Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

“500 Tokens to Go Private”: Camgirls, Cybersex and Feminist Entrepreneurship

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The adult entertainment industry has often been seen by feminist groups as antithetical to the women’s liberation movement, with the commercialisation of misogyny taking place under a patriarchal business model. The advent of live streaming video and webcam technology has forced a considerable paradigm shift in the power relationships involved in pornography; the burgeoning ‘camgirl’ genre—in which young women independently broadcast explicit material at the behest of an audience—essentially serves to return control over adult entertainment to the female participants that are involved in its creation. The interactive nature of the camgirl genre has resulted in the development of a unique transactional relationship between performer and consumer that transcends that which currently exists within the industry. The rise of the camgirl has significant implications for both the adult entertainment industry and internet culture on the whole, presenting innovative business opportunities for young performers to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arthurs, J. (2006). Sex workers incorporated. In J. Hollows & R. Moseley (Eds.), Feminism in popular culture (pp. 119–140). Oxford: Berg Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, F. (2007). No Money Shot? Commerce, Pornography and New Sex Taste Cultures. Sexualities, 10(4), 441–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, F. (2011). Through the looking Glass? Sexual agency and subjectification online. In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New Femininities (pp. 203–214). Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Bacon, W. (2006). Journalism as research? Australian Journalism Review, 28(2), 147–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartow, A. (2008). Pornography, coercion, and copyright law 2.0. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, 10(4), 101–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • BBC News. (2005). Anti-porn crusader Dworkin dies. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4435193.stm.

  • Biddle, S. (2012). The crazy secrets of internet camgirls. Gizmodo Australia. Retrived from http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/09/the-crazy-secrets-of-internet-cam-girls-nsfw/.

  • Bocij, P. (2004). Camgirls, blogs and wish lists: How young people are courting danger on the internet. Safer Communities, 3(3), 16–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (1989). Sexual ideology and phenomenological description. In J. Allen & I. M. Young (Eds.), The thinking muse: Feminism and modern French philosophy (pp. 85–100). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conti, A. (2013, October 10). 4chan Camgirl Loli-chan Grows Up. Miami New Times. Retrieved from http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-10-10/news/4chan-loli-chan-camgirl/full/.

  • Dobson, A. S. (2012). Femininities as commodities: Cam girl culture. In A. Harris (Ed.), Next wave cultures: Feminism, subcultures, activism (pp. 123–148). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gershon, I. (2011). On the internet, everyone knows you’re a dog. A review essay. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 53(4), 997–1007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hald, G. M., Lange, T., & Malamuth, N. N. (2013). Pornography and sexist attitudes among heterosexuals. Journal of Communication, 63(4), 638–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanmer, J. (1990). Men, power, and the exploitation of women. Women’s Studies International Forum, 13(5), 443–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaven, P. C. L., & Virgen, M. (2001). Personality, perceptions of family and peer influences, and males’ self-reported delinquency. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(2), 321–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, K. (2004). Pornography in small places and other spaces. Cultural Studies, 8(1), 67–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, B. A. (2000). Watch me! Webcams and the public exposure of private lives. Art Journal, 59(4), 21–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, J. E. (2004). Prostitution, Labor, and Human Rights. University of California Davis Law Review, 37(3), 673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madison, L. (2014). @Lilymadisonxox. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from https://twitter.com/Lilymadisonxox.

  • Maree, A. (2014). @AsheMareexoxo. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from https://twitter.com/AsheMareexoxo.

  • McNair, B. (2013). Porno? Chic!: How pornography changed the world and made it a better place. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehta, M. D., & Plaza, D. E. (1997). Pornography in cyberspace: An exploration of what’s in USENET. In S. Kiesler (Ed.), Culture of the internet (pp. 53–68). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moye, D. (2013). Porn industry in decline: Insiders adapt to piracy, waning DVD sales. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/19/porn-industry-in-decline_n_2460799.html.

  • MyFreeCams. (2014a). Aedan Rayne. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://profile.aedanrayne.com.

  • MyFreeCams. (2014b). Lily Madison. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from http://profiles.myfreecams.com/lilymadison.

  • O’Neil, L. (2012). Cybersex and online libel criminalized in the Philippines. CBC News. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2012/09/cybersex-and-online-libel-criminalized-in-the-philippines.html.

  • Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, R. (2004). Virtually: The refreshment of interface value. Postmodern Culture, 14(3). doi:10.1353/pmc.2004.0027.

  • Payne, R. (2008). Virtual panic: Children online and the transmission of harm. In C. Krinsky (Ed.), Moral panics over contemporary children and youth (pp. 31–45). Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quayle, E., & Taylor, M. (2002). Child pornography and the internet: perpetuating a cycle of abuse. Deviant Behavior, 23(4), 331–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayne, A. (2014). @AedanRayne. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from https://twitter.com/AedanRayne.

  • Redd, N. (2012). The murky money behind camgirls. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/the-murky-money/505fb1bffe34445d2f0000ca.

  • Rubin, G. (1984). Thinking sex: Notes for a radical theory of the politics of sexuality. In C. S. Vance (Ed.), Pleasure and danger: Exploring female sexuality (pp. 267–319). Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segal, L. (1990). Pornography and violence: What the experts really say. Feminist Review, 36(1), 29–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senft, T. M. (2008). Camgirls: Celebrity and community in the age of social networks. Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Web Modelling Agency. (2014). Model FAQ. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://webmodelingagency.com/faq/.

  • Williams, L. (1989). Hard core: Power, pleasure and the frenzy of the visible. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, E. (1981). Lust Horizons: Is the women’s movement pro-sex? Village Voice, 26, 36–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, E. (1992). Feminism, Morality and Pornography. In E. Willis (Ed.), Beginning to see the light: Sex, hope and rock-and-role (pp. 219–227). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • XBIZ. (2014). Aedan Rayne Nommed for 2014 XBIZ Web Star of the Year. Retrieved February 12, 2014, from http://www.xbiz.com/news/173609.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 21/12 Promenade Avenue, Robina, QLD, 4230, Australia

    Paul Bleakley

  2. School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Paul Bleakley

Authors
  1. Paul Bleakley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Bleakley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bleakley, P. “500 Tokens to Go Private”: Camgirls, Cybersex and Feminist Entrepreneurship. Sexuality & Culture 18, 892–910 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9228-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9228-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation