Should I quit camming before it ruins my future career (social work)

[may_mystical]

So I started camming about 6 months ago because I had no other choice... my other option was to starve and be homeless or do sex work illegally. I am disabled and there are not many jobs I can do which is one reason I chose social work as a major because I plan to work as a therapist or somewhere in the mental health fields, I want to be a therapist or have some sort of desk job where I can sit down all day. I wouldnt really consider myself a cam star or anything but the past 6 months I have had more money than I ever made in my life. I've grown to like camming... but the past few weeks reality has hit me. I always figured sex work is legal so who cares but now after googling some stuff about it I am considering quitting today, despite having some of my best days earning wise in a while.

It is my dream to become a social worker, to help other people one day. I don't think I want to work with children but troubled youth is something I often think about. In some ways I think being a cam girl could give me a lot of insight as a social worker, especially depending on what I focused my practice on.
I am a second year BSW student, I don't plan to work for the department of human services or anything like that and there are so many career options for social workers.

Will being a camgirl for a few years while in college ruin my entire career future as a social worker? I am freaking out...
on one hand I need to pay rent, but on the other hand I know that I can't cam forever and I need a job that makes me feel happy...

 

[MarieElise]

So I started camming about 6 months ago because I had no other choice... my other option was to starve and be homeless or do sex work illegally. I am disabled and there are not many jobs I can do which is one reason I chose social work as a major because I plan to work as a therapist or somewhere in the mental health fields, I want to be a therapist or have some sort of desk job where I can sit down all day. I wouldnt really consider myself a cam star or anything but the past 6 months I have had more money than I ever made in my life. I've grown to like camming... but the past few weeks reality has hit me. I always figured sex work is legal so who cares but now after googling some stuff about it I am considering quitting today, despite having some of my best days earning wise in a while.

It is my dream to become a social worker, to help other people one day. I don't think I want to work with children but troubled youth is something I often think about. In some ways I think being a cam girl could give me a lot of insight as a social worker, especially depending on what I focused my practice on.
I am a second year BSW student, I don't plan to work for the department of human services or anything like that and there are so many career options for social workers.

Will being a camgirl for a few years while in college ruin my entire career future as a social worker? I am freaking out...
on one hand I need to pay rent, but on the other hand I know that I can't cam forever and I need a job that makes me feel happy...

I used to be a social worker, and mental health therapist. I have always assumed that because of what I do now (ie camming) that I would not be allowed back into the field, which is fine w/ me.
They perform extensive criminal and credit background checks, so personally, if you are sure about wanting to go into social work, then yes, I would quit camming.

A lot of what I did was working with people who had been abused and traumatized. I would especially not make taboo content, if you want to go into the social work field. But honestly, I would not do any of it. Idk about every clinic, but the clinic where I worked with Masters and PHD level licensed Social Workers, and licensed Mental Health Therapists, were not tolerant of sex work at all. When clients who were strippers and escorts, came in for social support, that part of their life was (generally) looked at as a clinical problem, and focused on (i.e. what they did for work). It can be a very judgmental field, and a lot of the people who I worked with were upper class white people, who had lead very sheltered existences, and had very little true life experience past book reading. Overall I noticed that most had a really hard time relating to, or understanding clients from working class backgrounds, and tended to impose a very narrow and close minded set of values upon them, which often involved looking at sex work as a clinical problem. Despite there being no diagnosis in any DSM that participating in legal, or illegal sex work, is being any kind of clinical disease whatsoever.

 

[may_mystical]

wow this makes me feel very sad tbh. I personally don't see any reason why somebody who used to be a cam-girl couldn't work as a mental health therapist for example. My eating disorder therapist is recovered from an eating disorder and tells her clients, its sad how sex work is looked at so differently than other things.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

I used to be a social worker, and mental health therapist. I have always assumed that because of what I do now (ie camming) that I would not be allowed back into the field, which is fine w/ me.
They perform extensive criminal and credit background checks, so personally, if you are sure about wanting to go into social work, then yes, I would quit camming.

