"My job is not for everyone," Ashe Maree told BuzzFeed of her work as a cam model. "We're generally selling a sexual fantasy, just like in every other aspect of sex work."
But unlike other kinds of sex work, "camming" — performing live for an audience via webcam, often while partially or entirely undressed — gives the performer a lot more freedom to decide what she does on her channel, who watches, and what she wears (and decides to take off).
There's also an aspect to camming that's unique to this kind of work: getting a look at the performer's life and personality. Here, five women reveal why they decided to start camming and why they love it.
"I like to control who touches me. ... I want to ensure my own safety."
Gaia Monroe, who also goes by Professor Gaia, started working as a cam model in Las Vegas about two and a half years ago at a cam studio.
"I started working as a cam model simply because I didn't want to work for people anymore," she said. "I worked at a restaurant… it was a lot of bullshit, and I ended up quitting." But stripping was never in the cards, because "I like to control who touches me," she said. "I want to ensure my own safety."
Now working for herself, the Detroit native said, "I can make money in a space where I don't have to deal with a tyrant now. I work with Streamate, and they take a pretty hefty percentage of my check, but even with that I probably still make more money now than I ever did."
"I genuinely enjoy sharing my body and my sexuality, and not always simultaneously."
"My job is not for everyone," said Ashe Maree, 23. "We're generally selling a sexual fantasy, just like in every other aspect of sex work."
Ashe Maree started posting nude photos of herself on Tumblr when she was 18, and got into camming when an ex-boyfriend told her about a camming site. "I was like, 'Oh-ha-ha, really? What site? I mean, I just wanna look.' ::signs up and starts camming that night::," she wrote on Tumblr. "I genuinely enjoy sharing my body and my sexuality, and not always simultaneously."
Camming soon became her full-time job, and one that she loves. But, she notes, it is "a tough job that requires a thick skin."
"Being on cam is such a great, empowering feeling."
Elle DelSol, 25, has only been camming for a little over a month, but noticed a huge growth in her Instagram since she started.
"Camming is a great part-time job that I can do from home wearing my favorite lingerie and make a full-time income," she said.
"I love the freedom to be on cam when I want, and do whatever I want when I am online," she added. The folks who come to view her aren't just random people on the internet — they're regulars who she's formed genuine relationships with.
"Being on cam is such a great, empowering feeling."
"I thought it was going to be something really creepy, but it wasn't."
"I had been forced to take a job that paid significantly less than what I made from my previous employer," said Chanel Evans, 33. "So I had to figure out a way to compensate for that missing income."
It would have to be something that she enjoyed doing, however, and that's when Chanel found her way into camming. Both her day job and camming allow her to work from home, so her hours are flexible and "the pay is amazing."
Her first day at work, Chanel was nervous, but she loved it. "It was so normal," she said. "I thought it was going to be something really creepy, but it wasn't. … I didn't feel dirty or weird about it… and I've been going ever since."
"One of the misconceptions is that we hate our job, and we think it's shameful."
Jessica Wilde is a cam girl out of Canada (as well as a tattoo model and YouTuber). Before camming her jobs ranged from a dish washer at Tim Horton's to delivering auto parts. "I started camming because I was fucking broke," said Wilde, "and I fell in love with it."
"One of the misconceptions is that we hate our job, and we think it's shameful, and… degrading," she said. "Maybe I like fucking showing my vagina to thousands of people."
"I don't think it's shameful," she added. "I think it's fucking awesome."
