from the sky into a perfect stack, a rack of ribs
being cleaned to the bone, and blocks of cheese (one of Kelly’s self proclaimed favorite
foods). This went on for at least three minutes, with Kelly whining of starvation and how
much she “hated them” for putting all of that food in the chatroom. She tried to clear the
conversation screen with periods, but every time she would get a few rows worth, the
members would load up the screen with more food GIFs. This example shows how
playful members are with the models and how they often band together to tease her in a
friendly way, much like friends in “real” social settings do.
Mealtimes in person are typically reserved for friends and family and it seems as
though many users of the site frame their hours online around their meals. The fact that
the members time their meals around when they get online is largely significant because
it shows that members have different motives for getting online than may have previously
been assumed. While many people may think that the users of these types of websites are
only getting online to exert their masculinity, frivolously spend their time and money,
and objectify women for their own sexual pleasure, these regularly occurring moments of
reality prove that there is so much more that goes on within the virtual space. The
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chatrooms are virtual versions of kitchens, dining rooms, restaurants, and bars where
many users come to hang out and foster relationships.
Bounded Authenticity
Similar to how johns in Bernstein’s study paid to have an authentic “girlfriend
experience” with the sex workers they frequented, the users in these chatrooms regularly
pay for customized content and off-site contact with the model, establishing a betweenrealms version of bounded authenticity. This is significant because the members that pay
for these interactions are doing it in front of the group, thus establishing and confirming
their authority among the other users. While interactions on the site are primarily group
oriented, there are still opportunities for members to negotiate one-on-one interactions
with a model. Often, members tried to differentiate themselves from other users by
establishing individual relationships with the model, including having off the site contact
with her, but this contact is not free. In order to gain this access, members would do
things like tip to play a game and win her phone number as a prize, tip a predetermined
amount for access to her personal social media accounts, or pay to join her clubs for
“special” access to various privileges. Some members were obviously regulars in a
model’s room and would make themselves known by sharing a similar screen name to
hers, or acting as the model’s room moderator (with or without the site-given privileges
that a model could grant a member access to). This differentiation gave the members that
had a “higher” status than others a sense and appearance of authority and priority with the
model. Often, the model would look to these members to ask their opinions about things
ranging from what song she should play next to what her next countdown topic should
be. In one instance, one of K8’s regulars, a frequent high tipper, came in after an apparent
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brief hiatus. When he greeted everyone, K8 let out a squeal of excitement and shouted
“JOHHHNNNN!” while some of the other members inserted GIFs of a red carpet, or
emojis with sunglasses on. One of the other members commented, “Oh, it’s about to be
on tonight, big j is in the building! My sad little 5 token tips aren’t gonna do shit
anymore. *Handclapping emoji* K, are you ready to make some money???” K8 laughed
and told the member to shut up, and then told John that she had missed him.
In this interaction, it was obvious that the other members knew who John was and
what his “status” in the room was. The sense that there was suddenly a dominant
presence in the room was tangible and it felt like the room was metaphorically holding its
breath for him to drop an outlandish amount of money from the moment he arrived. Each
of the models had a regular who was clearly their primary tipper and received slightly
different treatment compared to others. It seemed as though some of these regulars
enjoyed the extra attention and shrieks of excitement, while others, such as one of Joey’s
regulars, either tipped large amounts anonymously or in an offline tip (a tip that a
member sends while the model is not broadcasting). He mentioned in one conversation
that he didn’t like it when people just assumed he was always going to be the one to clear
a countdown. He went on to say that he loved making Joey happy, but not if it meant that
the other guys were going to neglect tipping her.
This example and John’s concern highlights an area of particular interest
regarding members who have a dominant presence in the rooms. When members like
John are not online, the rooms have a different feel to them until that member signs on.
Some rooms, like Punch’s, have multiple dominant presences, which make it less
noticeable when one isn’t there, but for the rooms that have only one, or one that is more
53
perceptible than the others, something happens in their absence. Because many other
members depend on high-tippers and regulars to create the fun atmosphere of a
performance by contributing to or ending a model’s countdown, the room’s energy is
visibly decreased when that person isn’t there. The model’s energy changes, as does the
attitude of the other users depending on which regulars are present. I likened this to inperson homosocial groups that have the “main” figure, or the alpha-persona, missing;
often the group won’t meet if the alphamale or female can’t be there or the overall vibe is
different if they do meet.