A lot of what I did was working with people who had been abused and traumatized. I would especially not make taboo content, if you want to go into the social work field. But honestly, I would not do any of it. Idk about every clinic, but the clinic where I worked with Masters and PHD level licensed Social Workers, and licensed Mental Health Therapists, were not tolerant of sex work at all. When clients who were strippers and escorts, came in for social support, that part of their life was (generally) looked at as a clinical problem, and focused on (i.e. what they did for work). It can be a very judgmental field, and a lot of the people who I worked with were upper class white people, who had lead very sheltered existences, and had very little true life experience past book reading. Overall I noticed that most had a really hard time relating to, or understanding clients from working class backgrounds, and tended to impose a very narrow and close minded set of values upon them, which often involved looking at sex work as a clinical problem. Despite there being no diagnosis in any DSM that participating in legal, or illegal sex work, is being any kind of clinical disease whatsoever.

The few times I went to a therapist, this is how I felt. They couldn't related to what it was like living a blue collar life and some of the pressures associated with it. I kind of felt like I was being talked down to, and it was all so programmatic. Didn't matter who the therapist was. About the only one who seemed like actually cared and could relate was the therapist I saw during my divorce.

Though, I will also say that having worked in both blue and white collar jobs for many years, it's interesting to see how both blue and white collar workers can have little/no understanding of the other. Especially if they don't have a SO who works in the opposite.

 

[Deleted member 55529]

That field is full of judgemental people that lived sheltered and reader some left-wing bulllshit and thinks they can change the system.

I think you should use a mask and a wig, use costumes and altered background. Or cam on a website from a country you won't be recognized. On the other hand, you could use your expertise to actually help sex workers but fighting against the system usually leads to nothing but frustration.

Good luck.

 

[thinkinboutit]

I worked in mental health for a period of time, though not as a therapist. But its not a field that I personally would try to work in again, for a lot of reasons.

Boundaries are extremely important - the relationship between therapist & client is very private but can't cross into intimacy. It gets kind of sketchy when we are dealing with porn , clipsites and camming specifically. Simply for the reason that if you were outed, your clients could potentially look up sexual content of you online. It would be a massive breach of the client relationship and could be potentially career ending.

There are plenty of former strippers and escorts working in advocacy, outreach & non profit, for example. There is no reason you can't persue social work or psychology in your education if that is your passion. The field could use more people with lived experience. But a career directly as a clinician for the general population might be problematic.

PS: https://pineapplesupport.org/ is a really great non profit that connects current and former sex workers with therapists who are understanding of our careers! A good therapist is supposed to meet you where you are in life, and leave their personal judgments out of it.

 

[MarieElise]

Yes, unfortunately, you have to be really aware of people who come from privileged backgrounds and therefore cannot understand poverty, but have a desire to "fix" everyone else. And by fix, they mean to convert to their way of thinking, which is the only "correct" way, because they cannot see past it. There are many of those types in all walks of life though, but I did find an unusually high concentration working in mental health. That was only the therapy side, not the actual medical side. I found that psychiatric nurses, doctors, and psychiatrists tended to be more scientific, and took more medically helpful views. The issue there, is that health insurance companies require that people who are getting psychiatric medication, also see counselors in many states. So many people have thus been forced into seeing a counselor regularly, in order to continue to receive their needed medications. At least 6- 10 years ago anyways. My hope would be that things would change, with time.

I'm not saying that all therapists are that way, but many are. I have also heard many great things about Pineapple Support.

It is good to go get treatment for mental issues, but be careful what you share about your career in sex work. With many that will then become the main focus, not the issue which you actually needed support with. My solution to that would be not to share that specific info, if treatment is needed. A simple "I work with computers and video editing" is all that is all people need to know, unless you trust them, and know them well.

When mental health support is needed it is good to be picky, to ask about which theoretical orientation any individual counselor follows (they should be able to answer that question easily), then research that specific orientation yourself, to see if it matches your individual needs. Unfortunately, it can still be a highly subjective field, full of many people who do not keep up to date on current research, and who are operating from extremely outdated paradigms. After licensure, they don't need to get supervised, unless they volunteer for it, and do it willingly, because they want to stay abreast of current research.

OK sorry to ramble, but everything I am saying is based upon the clinical side. Not the general non-profit or outreach side. Those might be better directions to follow, and be more open-minded, as noted.

 

[Danigirl]

Not trying to be a jerk, but if someone is already doing sex work for a decent amount of time like most of us and OP, isn't the damage already done if they do extensive background checks? I thought long and hard before starting if this is something I could live with in regards to relationships and future careers.

Just curious what the benefit of quitting now would be especially if the income is needed. Wouldn't damage already have been done?


Editing to add that I get not everyone has the luxury of time to debate starting camming out of necessity. But my career choices and degrees wouldn't be hugely damaged by camming if I decided to go back to corporate. And I'm never going back lol. This is too much fun.

 

[may_mystical]

Not trying to be a jerk, but if someone is already doing sex work for a decent amount of time like most of us and OP, isn't the damage already done if they do extensive background checks? I thought long and hard before starting if this is something I could live with in regards to relationships and future careers.

Just curious what the benefit of quitting now would be especially if the income is needed. Wouldn't damage already have been done?


Editing to add that I get not everyone has the luxury of time to debate starting camming out of necessity. But my career choices and degrees wouldn't be hugely damaged by camming if I decided to go back to corporate. And I'm never going back lol. This is too much fun.

That is one thing I am thinking honestly. Also I don't really see how they would be able to find out about camming through a background check, most social service agencies are most worried about if somebody has like a criminal record. We are also taught at least where I live in my profession to not judge anybody so why wouldn't this same attitude be reflected on fellow social workers.

 

[MarieElise]

Just curious what the benefit of quitting now would be especially if the income is needed. Wouldn't damage already have been done?

A lot of that would depend on the laws regarding background checks and privacy, in the area which she eventually wished to settle and practice, but yes, it may already be too late for many careers. As far as I understood clinical social work, teaching/ any capacity working with children, and probably more careers which I have not thought of. It was not purely criminal only for me. There are morality clauses and issues to do with sex work, and many other fields.

Perhaps as thinkaboutit noted, not the outreach side of things in social work, but to get a Masters or PHD level clinical degree, they look into your background extensively at graduate schools. Then any agency that hires you will then do the exact same thing. How extensively depends upon the privacy laws, and licensure laws of the individual State or country you reside.

If you wanted to work with a Bachelors degree only, then it might be more possible in some areas.

I personally would not recommend any person getting into camming, or any type of sex work, unless they had already considered the doors which they would be potentially closing, before beginning. Not part way in.

In regards to judging people, yes, we were all taught that too, and in an ideal world, people would actually listen to that, and take it on board on a deep level. Just like how religions teach us to love and understand eachother, but many religious people are total hypocrites who do neither. This is not an ideal world, and the reality of the field, is very, very, VERY different from the non-conditional positive regard, and all the other theoretical stuff which is taught in schools. Maybe Europe is different, but that is how it is in the US. Any background check which covers your credit can show which companies issued you pay checks in the past. How far they go depends on legalities state to state. If you are focused on it, I would advise consulting with a lawyer in the State you wish to practice, as well as potentially the dean of the department you wish to be accepted to for study. I can only give you my real world experience in the field, from the area which I lived and practiced. I don't agree that it's right either, but that is the way that it is/ was.

ETA; If your BMI is 12, as you mentioned in the other thread, I think you have more pressing priorities to be considering anyways. That is dangerous for the organs of your body. I would focus on that tbh, and not worry about anything else right now. Your brain needs fats to think clearly, and recall information anyways. Sorry to be blunt, but you did share all of this with us.

