It Is No Measure of Health to be Well-Adjusted to a Profoundly Sick Society
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
A name is a tag. It helps differentiate and classify units at different levels. In general, we name things because we need to refer to them later, like a street, a river, and anything else we want to speak about. Regarding personal names, it usually comes from a very careful choice of our parents, which involves love and time to think about it. On the other hand, a stage name is more often than not chosen by its owner. In the camming scene, it tends to express what role this person wishes to play related to their place in this community. Nevertheless, it is not always the case that a model chooses her stage name carefully because she is not being stimulated to reflect upon the consequences of this choice, in business and personal terms. The science that studies the importance of names is semiotics, which is the scientific ground the New Camming Perspective (NCP) is based on.
The following are examples of what can happen in the first step of a relationship between models and members according to the chosen stage name:
•Name + Last name as a stage name (person): referring to someone (name and surname) shows respect because the person is projecting themselves in the camming world as a real person. Everyone knows that a real person feels, cries, smiles, dreams, thinks, etc. Such a stage name is an encouragement for the user to remember all this.
•Explicit Sexual Terms (object/product): a stage name that reduces the model to body parts or sexual behavior, associates her to products, commodities, things the users are buying, and do not have to worry about either their thoughts or their feelings. It gives the user the idea that he can do whatever he wants to with her because she is not a person, but an object.
Over 2020, it was possible to see some essential structural change, when a major platform made an important update to their rules. They enforced policies that prohibit names that objectify and dehumanize models. This is one single thing to make such an odd year worth remembering.
Let’s analyze the meaning of all of this.
•Objectification
Objectification means to make an association with an object or a thing. Why do we buy things? To satisfy needs. In order to do that, the object must accomplish what it was meant for. When people are introduced as objects, the expectation is that they are docile and responsive to the intent of the owner, because an object can be bought or rented. In camming, it means the reduction of models to only their instant sexual action on the webcam, in order to attend each and every single member’s request.
Let’s point out that many times objects are treated with care. Remember how you take care of your personal belongings. Thus, even objects can be well taken care of, because their longevity matters to the owner. What’s more, sometimes objects are humanized and get their own names!
•Dehumanization
On the other hand, it is possible to ignore the humanity of others, which is even more worrying than objectifying people. Dehumanization relates to seeing the people as devoid of any dignity, feelings and thoughts, in such a way that only their utility to the others counts. In this kind of social interaction anything is valid. There are no limits.
In opposition to the object that might be cherished, in dehumanization it is the utility at the moment that dictates the result of the actions. No care is needed. Regarding the camming scene, a model under such conditions will accept anything she thinks she needs to do. Even if this includes physical violence that she does not want to take part in, such as the use of several interactive machines at the same time in order to get tipped.
In a nutshell, when someone is objectified and dehumanized it does not mean they like the treatment they are getting. However, they are in such a vulnerable state that they believe this is the only way to make a living in the camming industry. After all, if they stop submitting themselves to it, who will pay their bills? What is needed is that the sites can take an active position and stop encouraging the users to be discourteous and rude with the models of the site.
The point we want to bring here is that the quality of the relationship of a model with their users might depend on the model herself. But if the user is encouraged to disrespect the models because of the many cam sites’ ads and guidelines that suggest that the models are looking forward to being treated rudely and if the women who accept this discourtesy, are getting more clicks, then this is a structural problem. If that is the case, any strategy to contain harm must be thought from within the community. That’s why the behavior that is stimulated through the platform guidelines and ads makes all the difference.
Despite the change we have proudly pointed out that happened this year, we can easily be reminded of such widely spread practices in this market segment, as reducing women to the parts of their bodies alone and stripping them from their humanity. That’s why on most of camsite’s first page, all that could be seen were names such as sexually explicit terms as well as animals and other derogatory terms. e.g. “LittlePet”, “HornySlut”, “HugeBoobs”, “BigAss”, “Brutal69”, etc. Currently, premium sites and premium studios have advised their models against these badges. This is a measure of harm reduction and humanization that the NCP recognizes, encourages and values immensely!
Final Consideration
The New Camming Perspective (NCP) is known — and awarded — for its academic rigor when defining and proposing concepts for the webcamming sector, which are based on empirical analysis of this market segment and on theoretical foundations (Communication and Semiotics). Knowing the semantics context of the words can help to understand the intent that lies within a word. A name is not a simple sign, it also communicates an attitude, an intention that lies behind.
The NCP studies have shown two different types of audience viewing the camming scene, very different indeed:
•On one hand, there are men who want to interact with women online and have a great time with them. The connection between the model and the user takes place in sessions in which both can chat. The model can express her sensuality while being well treated, and also performs fantasy and/or fetish sessions — depending on what she is into.
•On the other hand, there are mentally ill men who are just looking for a way to satisfy their perversions. It is important to clarify that psychoanalysis separates sexual fantasies and fetishes from perversions. Thus, the NCP strongly advocates the work practices that incorporate the two first (fantasies and fetishes) in its repertory and communication strategies, but does not deal with the last one (perversions). It is not wise to feed people's demons.
In our daily consultancy sessions, we have noticed that the choice of the nickname interferes directly with the type of user that a model brings into her chat room. Should she desire to attract more respectful and high quality members? We really recommend the nickname choice to be a name plus a surname or something similar.
For 2021, we hope to see more major players encourage the humanization of the business by updating their guidelines. It should strategically be done by ads presenting models as human beings, instead of promoting the premise that the camming scene is a “digital wild west” where everything is on the table, including the unmitigated objectification and dehumanization of women.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Priscila Magossi is a Brazilian journalist (Mackenzie-SP), Master and Ph.D. in Communication and Semiotics (PUC-SP), and a scientific researcher (ABCIBER/CENCIB-SP). Magossi’s intellectual production lies in the field of Communication and extends into media theories and virtual culture, with an emphasis on the dynamics of social bonds in post-modern society. Regarding her main activities in the camming industry, Magossi is the author/CEO of the New Camming Perspective (NCP): (1) a formal study about camming; (2) a struggle for human rights in the scene; (3) a training program for premium models.