The Internet as the medium for these interactions effects who has access to this
dominant role due to the anonymity it provides. Dominant roles are no longer tied to
physical traits, as they may be in-person. Rather, so long as a member has money to
spend on behalf of the group, they are given access to a position of power. This unique
dynamic would not be possible without the commodification of a dominant member’s
relationship with the model. Because of this, the models make clear efforts to establish
special relationships with those that provide the money in order to promote the
importance of this person’s position. In turn, the members in this position use their
intimate relationship with the model as an additional symbol of status in the room.
It is apparent that each model works to make members feel special, which has
various effects on the room. Members that are regulars in a model’s room have
interactions with her that are obviously different from the ones that non-regulars have.
Typically, the room’s regulars are the members that most often tip the model and also tip
the largest amounts. The models often go out of their way to talk directly to these
members and converse more with them than non-regulars. These users and the models
54
regularly have inside jokes or have side conversations within the site’s private messaging
application. During almost every one of my observation sessions, one of the models
would speak out loud to a person that wasn’t active in the group conversation. For
example, Taylor once told one of her regulars that she saw his PM (private message) but
couldn’t perform his request at that moment because she was in the middle of another
countdown. She promised that she would do whatever it was that he asked for and then
said “You’re welcome” to a “thank you” that wasn’t visible to anyone else. Punch
frequently references jokes that were made in previous chats, and if one hadn’t been there
to be in on the joke, no one would bring them up to speed. She has this type of
relationship with several of her regulars. Punch’s popularity on the site could very well
be from interactions like these; many of her regulars commented on numerous occasions
how special she made them feel, which was something unique to her room.
From these interactions also came a mutual exchange of goods and/or services.
One of the models writes the name of her regular tippers on her body and other members
have to tip her if they want their name to be written somewhere. Cookie had the names of
her regular tippers written on red and pink paper hearts that were taped on the wall
behind her – bigger hearts corresponding with regulars who had given her bigger tips. All
of the models that I observed offer different “clubs” that her members can join, and each
level grants access to different personal content. Models frequently receive personal gifts
from regulars who have purchased items off of her Amazon wishlist, or custom emojis
and GIFs that are created by a regular. Once these emojis are made, some models only
allow certain regulars to access and use them.
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Though the models offered regular opportunities to have individual intimacy, it
was always at a price and members are happy to pay up. In order to obtain personalized
content or gain off-site access to the model, members – regardless of how “regular” they
were – have to either win the content by playing a game that they had tip for, tipping a set
amount that the model has determined for the item, winning a raffle for which they have
bought a raffle ticket, or paying to join a club for personal content. Users are willing to
pay money for access to personal intimacy with the model because it distinguishes them
from other site members. Sometimes members reference a conversation they had offline
with the model, seemingly covertly bragging about having offline access to her. These
instances show that there is a further sense of community being built around being an
“insider.” Those who “really know” the model bond together, establishing themselves as
the model’s “true” fans or friends compared to newbies who are just getting to know her.
Similar to all of the other bonding activities that members partake in, camaraderie built
around being “special” to the model is another group that members can rally around.
Individual bounded authenticity—where the girlfriend experience is not visible to
others—is less valuable in this context where establishing oneself as the “alpha” comes
with social capital. Any member who pays to have one-on-one interaction challenges this
dynamic and isn’t “part of the team”. Most of the models did not offer private shows for
56
this reason. If a model did offer a private show, sometimes the other members would out
tip the person who had requested the show in order to keep the model in the public
chatroom. Other times, members would complain about users requesting privates messing
up the vibe of the room, or make a comment about the room being for everyone’s
enjoyment.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in the use of the
Internet for interpersonal connections as well as sexual exploration and commerce, which
has had a huge impact on society and interpersonal relationships. Anxieties about online,
virtual relationship building have led to criticism and, in some cases pathologizing, of
online intimacy. This tendency towards pathologizing individuals dismisses the fact that
online relationships often evolve out of online communities, which are often very real to
those that participate in them.
As the background literature revealed, sociological research at the intersection of
sexuality, relationships, and the Internet is lacking. There is a vast amount of research
around sexuality that continues to grow as individuals further navigate their sexual spaces
and find new means of sexual expression. Furthermore, though there has been much
research done by various academic fields on the commerce of sex – both face-to-face and
online such as with pornography – there has been very little done that focuses on the
sector of online commercial sex work. Within the research of sexual commerce, an
overwhelming amount of attention has been given to the provider and not the consumer.