 

[KenzieCams]

I'm finishing up my Masters in clinical social work. No one has done a level 500 background check on me lol.

I don't plan on working with kids and the degree is versatile. You can work at a hospital, non profit, private practice, whatever. You can work with SW if you wanted.

I mean the damage is done. You're on the internet forever. But the chances of someone finding out are slim and I don't really think it's unethical. We are cam models, not felons. Jobs shouldn't be limited. I think more SW need to be in the field so we can end the stigma. I hope you go for it!

 

[may_mystical]

I'm finishing up my Masters in clinical social work. No one has done a level 500 background check on me lol.

I don't plan on working with kids and the degree is versatile. You can work at a hospital, non profit, private practice, whatever. You can work with SW if you wanted.

I mean the damage is done. You're on the internet forever. But the chances of someone finding out are slim and I don't really think it's unethical. We are cam models, not felons. Jobs shouldn't be limited. I think more SW need to be in the field so we can end the stigma. I hope you go for it!

omg bless you woman! I just literally spent hours crying and thinking about all the student loan debt I will have to have because of not being able to work as a cam model! I even took the day off work. Its great to hear from somebody who is pursuing what I want who's also a cam girl. I am a BSW student and nobody has ever found out. I always figured it wouldn't effect my line of work because I plan to work as like a hospital social worker or an agency helping the homeless. I certainly don't want to work for some privileged private practice in the suburbs. I think I am gonna keep doing it after reading your post!

Also idk if this is weird but can I ever message you? We are both following similar courses of study so I find it quite interesting.

 

[SaffronBurke]

PS: https://pineapplesupport.org/ is a really great non profit that connects current and former sex workers with therapists who are understanding of our careers! A good therapist is supposed to meet you where you are in life, and leave their personal judgments out of it.

My therapist through them is a sex worker herself, which makes it so easy to talk to her.

 

[Nigerian Prince]

Is tax information not confidential where you live? I can't imagine a background check that could even determine you were a cam model without access to your tax information or access to your person bank account.

Of course if your employer finds out through other means they can do whatever they want with that info

 

[Deleted member 37064]

Is tax information not confidential where you live? I can't imagine a background check that could even determine you were a cam model without access to your tax information or access to your person bank account.

Of course if your employer finds out through other means they can do whatever they want with that info

Yes, it's private. Though, some jobs require in depth background investigations, credit checks and financial disclosures due to conflict of interest (Sound familiar? It's the issue Trump is dealing with right now).

Employers rarely update info on credit reports, and is typically provided by the individual when they are filling out a credit application or correcting something on their credit reports.

In most instances, the way info gets leaked is if someone talks. Comes up in a conversation, rumour mills float about which then requires an investigation.

 

[cbhours]

very soon the problem is going to be people doing facial recognition searches and if you already started theres only a chance that over time your images will disappear from the internet, there is absolutely no guarantee.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

very soon the problem is going to be people doing facial recognition searches and if you already started theres only a chance that over time your images will disappear from the internet, there is absolutely no guarantee.

Sad part about this is that it then borders on "Guilty until proven innocent". Though, in an employer's situation, my guess is that most won't do it due to cost, resources, etc. unless there's a very specific reason for them not to. As it stands, most employers don't do more than a simple background check (credit & criminal) with a drug test. Though, I have had some do google searches on me. Have also had it where employees at a company I started working at do google searches and I got all kinds of questions from some activities I've been involved with over the years.

 

[JustMilfnAround]

very soon the problem is going to be people doing facial recognition searches and if you already started theres only a chance that over time your images will disappear from the internet, there is absolutely no guarantee.

THAT is what scares me about this - the facial recognition. I'm in process of being licensed to be in the mortgage industry and part of the licensing includes a background check and fingerprinting. Luckily my credit report shows me as self employed under my LLC and shows my previous corporate job so I think I may be safe there. I hope. TBH I am not really sure what comes up on those types of background checks and/or how they can be linked to camming.

If face recognition is part of it, I'm screwed. I have hidden my face on all of my camming profiles (and deleted a few accounts that are no longer bearing fruit). ManyVids will allow you to temporarily disable your account, and so does YouTube - which I will do when I get to the background check/sending out resume's point. Streamate won't let me delete photos but I'm going to reach out to Liz to see if they can make an exception while I am looking for work. If they won't, I will have them delete my account and start over with a new one wearing wigs and masks, or even not showing my face at all. If anything is going to backfire on you it may be the facial recognition.

I will check in with you guys when I get through the background check process and let you know if camming came up.

 

[Deleted member 55529]

I'm not from the US so I don't understand this. Nobody does background checks in my country or cares if you did sex work.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

I'm not from the US so I don't understand this. Nobody does background checks in my country or cares if you did sex work.

It's common in at least a few countries as a means of helping to control corruption or conflict of interest in leadership roles. In some jobs, it's meant to help estimate the integrity of an employee from doing things such as embezzlement, insider trading, etc. Those are more for financial aspects.

Where the sex worker issues come into play is because there's a double standard in culture. Many are quick to condemn someone for working in the adult industry, yet those who condemn are also very likely to watch it or lead very promiscuous private lives. Schools, social workers, or pretty much anyone who works with children are expected to have lived upstanding lives and not have been involved in taboo realms such as drug use, pornography/sex work, etc. Somehow someone felt that if you're any of those, you might be a pedophile and prey upon children.

While most jobs don't have that stigma against sex workers, only a select few do. The problem also becomes an issue where people like to spread rumours and gossip about others instead of leaving them be by keeping their mouths shut and respecting another's private life. There are also some jobs which require a contract to be signed which contains a morality clause. Such clauses can be where no previous or current sex work, no drug use, no criminal record or activity, and some I have read go so far as to say that if women get pregnant and are unmarried will no longer work there.

A lot of it is really bad, and outdated bullshit when it comes to sex workers or adult industry in general. The background checks for criminal and financial issues, depending on the jobs, can be valid.

 

[CheeseMoon]

Where the sex worker issues come into play is because there's a double standard in culture.

This plus the fact that "having a past" potentially sets you up for all sorts of blackmail and extortion. If you work with mortgages, like mentioned above, who knows what could happen. The culture around you and your employer may have a tolerance or acceptance for sex work, but your extended familiy may see it differently.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

This plus the fact that "having a past" potentially sets you up for all sorts of blackmail and extortion. If you work with mortgages, like mentioned above, who knows what could happen. The culture around you and your employer may have a tolerance or acceptance for sex work, but your extended familiy may see it differently.

Yep. Though, I would assume that if you're going through a background investigation, it will depend upon how open you are with others as well as how you answer questions. Are you terrified of people finding out? Are you very open about it? Or, you're not shamed of it but because it's no one's business you only provide info if directly asked

There's a lot of variables and there's much ambiguity when it's just based off paperwork and not an actual conversation.

 

[CheeseMoon]

it will depend upon how open you are with others as well as how you answer questions.

Thus "potential" in my previous reply. The danger isn't necessarily in the employer finding out, but a third party which could exert some kind of control over you and ruin your otherwise upstanding career that way.
Earlier in my career I did several long stints as a civilan contractor for the military and needed low grade security clearance. Their background checks looked among other things for stuff that would make me susceptible to bribes (poor financials) or blackmails/extortion ("interesting" secrets). It's all about risk management for the employers.

 

[MarieElise]

Any gap in employment history in the field which is a person's main career can and often is looked at with "interest". The longer the gap, the more "interest". If someone is going in to say accounting (as a random example) and has a lot of work history working in banks, or financial institutions, but then a 6 month or 3-year gap where they worked for an unknown company (something which easily shows up on a credit history report, which many employers in my State and other States use), that is gonna stick out like a sore thumb. Many people in HR offices are going to look deeper into that. The longer the gap, the deeper the look.

