“I Get Paid to Have Orgasms”

This chapter explores how both pleasure and danger condition participation in camming. Cam models discuss the joys of camming, the pleasure of sharing intimacy, the pleasure of self-exploration, the pleasures of feeling free, and sexual pleasure. While cam models do not face the regular threat of physical harm, there are still many dangers. There are the physical tolls of sex work, and cam models are regularly subjected to stigma, capping, doxing, and harassment. These dangers can produce various forms of harm: physical, economic, social, and physiological harm. The striking theoretical point is that the presence of danger or risk, and the accompanying affectual states those risks cause, condition and shape the individuals’ experience of pleasure. Despite the dangers that exist, this chapter shows that the many pleasures of camming produce high levels of job satisfaction. Pleasure is not only a motivation for camming, it is also often the reason why people continue in the industry. The pleasure they experience allows them to deliver embodied authenticity to clients, which increases wages. This case study suggests that employee satisfaction is directly tied to pleasure. Future lines of inquiry should explore the role of pleasure in work.