While some research has focused on the consumer and their reasons for purchasing sex
(Bernstein 2007), and other research has focused on the provider’s emotional labor
57
(Hochschild 1983), the research that explores the process of the commodification of
emotions from the consumer’s standpoint is almost nonexistent.
The explosion of the Internet has resulted in a major change on our society.
People interact and establish relationships through an entirely different platform than
what existed just a few decades ago. Additionally, the Internet provides a new means of
sexual exploration and expression. With this major change in how people establish
relationships and explore their sexuality, it is our sociological obligation to gain a better
understanding on how this impacts our society.
My research sought to answer, and did, how anonymous users of commercial,
cybersexual webcam communities negotiate power and establish relationships in virtual
spaces. Members of MyFreeCams establish bromances with one another through various
acts of community building, such as regularly and frequently greeting each other and
celebrating various occurrences together. Beyond the relationships between members,
users of the site establish shared intimacy with the model by sharing usernames, using
customized, room-specific emojis, and acts of solidarity such as “tip walls”.
The models of the rooms that I looked at were all non-nude or non-explicit,
because of this they had to come up with unique ways to keep members engaged and
entertained while doing countdowns to their shows. All of the models used some type of
game at some point of my observations and the members always engaged in these
commoditized cyber-games, often becoming somewhat addicted to the game or ending up
in a friendly competition with another member while playing. These types of interactions
added subtle moments of humanization into the chatrooms, but these games were not the
only instances. Throughout my observations, I found multiple references to food, drinks,
58
and mealtimes, which I found added to the development their relationships by providing a
sense of realness between interactions.
In addition to some of the previously mentioned moments of realness that were
brought on by various group interactions, there was also a lot of work done by the models
and individual members to establish the same types of feelings. Hochschild’s research
(1983) discussed the theory of emotional labor, in which a worker’s job requires them to
display emotions to customers in order to accurately do their job. According to
Hochschild, jobs that require emotional labor also require three other factors: (1) face-toface or voice-to-voice contact, (2) production of an emotional state in the consumer by
the worker, and (3) the employer is allowed to exercise a degree of control over the
emotional activities of the worker. While these factors are achieved online, the dynamic
changes in a variety of ways.
Instead of face-to-face interaction, the models interact face-to-text with members,
thus creating a new medium to examine Hochschild’s theory. While the production of an
emotional state in the consumers is achieved through the model’s actions, it is also
dependent on the other members’ presence and actions. Hochschild examined flight
attendants and other service providers to see how their emotions influenced those of their
customers, not how the customers’ emotions impacted other customers’ emotions. On
MFC, however, this dynamic of emotional labor is actually interdependent between the
model and members, and members with other members. While models may be primarily
responsible for emotion management of the room (though even this may be debatable),
she is not solely responsible as flight attendants and other emotional laborers are. Further
research should be conducted to analyze the emotional laboring of members in the room
59
and the interdependence of feelings amongst the members. Finally, in contrast to
Hochschild’s research, there is no “employer” on the site that has control over policing
the models’ behaviors; therefore the models are in complete control of their own
expression of emotions. Models have the freedom to be as polite or as brash as they want
to be without any repercussions, and so do the members to a certain extent (as it is up to
the model to decide when someone has gone too far and she can choose to ban them). In
this industry, the customer isn’t always right and it’s actually up to the worker to decide
how to treat her customers. In jobs that require only positive emotional labor, workers
have just one choice for how to act if they want to keep their positions. Conversely, while
webcam models do have to perform emotional labor, they have complete autonomy to
decide how they want to perform and can choose from a range of emotions to achieve the
emotion work their jobs require. How does this impact their perception of the emotional
labor that they are performing? Does this add an element of empowerment that traditional
service jobs do not provide? Further research should analyze how this difference in
power dynamics affects the final outcome from the worker, the consumer, and the
institution’s perspective.
Though much of my observations highlighted the group camaraderie in the
chatrooms, there were several instances of bounded authenticity between the model and
individual members. In these instances, it was clear that the models worked hard to make
certain members feel special and, in turn, these members were often her biggest providers
and supporters. Bernstein found that sex workers and their customers exchange feelings
of authenticity in order to make their interactions feel more “real”, as opposed to solely
occurring based on the exchange of money. In my research, I found that members and
60
models interacted with one another on MFC similarly to how Bernstein’s johns and sex
workers interacted. When webcam models go out of their way to make certain members
feel valued, they are adding a level of authenticity that clearly isn’t given to all members
equally. In exchange, the members that receive this type of interaction give larger
amounts of tips and/or provide the models with gifts outside of the site. Though these
interactions parallel those that occur between Bernstein’s johns and sex workers, the
Internet as the medium changes the dynamics.
The interactions between model and member are not negotiated entirely the same
as in-person between johns and sex workers. One major difference is that online, multiple
members are able to simultaneously contribute to the model; in-person, sex workers
typically are with only one person at a time. Another difference is that in-person sex
workers establish bounded authenticity with just one person, and they mutually depend
on each other, not a group, for this interaction. Conversely, webcam models typically
engage with hundreds of users at one time, and the instances of bounded authenticity are
almost completely dependent upon the group dynamic. This is interesting because it adds
an new and complex interactive component to the theory of bounded authenticity.
Finally, in Bernstein’s research, the added element of the girlfriend experience helped
both parties accomplish their goals; for the johns, they were able to feel a sense of
intimacy in addition to their sexual release, and the workers were able to provide an
additional, often enjoyable, service to their menu for a higher price. Online this dynamic
is similar, but instead of the members participating for the sake of their own individual
release, they are participating in order to establish relationships with other members. This
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idea furthers the discussion around the complexity of the interactive element that this
space provides.
In person, interactions between sex worker and consumer are dependent solely on
the two individuals. So long as the worker and the customer agree upon the terms of their
interaction, the job will get done. On MFC, the “job” is reliant on layers of factors and
literally hundreds of people. If there is no model present, the space for interaction does
not exist; if the alpha presence, or presences, is not present, the room dynamic is skewed
and the “job” never gets started; if the hundreds of viewers are not present, there is no
audience for the model or the alphas to perform for. This represents a sharing and
constant shifting of power. Ultimately, it is my belief, that the model actually holds the
lion’s share of the power. If she does not perform, there is no show to fraternize around
or basis of conversation. If she does not log on, the room and the members of the room do
not exist. She chooses whom to bestow power unto – while this is also dependent on how
much a member tips and participates in the room, ultimately it is up to the model’s
discretion to decide who can do what in her room.
Because the Internet provides users with almost complete anonymity, it is nearly
impossible to know for certain whom the users on MFC and like-sites truly are. The new
means of power that sites like this provide are opening new realms for previously less
empowered people to access and use power. Because of this, there could be a large
amount of counterhegemonic bodies filling these positions of power. Furthermore, people
are using sites like MyFreeCams to establish relationships using similar tactics to those
that they use in face-to-face situations. While some might argue that these virtual spaces
are isolating, I challenge that idea by highlighting the fact that in places like casinos,
62
where people go alone to engage in gaming similar to how they do on MFC, individuals
are not making regular contact with the other people around them. People online actually
spend more time with other people because at any given time there may be 3000
members sharing the same chatroom and conversing. What is significant about this
medium, though, is that we don’t know who these individuals are.
While observing the rooms, I found myself frequently wondering who it was
behind the keystrokes in the chatrooms. How many couples, women, teenagers, members
of the LGBTQ community, seniors, and anyone else was sitting behind their computer, as
I? The sheer number of people logged onto the site at any given time opens up the
possibilities for all of these different types of people to be online at the same time. I
wondered, how many teenagers are learning about sex and sexuality on MFC? How many
teenage girls are learning how to flirt and are being socialized into sexual beings? How
many couples are replacing other forms of entertainment with sites like MFC? Were there
other women, like myself, watching the non-nude models simply because they are more
inviting to the female gaze? Or, how many lesbian women frequent the site for their own
enjoyment?
MyFreeCams and its counterparts are like virtual day clubs where people go to
meet other like-minded people, play games, joke, eat, and converse, all for free unless
they choose otherwise. While people may go online to escape “reality,” my observations
suggest that MFC is just a new type of reality. Future research needs to focus on learning
the identities of these users as well as interview them to gain a better understanding of
what they feel they are getting from sites like these. What are the races, classes, genders,
nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, current locations, and occupations of the members
63
that I observed? In order to gain a better understanding of my findings in relation to
power negotiations and relationship building, we need to have an understanding of who
these people really are. It is clear that they are not the sexually deranged, perverts that
many before have assumed frequent sites like MyFreeCams, so who are they?
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