Camgirl Advice

I’m one in a very small list of women who could take a long look back at the camming industry over the last 19 years and write its life story. As one of the original camgirls, I guess you could say I made a career out of being objectified. In a way, I felt like I had brought it on myself. My choices were either learn to accept it or defend myself every time I came across someone who felt the need to try to belittle me. The mannerisms, behaviour, poses, strut, flirtations, right down to the lingo I used online differed almost completely from who I was in real life. I am slightly reserved and dress casual, sometimes conservative. If I wore a cleavage-bearing top, they were paired with pants or sweatpants, never a mini skirt. I never dressed to impress anyone but myself. A sharp contrast to the stripper I was online, who wore things like stilettoes, Daisy Dukes and other items I wouldn’t dare wear outside, if even just to run to the car. What I did on the internet, stayed on the internet. It was in front of my video camera and in the privacy of my own home. The controlling pimps in my industry, with as much class as subway rats, take objectification to a whole other level. They also steal from the girls, mentally abuse them, harrass them and treat them as though they should be lucky to have a job, rather than being thankful that these women are even willing to line their pockets week after week, despite the peanuts the girls actually get to keep for themselves.

What I want to stress is that women (especially in this industry) need to empower themselves, not sit back and allow themselves to be belittled. When something doesn’t seem right, speak out. There is too much silence and complacency, which has done nothing but fuel the greed of those in powerful positions, to the point where camgirls are becoming obsolete. I believe by now, we all know what CamDecoy is. It’s just one in many programs they use and ways they have learned to cut us out of our own share of the profits from sales of our content.

The best advice I can give any camgirl in the industry is … work toward becoming truly independent. Trust no one in the industry. Remember that there is always someone earning more money from your content than you are. Shows, images, videos (recorded and live) are what they’re after. If your show is not direct on Skype (meaning you sign into your own account and not through a website first, then to Skype), then there is a middleman. If the customer is paying you through a third-party and not directly to your own account, there is a middleman. Every time there is a middleman, you’re at risk of losing content, customers, money, and everything you worked so hard for. If you ever find yourself making good money, invest it wisely and know that at any time, things can start to get strange. Amounts of money can disappear from your stats, customers will claim they can’t find you online anymore, your block zones don’t work, your revenues are declining rapidly, etc. Live in the ‘now’ and stash away your cash but at the same time, always be prepared with a back-up plan for employment.