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{{short description|Livestream video performer}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Tone|date=June 2020}}
{{Update|date=April 2021}}
{{
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{{Infobox occupation
|name = Webcam model
|image = Venus Berlin 2019
|imagesize = 250px
|caption = A webcam model
|official_names =
|type = [[Performing arts]]
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|average_salary =
}}
A '''webcam model''' ([[colloquially]], '''camgirl''', '''camboy''', or '''cammodel''') is a video performer who streams on the [[Internet]] with a live [[webcam]] broadcast.<ref name=Richtel>{{cite news|last1=Richtel|first1=Matt|title=Intimacy on the Web, With a Crowd|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/technology/intimacy-on-the-web-with-a-crowd.html|access-date=16 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=21 September 2013|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509141435/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/technology/intimacy-on-the-web-with-a-crowd.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as [[Striptease|stripping]], [[masturbation]], or sex acts in exchange for money, goods, or attention.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha|author-link=Natasha Bertrand|date=18 November 2014|title=How Webcam Models Make Money|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-webcam-models-make-money-2014-11|access-date=30 May 2020|website=[[Business Insider]]|archive-date=8 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108115126/https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-webcam-models-make-money-2014-11|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/
As many webcam models operate in the comfort of their own homes, they are free to choose the amount of sexual content for their broadcasts.<ref name=Box>{{cite news|last1=Box|first1=Bobby|title=An Interview With A Webcam Model Who Makes $4,000 A Month Filming Herself|url=https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/sex/an-intimate-convo-with-webcam-model/1734402|access-date=24 January 2018|work=Elite Daily|date=29 December 2016|archive-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125074600/https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/sex/an-intimate-convo-with-webcam-model/1734402|url-status=live}}</ref> While most display [[nudity]] and sexually provocative behavior, some choose to remain mostly clothed and merely talk about various topics, while still soliciting payment as tips from their fans.<ref name=Senft2>{{cite book|first=Theresa |last=Senft|chapter=I'd Rather Be a Camgirl than a Cyborg - The Future of Feminism on the Web| pages=45–48 |title=Camgirls: Celebrity & Community in the Age of Social Networks |___location= New York | publisher= Peter Lang Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8204-5694-2}}</ref> Webcam models are predominantly women, and also include noted performers of all genders and sexualities.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2015/08/18/cam-girl-money/ |title=Meet The Vince Lombardi Of Cam Girls |last=Breslin |first=Susannah |date=18 August 2015 |work=Forbes |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=20 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820235112/https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2015/08/18/cam-girl-money/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Background==
The [[conceptual art]]ist [[Jennifer Ringley|Jenny Ringley]] is considered the first camgirl. In 1996, as a student at [[Dickinson College]], Ringley created a website called "[[Jennicam|JenniCam]]". Her webcam was located in her dorm room and automatically photographed her every few minutes. Ringley viewed her site as a straightforward document of her life. She did not wish to filter the events that were shown on her camera, so sometimes she was shown [[Nudity|nude]] or engaging in sexual behavior, including [[Coitus|sexual intercourse]] and [[masturbation]]. These images were then broadcast live over the Internet.<ref name="disobey">{{cite web |title=Forgotten Web Celebrities: Jennicam.org's Jennifer Ringley |url=http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/2004_05_19_archive.html |access-date=March 27, 2014 |date=May 19, 2004 |first=Steve |last=Baldwin |publisher=Disobey.com: Content for the discontented (blog) |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224132134/https://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/2004_05_19_archive.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Two years later, in 1998, she divided her website's access between free and paying.<ref name=Bartlett>{{cite book|first=Jamie|last=Bartlett|chapter=Chapter 6: Lights, Web-camera, Action|pages=166–192|title=The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTlUBAAAQBAJ|___location=London|publisher=Melville House|year=2014|isbn=9780434023172|access-date=2018-01-19|archive-date=2023-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327180453/https://books.google.com/books?id=mTlUBAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
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===Payment systems and earnings===
A camming website acts as
A July 2020 survey found the average webcam model in the United States works 18 hours per week, and earns $4,470 per month. Webcam models who work full-time (40 hours per week or more) earn $11,250 per month on average. Top-earning webcam models have a self-reported income of over $312,000 annually, while bottom earners take home as little as $100 per week.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://readysetcam.com/blogs/camming-101/how-much-do-cam-girls-make |title=How Much Do Cam Girls Make? (2020 Cam Girl Salary Report) |last=Haze |first=Moon |date=30 July 2020 |website=readysetcam.com |publisher=Ready Set Cam |access-date=28 October 2020 |quote=The average webcam model earns $1,043 per week from an 18 hour work week... The top-earning cam models in the United States earn as much as $6,000 per week, while beginner cam models can earn as little as $100 per week... models who cam for 35+ hours per week typically make $2,500 per week or more. |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027172640/https://readysetcam.com/blogs/camming-101/how-much-do-cam-girls-make |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Personal connection and interaction===
