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A reader writes to NerdLove about a crush that’s more complicated than the usual interest in a cute girl at the comic store. He’s fallen for a cam girl. Should he tell her? And if so, how?
In her memoir Camgirl, Isa Mazzei describes a career in online pornography that seems to defy the traditional definition of “work.” She spent years trying every job she could imagine—a library clerk, a copywriter, a web designer, an English teacher, a vintage clothing buyer, a busboy, and a nanny—before finally landing on her defining role as a cam girl.
For the most part, she doesn’t care about her customers personally, just that they’re spending tokens and buying private shows. But some of her regulars begin to feel a connection with her, and they even fall in love.
Camgirl is a frank conversation-starter about taboo topics, the same nervy experiences that inspired the Netflix thriller Cam (starring Madeline Brewer as a digital sex worker who faces off against a duplicate of herself). It might take a few minutes to acclimate, but then you’ll jump into it the way you would a chilly pool on a scorching day. It’s refreshing to see these deeply taboo subjects ensconced within breezy honesty and whip-smart humor. And, just like a casino or a video game, cam sites make their money by exploiting addictive behaviour.