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Camming is the first book devoted solely to the erotic webcam industry, that empirically documents the history of the camming industry, the industry’s current size, the profitability of the camming industry, and that analyzes the motivations and the experiences of a relatively diverse sample of cam models. This chapter provides a brief background on the camming industry and discusses clients’ desire for embodied authenticity, and how interactive cam shows differ from traditional pornography. Given that many people view the consumption of virtual embodiment differently than they see the consumption of physical embodiment, and that these sexual interactions occur online, camming appeals to a wide range of workers and consumers. Importantly, these contextual elements create the conditions under which people open themselves up to experiencing new forms of pleasure, and in which workers can recapture pleasure as a fundamental part of their work. In addition to providing an overview of the industry, this chapter also outlines the analytical frameworks used throughout the book, which include the polymorphous paradigm of sex work and intersectionality. Finally, the critical pedagogies used in the book are described, which include progressive stacking, autoethnography, and a pornographic imagination.

This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the historical development of the erotic webcam industry. The camming industry emerged in 1996 because of two converging social phenomena: the introduction of the Internet and the popularity of non-erotic camgirls in the United States. Additionally, the explosion of amateur pornography on the Internet has led to the demystification of porn. As a result, clients, who are disproportionately cis men, have come to value embodied authenticity and realness. The chapter examines the emergence of erotic cam sites and various technological developments that furthered the growth of the industry such as Skype, social media, smartphones, and teledildonics. The inequality generated by global capitalism means that for many people around the world, the costs associated with becoming a cam model are prohibitive and access to the technologies described in this chapter are not available. While the camming industry can thus be lauded for creating an opportunity for safe and legal sex work, this opportunity is not open to the most economically vulnerable people around the world.

Striptease has become an academic avatar for the escalation and intensification of sexuality in popular culture. One of the major factors in the mainstreaming of striptease has been its repackaging as a means for women to reclaim sexual and emotional agency. This chapter argues that these programs for self-improvement (exercise/empowerment regimes) serve as part of a larger corporate project aimed at the appropriation and re-coding of striptease toward a consumer-friendly homogenization of sexuality. Finally, two possible alternatives to mainstream exotic dance are examined, one alluding to the past, the other to the future. The former, neo-burlesque, is a movement that offers exciting alternatives to mainstream exotic dance while simultaneously enforcing some of the problematic discourses of class, commercialism, and sexual empowerment discussed throughout the book. The latter is camming, an interactive Internet practice in which customers pay performers both to watch and be watched.