Performances can be
This is not the first time conversational interaction has become a boon for the erotic entertainment industry. In the early 20th century, [[Sociology|sociologist]] Paul Cressey noted that within the hundreds of [[taxi dance hall|taxi-dance halls]] of America, "the traffic in romance and feminine society" would become available when [[taxi dancer]]s would offer their companionship and "the illusion of romance" for ten cents a dance.<ref name="Cressey1">{{cite book| last=Cressey| first=Paul| title=The Taxi-Dance Hall: A Sociological Study in Commercialized Recreation and City Life| date=1932| publisher=University of Chicago Press| ___location=Chicago, IL| isbn=9780226120515| pages=[https://archive.org/details/taxidancehall00paul/page/10 10–11, 129]| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/taxidancehall00paul/page/10}}</ref><ref name="Wright">{{cite news | last1=Wright | first1=Evan | title=Dance With A Stranger | url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/dance-with-a-stranger-2130263 | access-date=6 February 2018 | work=LA Weekly | date=20 January 1999 | archive-date=19 January 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119224627/http://www.laweekly.com/news/dance-with-a-stranger-2130263 | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre]] strip club is credited with the invention of the [[lap dance]] in 1977 when their new stage, New York Live, pioneered customer-contact shows with [[stripper]]s that came off the stage and sat in the laps of customers for tips.<ref name=McCumber1>{{cite book | first=David | last=McCumber | pages=78–80, 155 | title=X-Rated | ___location= New York | publisher= Pinnacle Books | year=1992 | isbn=978-0786011131}}</ref> Enabled with this new revenue stream for strippers, the [[strip club]] industry went through a period of extreme growth during the 1980s.
Unlike traditional pornography, the interactive nature of the camming medium titillates with the promise of ''virtual friendship''. [[Princeton University]] sociologist and author of ''The Purchase of Intimacy'', [[Viviana Zelizer]], states of camming: "they're defining a new kind of intimacy. It's not traditional sex work, not a relationship, but something in between."<ref name=Richtel/> In addition to performing sex work, cam models also perform through their hosting duties, conveying authenticity, creating and animating fantasies, and managing relationships over time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nayar|first=Kavita|title=Working it: the professionalization of amateurism in digital adult entertainment|journal=Feminist Media Studies|volume=17|year=2017|issue=3|pages=473–488|doi=10.1080/14680777.2017.1303622|s2cid=151835520}}</ref>
Within ''Cam Girlz'', a documentary film about the industry, male fans often say that they come to camming sites as a way to fulfill emotional needs. The film's director, Sean Dunne, states of the fans, "they said it's not like a strip club – it's like a community, and you feel it when
However, Dr Kari Lerum of the [[University of Washington]] suggests that men are more open and vulnerable in cam rooms than in strip clubs, and can become very invested in relationships which only exist on the screen.<ref name=Richtel/> This proposition was supported by a 2019 study of over 6,000 webcam users by the webcam platform [[Stripchat]]. The study found that over 40% of its users had developed significant relationships with their cam models, ranging from friendship to deep emotional connections.<ref name="Ley">{{cite news | last1=Ley | first1=David | title=Am iCheating? | url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/201907/am-icheating | access-date=20 August 2019 | work=Psychology Today | date=23 July 2019 | archive-date=27 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327180508/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/201907/am-icheating | url-status=live }}</ref>
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==Terminology==
The term [[webcam]] is a [[clipped compound]],
When webcam models create
The
==Camming industry==
As of 2016, the money generated by camming sites was upwards of US$2 billion annually. The pornography business as a whole is estimated to be about $5 billion.<ref name=Rabouin/> According to the [[web traffic]] analysis service [[Compete.com]], [[LiveJasmin]] generates more than 9 million unique viewers a month. Similar webcam model hosting sites such as [[Chaturbate]], [[
▲As of 2016, the money generated by camming sites was upwards of US$2 billion annually. The pornography business as a whole is estimated to be about $5 billion.<ref name=Rabouin/> According to the [[web traffic]] analysis service [[Compete.com]], [[LiveJasmin]] generates more than 9 million unique viewers a month. Similar webcam model hosting sites such as [[Chaturbate]], [[CAM4]], and [[MyFreeCams]] boast 4.1 million, 3.7 million and 2 million unique monthly visitors, respectively.<ref name=Rabouin/> Certain hosting sites such as the aforementioned Chaturbate, LiveJasmin, [[ManyVids]], and many other providers also offer payment in cryptocurrency.<ref>{{Cite web|last=intimate.io|date=2018-11-01|title=How to get paid in crypto|url=https://medium.com/@intimate/how-to-get-paid-in-crypto-81b8fcd9c0ad|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Medium|language=en|archive-date=2022-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331155630/https://medium.com/@intimate/how-to-get-paid-in-crypto-81b8fcd9c0ad|url-status=live}}</ref>
The decentralized business model of camming has upended the pornography industry in multiple ways. Camming revenue has been severely cutting into the profits of the pornographic movie business, which has also been eroded for several years by piracy and the distribution of free sexual content on the Internet.<ref name=Richtel/> The pornographic film industry used to be male-dominated, except for the performers. Since camming requires only a video camera, broadband service, and a computer, there has now been a power reversal, and female webcam performers are driving the industry.<ref name=Rachel/><ref name=Hess>{{cite news |last1=Hess |first1=Amanda |date=5 May 2018 |title=Who Gets to Be Sexy? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/style/porn-women-nonbinary-queer.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=7 May 2018 |archive-date=12 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112095631/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/style/porn-women-nonbinary-queer.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Todd Blatt, a former pornographic movie producer, has said, "If you're the middle guy who has been eating off this industry for 20 years, it's a big change. The girls don't need anybody."<ref name=Richtel/>
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===Social media===
Webcam models often rely on social media to interact with existing customers and to meet new customers. This has potential disadvantages; however, mainstream social media platforms often have poorly
===Resources for performers===
Cam studios allow models to rent facilities outside of their homes. These businesses can supply models with video equipment, Internet service, computer, lighting, and furniture. One example was the pornographic film company [[Kink.com]], which rented individual cam studios in the [[San Francisco Armory]] by the hour from 2013 until the building was sold in 2018.<ref name=Richtel/><ref>{{cite news |last=Dineen |first=J. K. |date=7 February 2018 |title=SF Armory sells for $65 million — to be used for manufacturing and offices |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-Armory-sells-for-65-million-to-be-used-12560076.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028073451/https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-Armory-sells-for-65-million-to-be-used-12560076.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
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==Legal issues and risks==
===Laws===
Due to the controversial nature of pornography, camming, like most sex work, is not considered a legitimate form of labor in most [[Developed country|developed countries]]. As a result, cam models
Regulation would be beneficial{{According to whom|date=October 2024}} to camming, since it would prevent cam models from being exploited for their labor. However, regulation could also potentially take away cam models' independence, such as sexual freedom and bodily autonomy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Barrett-Ibarria|first=Sofia|date=2020-01-14|title=Cam girl reality: an enticing illusion leaves many models poor and defeated|url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/14/cam-girl-webcamming-porn-industry|access-date=2021-05-12|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2021-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513005312/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/14/cam-girl-webcamming-porn-industry|url-status=live}}</ref> Although in-person sex work such as prostitution can be regulated by policing the streets, online sex work is hard to regulate, due to anonymity, and risk of encroaching on content that is risqué, but not necessarily pornographic.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Sanders|first1=Teela|title=Policing Online Sex Markets|date=2017-09-19|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65630-4_5|work=Internet Sex Work|pages=121–151|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=978-3-319-65629-8|access-date=2021-12-24|last2=Scoular|first2=Jane|last3=Campbell|first3=Rosie|last4=Pitcher|first4=Jane|last5=Cunningham|first5=Stewart|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-65630-4_5|archive-date=2023-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327180530/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-65630-4_5|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In a study on sex work in [[East Java]], [[Indonesia]] where a specific district decriminalized sex work while its surround districts did not, researchers found that anti-prostitution laws decreased the use of [[
==== China ====
In accordance with the 1997 penal code, [[Pornography in China|pornography is illegal]] in [[China]]. The law only permits educational or artistic depictions of sexual intercourse. Historically, the law is not interpreted by the government to include pornography under the umbrella of art.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-11-29|title=China's Pornography Laws Are a Backdoor for Censorship|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/29/chinas-pornography-laws-are-backdoor-censorship|access-date=2021-05-12|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en|archive-date=2021-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213103701/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/29/chinas-pornography-laws-are-backdoor-censorship|url-status=live}}</ref> As such, camming faces strict regulation on the internet in contrast to Western countries, where its legal distinction protects it from prostitution. However, camming can also be a form of solace for sex workers since it allows them to escape online where they can avoid persecution for their profession.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tsang|first1=Eileen Yuk-ha|last2=Lowe|first2=John|date=2019-05-12|title=Sex Work and the Karmic Wheel: How Buddhism Influences Sex Work in China|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624x19847437|journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology|volume=63|issue=13|pages=2356–2377|doi=10.1177/0306624x19847437|pmid=31081394|s2cid=153285795|issn=0306-624X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
China has planned to extend anti-camming laws to [[ASMR]]. The Chinese government claims that ASMR constitutes pornography, but Chinese ASMR content creators dispute this, arguing that pornographic ASMR represents a different category from non-sexual ASMR.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Starr|first1=Rebecca Lurie|last2=Wang|first2=Tianxiao|last3=Go|first3=Christian|date=2020-02-18|title=Sexuality vs. sensuality: The multimodal construction of affective stance in Chinese ASMR performances*|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/josl.12410|journal=Journal of Sociolinguistics|volume=24|issue=4|pages=492–513|doi=10.1111/josl.12410|s2cid=214335253|issn=1360-6441|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==== India ====