HR offices have rules which they are supposed to go by. But then there are the informal things which happen, and which I have witnessed many times across many agencies. Namely human nature. People get curious about other people who might join their "team", and often go look into social media, and all other kinds of things, which are not part of the formal vetting process for new hires. I find that distasteful, and lame, but unfortunately, I have witnessed many people with hiring power, do those types of things anyway. As well as people who don't have hiring power, but just want to gossip or find out info, which they then thoughtlessly spread. It's really common, I've witnessed in human service, as well as other areas of business too.

I worked in a huge city in a huge non-profit (that paid terribly), not for private practice with privileged clients, and people still did that type of stuff ALL of the time with new hires. People are what they are, and many don't go by the book, or the way things are "supposed" to be. It sucks. I don't like having to be honest about what goes on in real life, as I know that info is painful to learn, but I'm not gonna lie or hide information regarding what I have witnessed, post-graduation in real clinical agencies which I worked at for years and years (after fully graduating).

 

[KenzieCams]

omg bless you woman! I just literally spent hours crying and thinking about all the student loan debt I will have to have because of not being able to work as a cam model! I even took the day off work. Its great to hear from somebody who is pursuing what I want who's also a cam girl. I am a BSW student and nobody has ever found out. I always figured it wouldn't effect my line of work because I plan to work as like a hospital social worker or an agency helping the homeless. I certainly don't want to work for some privileged private practice in the suburbs. I think I am gonna keep doing it after reading your post!

Also idk if this is weird but can I ever message you? We are both following similar courses of study so I find it quite interesting.

Message me any time.

You'll notice all these comments are all what ifs. What if it shows up on a background check, what if someone finds out and tells, what if there's facial recognition in the future... ?

What if it just works out and everyone is happy? Equally a valid point. If you're realistic and know there's a chance it might haunt you, I don't see the harm in keeping a positive outlook because it also might not come back to haunt you.

 

[cbhours]

what if there's facial recognition in the future... ?

It's a definite thing, it isn't a what if.

 

[KenzieCams]

It's a definite thing, it isn't a what if.

Yeah but what "what if" is whether or not she loses her job as a social worker due to this facial recognition. That's a pretty big what if.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

Yeah but what "what if" is whether or not she loses her job as a social worker due to this facial recognition. That's a pretty big what if.

Yep, it's a "Risk vs Reward" situation. Why I mentioned that most likely most companies either don't, or won't, use facial recognition or extensive background investigations. Most just go with the basic background check, then rely upon word of mouth and go with if things come up such as that. Some places I've heard have been cool and took the approach of "As long as it's in your past and not current", while others have dismissed workers for it.

Unless someone is after a very specific job type, or think that the future may hold a very key job that relies upon them to be squeaky clean, then I say just live life as you wish and let the chips fall where they may. Most times, if one door closes, another will open. Unless you've totally fucked up and did something wrong like a felony. Then you're fucked for a long time.

 

[JickyJuly]

I've had good luck with female therapists hearing me out after telling them (vaguely) what I do for a living. One told me she had done nude modelling in her younger days and another went on a rant over why sex work prohibition was intrinsically misogynist. I would guess that if you are flexible with job options, it won't stop you. I think in an educational setting where you're surrounded by people who are often more into reading about life and "facts" you're more judged than you would be in practice. A lot of things in our society are set up to discourage women from jumping class. Education is a great example of where people show their bias without noting it themselves. I would not be quick to share what you do with school friends or anything. No matter what anyone says, I'd rather be judged and financially stable. Stick with your path, project confidence in yourself and what you do and you will find something. I'd be more worried about the economy affecting job prospects in the mental health field than sex work.

 

[Deleted member 55529]

I live in a country where we have as TV hosts women who admitted having charged sex for money...The US is puritinical.