- Feb 12, 2012
- 6,720
- 27,507
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[Gents and public chat folks: I made this post in the model's only section of the forum. The topic has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. Some ladies pointed out that there could probably be a lot more discussion on the topic if it wasn't all hidden away and stuff, so I am going to cross-post it here.]
I really really enjoy ACF. I like the people here, and I like how we are a diverse group, and I really enjoy seeing people's opinions, even if they differ a lot from my own. Diversity makes us stronger! But there is one topic which I have seen pop up every now and again which I completely disagree with. It is,
"Top models just sit around and do nothing while they make a ton of money."
And I understand this opinion. I really do. As only an average, and definitely not a high earning model, it can be extremely frustrating to work hard for 5 hours, make $200, and then go watch a big-name MFC model make $500 in 30 minutes while she sits at her desk and laughs with members.
She didn't put on a single show. She didn't sell any content. She doesn't even have a room topic for a countdown. She didn't offer flashes or dances for those tips! She sat there and did NOTHING and it's not fair because I just worked for five hours and made chump change compared to her. It's just luck; she's definitely sleeping with some of those guys, they just like her because she manipulates them. She must be leading them on, or she's just hot enough to sit there and hang out while she gets showered with huge tips.
However, in reality, it looks more like this:
The frustrating thing is that people often just plain invalidate the physical, emotional, and mental struggle of hard-working cam models. "Who cares if she logs off crying every day? She makes 3x as much money as me!" On my part, it is especially frustrating to see people (not anyone on ACF) basically say, "meh, who gives a fuck how hard it is? Who gives a fuck how she feels? Bitch still made twenty grand in a month, she can take whatever she's put through for that kind of money." It's a mindset that reduces the model to subhuman status and suggests that a woman who makes money through her sexuality should not be empathized with - perhaps she should even be forced to suffer.
I feel like people who hold this opinion fall in to one of two categories. Either they are just uneducated about what it actually takes and they don't understand the work involved, or they legitimately despise women who can make money through sex and companionship, and feel the need to treat these women like villains. I feel like we don't have any people here who actually don't like sex workers, so that's a pretty good start.
In the interest of education, I want to share some extra thoughts on the matter.
♥ Not all camrooms run on the premise of "tips in = immediate sexual action out". A model who gets a 500 token tip and does not immediately show her breasts or do a dance did not just get 'free' money.
♥ Socialization is not necessarily easier, less tiring, or more fun to do than sex. A model who earns her money through socialization does not necessarily work any less than a model who earns her money doing sexual shows.
♥ Models who are making huge amounts of money spent huge amounts of time getting to where they are now. If it looks like they are getting tons of money for doing nothing, that's repayment for the 30 months they spent selling their soul to camland to get to this point.
♥ A model may earn large amounts of money, but that does not mean she is greedy, that she should ask for less money, or that she should not be upset if she cannot meet her goals. There is no reason that a high earning model should be happy that she just made 50% of her daily goal or that she only made 30% of her hourly goal, even if her goals are much higher than average. Just like nobody here should be happy if you were only able to make 50% of your normal sales today or 30% of your usual tips.
♥ It is erroneous to assume that these women are sitting on huge bank accounts and don't need the money they make daily to survive.
♥ Models work very hard to make their rooms enjoyable and stress-free. It doesn't look hard because she works hard to make it look easy. Just because a model is presenting a relaxed vibe doesn't mean this is the easiest job in the world and that she doesn't care what happens.
Not every high earning model has a stressful career. Not every high earning model is in debt or has people to take care of; some of them may have big bank accounts. Some of them didn't take years to get to the top. But their personal finances or their journeys are not the issue. I feel that everyone who reads a post like this can immediately think of a model or two who doesn't do shit and still makes great money, and I am not arguing that every model who earns well follows my hypothetical story up above. I am also not trying to say that low earning models earn less because they don't work hard. However, I feel that in general, some people have a very poor understanding of what kind of work actually goes in to making money doing 'nothing.'
It is okay to be frustrated. It is okay to work hard and be unhappy with the amount of money you make. It is okay to be surprised, amazed, or even irritated with how much money some models are making. But it is not okay to say that high earning models don't work for their money, it is not okay to say that they should be happy with whatever they get, and it is not okay to shame other women for their success.
:twocents-02cents:
I really really enjoy ACF. I like the people here, and I like how we are a diverse group, and I really enjoy seeing people's opinions, even if they differ a lot from my own. Diversity makes us stronger! But there is one topic which I have seen pop up every now and again which I completely disagree with. It is,
"Top models just sit around and do nothing while they make a ton of money."
And I understand this opinion. I really do. As only an average, and definitely not a high earning model, it can be extremely frustrating to work hard for 5 hours, make $200, and then go watch a big-name MFC model make $500 in 30 minutes while she sits at her desk and laughs with members.
She didn't put on a single show. She didn't sell any content. She doesn't even have a room topic for a countdown. She didn't offer flashes or dances for those tips! She sat there and did NOTHING and it's not fair because I just worked for five hours and made chump change compared to her. It's just luck; she's definitely sleeping with some of those guys, they just like her because she manipulates them. She must be leading them on, or she's just hot enough to sit there and hang out while she gets showered with huge tips.