Sex work is legal in [[India]], but many related elements such as [[
==== Philippines ====
Sex work is illegal in the [[Philippines]], but enforcement of the law is not strict such that it is quite commonplace. There is a perception that Filipino sex workers are victims of [[human trafficking]], but this isn't always the case. Camming, in particular, is usually consensual and not always explicitly sexual, likening it more to performance than pornography.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mathews|first=Paul William|date=2017-03-21|title=Cam Models, Sex Work, and Job Immobility in the Philippines|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2017.1293835|journal=Feminist Economics|volume=23|issue=3|pages=160–183|doi=10.1080/13545701.2017.1293835|s2cid=151998282|issn=1354-5701|access-date=2022-01-06|archive-date=2023-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327180527/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13545701.2017.1293835|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==== United Kingdom ====
Sex work and camming in the [[United Kingdom]] is heavily regulated by the government. Sex work is not recognized as legitimate employment by the government. As a result, sex workers are often afraid to report crimes committed against them, making sex work a dangerous occupation. Sex workers, both online and offline, are often subject to [[stalking]], unwanted messages, and other forms of [[
A sex work researcher, Rachel Stuart, notes a paradox in British law that tends to focus on the uploading of pornographic recordings, but does not deal with erotic performance when streamed upon the Internet through camming. For instance, the [[Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014]] ban certain acts from being depicted and uploaded by pornography producers in the United Kingdom, and the [[Digital Economy Act 2017]] seeks to restrict minors' access to pornographic material online, yet both laws will have no effect if the performances are ''streamed'' as opposed to ''recorded''. Stuart states of the legal conundrum in England, "Performing an explicitly pornographic act via a webcam carries no repercussions, but if the same show is recorded and uploaded, the performer can be liable to a fine."<ref name="Rachel" />
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==== United States ====
Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who is an expert in [[Obscenity|obscenity law]], said that there was nothing inherently illegal about web model camming shows, as long as the models were over 18, and performed at home or in a model's studio.<ref name=Richtel/>
===Risks===
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Another issue faced by cam models is that viewers may record streams or images of the model without their consent and then redistribute them on pornography websites. In addition to taking away the model's ability to choose where their content is shown, unauthorized use has been likened to theft of the model's property, since the porn site will earn money from the video and not the cam model.<ref name="auto"/>
Sex workers have formed support groups where sex workers may give each other advice and possibly cope with harassment and marginalization. The word "camily", a [[portmanteau]] of "cam" and "family", refers to communities formed by sex workers to help deal with such issues.<ref>{{Citation|last=Jones|first=Angela|title=We Are Camily|date=2020-02-18|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479842964.003.0007|work=Camming|pages=134–152|publisher=NYU Press|doi=10.18574/nyu/9781479842964.003.0007|isbn=9781479842964|s2cid=241706061|access-date=2021-12-24|archive-date=2023-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327181040/http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.18574%2Fnyu%2F9781479842964.003.0007|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
===Incidents===
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In Arizona during 2015, a fan took his appreciation of camgirls to an illegal level when he was indicted for spending $476,000 on a company credit card, which he used for tips on camming websites. He spent more than $100,000 on MyFreeCams.com alone, and sent $26,800 to one cam model in particular to pay for her college tuition bill and new tires for her car. According to the indictment, he also purchased flowers, chocolates, electronic equipment, shoes, a TV, a handbag, laptop computer, and an iPod for some of his favorite camgirls.<ref name=Rabouin/>
In one case, [[Sex trafficking|sex traffickers]] who operated illegal brothels forced an indentured victim to have sex in webcam shows.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article49875620.html|title=11 years in prison for man convicted in Miami gay Hungarian sex-slave ring|newspaper=Miami Herald|first=David|last=Ovalle|date=15 December 2015|access-date=19 January 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220125020/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article49875620.html
In January 2019, a 29-year-old [[Grant Amato]] killed his father, mother and brother and staged the scene as a murder-suicide, placing the gun by his
==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[
* [[American burlesque]]
* [[Cybersex]]
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|doi=10.1086/686758
|s2cid=151749909
|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/686758
}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jade |first1=Jasmine |title=Camgirl Manual |date=2015 |publisher=Metal Motion Productions Incorporated |isbn=9780993608704 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Senft |first1=Theresa M. |title=Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in the Age of Social Networks |date=2008 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=9780820456942 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9w-XY_gU2gC |language=en}}
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==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
{{Sex|state=collapsed}}
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