How To Be A Provocative Camgirl

 

This is something I find myself pondering quite often.

On the surface, it doesn’t really make sense, does it? When you log on to a social media site, and one of the camgirls you’re following on your platform of choice posts something risque, maybe it’s a titillating photograph, a coquettish video, or just a text blurb that’s mildly (or a lot more than just mildly) scandalous – – all those things are provocative, aren’t they?

I thought about this quite a bit, and came to the conclusion that none of those things are provocative in themselves if one considers the context within which they’re “enacted”. But before I unpack that assertion, what are we talking about when we say something/someone is provocative?

A quick wikipedia lookup tells me that the Latin root of the word “provocation” means “a calling forth, a summoning, a challenge”. The implication is that if a provocation is a challenge, it must be a challenge to some form of opposition.

When a webcam model makes a provocative statement, through whatever medium she’s using, what is that specifically a challenge to? Is it a political act – a means of challenging sexual repression? Is it a challenge to restrictive definitions of femininity? I feel it’s important to clarify these impulses, and to refrain from hopping on the “I’m exploring my sexuality” bandwagon just because that’s what the cool kids are doing.

The implication here is that the provocative act is a way of pushing back against some form of repressive patriarchal control.

I think the important thing is to not be solipsistic about it and to not think of repression as a one-sided thing, since both men and women are leashed in by social mores. The idea that civilization itself has been created through systemic repression makes a lot more sense to me than the stereotype of one gender enslaving another.

Concluding this line of thought, I feel that the “challenge” one aims to put forth in the provocative act – – is a challenge to the pigeonholing of human sexuality over time, across cultures and genders.

Now, assuming that we’ve accepted that general presupposition, the next consideration is: How do we know when our attempt at provocation has been successful?

“The meaning of communication is the response it gets” – I’m not sure where I first heard that, but it made a lot of sense to me. Something is provocative only if it functions as a challenge – – if I do something that I feel is a provocative act, but it doesn’t get received as one, did I really do anything provocative out in the world, or am I just acting out a fantasy and rebelling against something in my own head?

To me, just being sexually provocative doesn’t really cut it – – first of all, it’s easy. It’s not rocket science. And more importantly: sexual provocation in itself doesn’t really provoke anyone anymore – – we’re so desensitized to sex as a culture, we get sex thrown at us All The Time. Whether it’s Youtube videos, suggestive marketing, advertisements, erotica, pornography – – if there’s one thing we have more than enough of, it’s sexual provocation. If sexual provocation is normalized, is it still provocative?

As someone who does webcam modelling, which you’d have to be something of a provocateur to even want to get into, this is an interesting question. In a culture of normalized provocation, how does one be provocative?

Here’s my way of solving this. Although it is the case that sexual provocation is becoming more and more normalized in general, there’s also a significant amount of objectification of the provocateur. Unlike repression, which is an external reaction to provocation, objectifying the provocateur is an internal process.

And as long as the provocateur is objectified, it turns the dial down on the impact of their provocation, because they’re “different”, or “one of those girls/guys”. It’s a tribal response – – if we feel attacked or challenged by something and cannot repress the source, we internally block them out by pigeonholing them as “not me, and not part of my tribe”.

This is a tricky problem to tackle, because it’s not overt, and no amount of provocation will overcome objectification – – in fact, it’ll further fuel it. What I try to do instead is to humanize myself as much as possible.

I try to put myself out there in every way, not just sexually. I write blogs like this one, and although I’m not the best writer (English isn’t even my first language), I feel the fact that I try my best and put it out there is what matters, perhaps even more than having something spectacular and polished. I try to make my cam room into a social gathering space and a performing arts platform. I try to prioritize communication and getting to know people instead of just throwing something provocative and hoping it sticks.

Now, within that context of humanization, a context where my cam members are genuinely my friends, that’s a space where a provocative act actually has transformative power.

Transformative in what way? To get my friends to open up about their own sexuality, their own maps of desire, to create a “safe space” for them to begin to unpack their own motivations.

Is that provocative? Is that a calling forth, a summoning, a challenge? Yes, and one I’m finding myself enjoying more and more over time.

Article Republished In It's Entirity From Alice's Website. Source Here: How To Be A Provocative Camgirl