For a lot of people, the idea of working as a cam girl is both glamorous and incredibly seductive. Webcam performers, aka “cam girls,” create online profiles on websites that connect them with paying clients who can view their live streams. These interactions range from casual chatting to sex acts, and can be both light and dark. Some cam girls work for fun, while others do it as a means of supporting themselves and their families. But the industry also has its challenges, including privacy concerns, sexual harassment, and even death.
Despite the risks, many women do choose to pursue careers as cam girls. Refinery29 recently interviewed one of them, Ona Artist, who has more than 1.3 million Instagram followers. The millennial cam girl described her daily life in great detail, starting with logging on at 8 a.m. and engaging in non-sexy chats with her clients, who might ask about her day or her favorite TV shows. Then, around dawn, she begins her shift and performs more erotic acts.
Ona emphasized that her role as a cam girl was more than just a job, but that it was something she enjoyed and believed in. She also stressed the importance of protecting yourself when it comes to sex work, and explained that she takes precautions to keep herself safe if she does decide to go beyond the virtual realm of her online performances and meet with clients in person.
While Ona’s path into camming was inspired by a desire for autonomy and a need to make some money, not everyone is so lucky. Getting into this kind of work requires a level of financial stability that isn’t always possible, especially for young mothers with childcare costs out of control. And as the author of the upcoming memoir Camgirl, Isa Mazzei points out, cam girls have to deal with a lot of emotional labor as well: remembering their fans’ birthdays, answering emails and private messages, putting in the hours for their performances.
In addition to the physical labor, cam girls are often exposed to high levels of stress and abrasive behavior from some of their clients. Some cam girls have been suffocated and choked, and others have died performing dangerous sex acts for their clients. Ona talked about her own experiences with these requests, saying that she’s had clients “ask her to choke herself” and suffocate herself for their sexual pleasure, but she has never been killed by a client.
Despite the dangers, many women do choose to become cam girls because they believe in the power of the work they do and feel comfortable expressing themselves in this way. For some, it is an escape from the monochrome mundanity of a typical workplace, while for others, like JuliaEyrie, it’s a chance to embroider their own patch in the vibrant tapestry of the internet. But for all of them, it’s a choice that isn’t easy, and that comes with its own unique set of challenges.