However, in reality, it looks more like this:
Once upon a time... said:Top model joined MFC four years ago. She has never taken a break since she started.
She struggled for months and months to make average money. She spent a lot of time researching the industry and she put a lot of thought, effort and energy in to improving her shows and being a better model.
She spent 7 or 8 hours a day working on her cam career - and on her top 20 months, she may be putting in 12 or more hours a day.
She worked her ass off and started to attract big tippers - regulars that she relies on to survive.
She invested thousands of dollars in to her career through equipment, building a cam space, prizes, props, profiles, and websites; she paid to visit other models for shows, she paid two grand for her sex machine, and $1500 on all her Adobe editing software; she pays for professional photographers and she money to travel to shots, cons, and events to promote herself.
She worked 350 hours last month to rank in the top 10 of Miss MFC.
She has spent 5 hours today texting a big tipper who is attacking her for going to a private show for another member.
In the back of her mind, she is thinking about how she still has $50,000 in student loans to pay back and how her credit is going down the drain. She is tired of having to live in a huge city where her cost of living tops $7k a month, but she can't move away because her life is already built here. She's waiting for her mom or boyfriend to call and ask to borrow money yet again.
She checks her PMs to see another big tipper is telling her to stop being lazy and work harder or else all his tips to get her in to the top 20 will be wasted. She keeps on her smile or else people in her chatroom will immediately attack and accuse her of playing for pity tips.
She's been working for 6 hours - just one last countdown to go. She is fatigued but this is her job, she just wants to have a good time. Members call her a token whore for asking for a high countdown number. "Come on baby, you already make 15k tokens today, give us a free show, it's not like it'll cost you anything..."
When she logs off of cam, daily goal barely reached, emotionally exhausted, harassed by trolls, and completely drained by her 'always on' schedule, she checks twitter to find pages of horrible messages from people who hate her just because she makes good money.
She spends the rest of the night responding to messages and trying to take care of more regulars who all want a piece of her. When she goes to bed, she has a nightmare about her camscore; when she wakes up, she checks her MFC account and her twitter before she even gets out of bed. She responds to e-mails from her regulars during breakfast, has 90 minute to get ready for the day, and then it's on cam again till lunch and then on cam after lunch until bedtime.
The frustrating thing is that people often just plain invalidate the physical, emotional, and mental struggle of hard-working cam models. "Who cares if she logs off crying every day? She makes 3x as much money as me!" On my part, it is especially frustrating to see people (not anyone on ACF) basically say, "meh, who gives a fuck how hard it is? Who gives a fuck how she feels? Bitch still made twenty grand in a month, she can take whatever she's put through for that kind of money." It's a mindset that reduces the model to subhuman status and suggests that a woman who makes money through her sexuality should not be empathized with - perhaps she should even be forced to suffer.
I feel like people who hold this opinion fall in to one of two categories. Either they are just uneducated about what it actually takes and they don't understand the work involved, or they legitimately despise women who can make money through sex and companionship, and feel the need to treat these women like villains. I feel like we don't have any people here who actually don't like sex workers, so that's a pretty good start.
In the interest of education, I want to share some extra thoughts on the matter.
♥ Not all camrooms run on the premise of "tips in = immediate sexual action out". A model who gets a 500 token tip and does not immediately show her breasts or do a dance did not just get 'free' money.
♥ Socialization is not necessarily easier, less tiring, or more fun to do than sex. A model who earns her money through socialization does not necessarily work any less than a model who earns her money doing sexual shows.
♥ Models who are making huge amounts of money spent huge amounts of time getting to where they are now. If it looks like they are getting tons of money for doing nothing, that's repayment for the 30 months they spent selling their soul to camland to get to this point.
♥ A model may earn large amounts of money, but that does not mean she is greedy, that she should ask for less money, or that she should not be upset if she cannot meet her goals. There is no reason that a high earning model should be happy that she just made 50% of her daily goal or that she only made 30% of her hourly goal, even if her goals are much higher than average. Just like nobody here should be happy if you were only able to make 50% of your normal sales today or 30% of your usual tips.
♥ It is erroneous to assume that these women are sitting on huge bank accounts and don't need the money they make daily to survive.
♥ Models work very hard to make their rooms enjoyable and stress-free. It doesn't look hard because she works hard to make it look easy. Just because a model is presenting a relaxed vibe doesn't mean this is the easiest job in the world and that she doesn't care what happens.
Not every high earning model has a stressful career. Not every high earning model is in debt or has people to take care of; some of them may have big bank accounts. Some of them didn't take years to get to the top. But their personal finances or their journeys are not the issue. I feel that everyone who reads a post like this can immediately think of a model or two who doesn't do shit and still makes great money, and I am not arguing that every model who earns well follows my hypothetical story up above. I am also not trying to say that low earning models earn less because they don't work hard. However, I feel that in general, some people have a very poor understanding of what kind of work actually goes in to making money doing 'nothing.'
It is okay to be frustrated. It is okay to work hard and be unhappy with the amount of money you make. It is okay to be surprised, amazed, or even irritated with how much money some models are making. But it is not okay to say that high earning models don't work for their money, it is not okay to say that they should be happy with whatever they get, and it is not okay to shame other women for their success.
:twocents-02cents: