Dr. Amanda Gesselman spoke with Life in Red about recent Kinsey Institute studies on the social impact of webcam sites.
What’s underneath beyond what we instantly classify those kinds of websites as? Those are sexual spaces, but the doesn’t mean that is the only thing going on there. Especially when there are live people interacting with another, there is a lot of opportunity for more than a sexual connection.
In one study, conducted with 2000 clients and 500 models on webcam site LiveJasmin, researchers asked the site clients two particular questions:
1. What is your ideal cam model? If you could sort by any characteristic, what would you choose?
Researchers expected to hear about physical traits or sexual behavior. They were surprised to have less than 50% of clients say anything at all about a physical characteristic. An equal number of people reported personality characteristics more than physical: for example, they wanted a good listener, or someone who made them comfortable expressing things that were bothering them in their lives.
2. If you had to explain what your relationship is with the cam model to someone else, how would you describe it?
Some clients described the interaction as being with a sex worker. However, more described the relationship as a friendship or an on-and-off girlfriend you can visit when you want to. Many of the descriptions had levels of intimacy in them beyond the sexual, such as men describing being able to go and meet with this woman who had great conversation, or bonding over things you have been meaning to say.
Gesselman posits that the initial sexual nature of the site draws clients, and then the safe space created there provides an outlet for men to explore emotional vulnerabilities that they may find challenging elsewhere.
Watch the whole Life in Red interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLHostROdq8 (34mins)