I’ve gotten into more trouble than I care to admit through a combination of boredom and curiosity, and my brief stint as a web cam girl is a perfect example. My grandmother used to say only boring people get bored and while I don’t think this is what she had in mind, her lesson stuck with me. So when one Saturday night found me home alone with a bottle of wine, I decided to finally activate the web cam account I’d signed up for months before.
I’d dabbled in some free web cam play before, even got some story fodder out of it, but I’d never been paid for it before. I don’t have many reservations about sex work, at least not from a morality standpoint, and have largely stayed away for mundane and logistical reasons.
For one thing, as a generously curvy 34-year-old woman I’m not exactly what the mainstream is looking for. I don’t lose any sleep over this, it’s simply a consideration from a business standpoint. That said, I have friends who specifically market to the fact that there’s something a-typical about them and for some it works quite well. It’s not a bad thing to know your niche.
I fired up the cam software with an open mind and abundant curiosity. I wasn’t looking to make big bucks or launch a career.
I was feeling uncertain about what to do with myself. I decided to play to my strengths and gathered a few of my stories. I figured if things got dire I could always do a reading. I also had clothes pins, candles, and rope at my desk. To be fair, these things are always at my desk.
Also, I couldn’t be bothered to dress up for the adventure, so I just slipped into a black silk robe and called it good.
As soon as my cam went live the room began to fill
The comments I got were largely what you would expect. Most ranged on a spectrum from requests to demands for me to disrobe. Many complemented me on the vary things that made me non-standard: my glasses, my curves, my age. Also, guys seemed to like my tattoo. And as far as I know, my whole audience was men.
Here’s how the site I tried works: The guys get my video feed, which includes audio, and there’s also a chat window. The audience can hear me but the audio is one way, so they have to type messages to me. I can type in return but they seem to like to hear my voice. There’s also a private message option and this quickly became hard to manage. From my brief look into other girls rooms I hadn’t seen this side of things.
Many men seemed to want a private chat with me, but to do that I had to ignore the room. So I had to find a balance that would keep everyone happy. Or, more accurately, I had to find a way to keep the men who seemed inclined to tip me happy.
The site has a feature that tells me which men have tokens (unless they’ve paid to block that feature) so I quickly learned to only indulge the men who at least had the capacity to tip. As the night progressed I learned to ask for the tip first, before I fulfilled requests.
Most of the requests were obvious; the guys wanted to see my breasts or see my ass, etc. When the conversation slowed I’d improvise and do things like put clothespins on my breasts. This got an entertaining reaction from the mostly vanilla audience. Some were horrified but many were curious.
Doing rope bondage on myself also got a good response
It’s not unusual for me to spend a Saturday night practicing rope on myself anyway, so I figured this was win-win. I was doing what I might be doing anyway, but I was getting paid for it.
The part that I was unprepared for was that I had the option of turning on some of the guys’ cams. This request came frequently enough that I finally asked one of the guys how to do it and what it involved.
Turns out that just like the guys can see me, if I click on a little camera icon, I can see them too. Guys seemed pretty keen on the idea of me watching them so of course I only did this if they were willing to tip.
I’m sure you can guess what they were doing on their end. Yup. The guys were masturbating. And they wanted me to watch.
I only agreed to two of the requests. So in addition to my main screen I had two little windows showing me guys jerking off. I didn’t really mind. And in the private windows the guys were saying fairly complementary things to me. All in all, not a bad way to spend a night.
My grand total for the evening as cam girl? $36. So I made about $10 an hour, and that’s pre-tax. I’m sure if I wanted to build a reputation and spend more time thinking up interesting shows I could make more. But ultimately I just don’t think it’s the best use of my time.
ll stick to writing dirty stories. Even if I don’t get to see people getting off to my work. I still know they are.
Stella Harris is an author, educator, and coach who focuses on sex, kink, and intimacy. Through her writing and teaching she explores the complex world of love and lust and strives to help people explore their sexuality safely and free of shame. You can learn more about Stella on her website,www.stellaharris.net or follow her on Twitter @stellaerotica
Images by Louise Gill and JinxJiersen via Flickr with CC BY 2.0 license
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.