Spoiler Alert: Week 12 Camgirls

As I began reading Camgirls, I was immediately struck by the concept of identity formation online, and “digital drag,” mentioned in the first chapter. Senft writes, “people were fascinated by what I call ‘digital drag’: performances in which people (almost always men) attempted to represent themselves in cyberspace as something other than their offline gender, sexuality, race, or ability. Back then, the notion that “On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog” (to quote the caption of a well-known New Yorker cartoon) was particularly attractive to those limited by sexism, racism, ageism, and disability discrimination in the offline world. That said, digital drag was never restricted solely to society’s ‘others.’ The idea of the internet as a limited space had broad mainstream appeal to all sorts of users. Internet ethnographer Sherry Turkle even lauded the practice as a way to work through postmodern ideas of the self” (35). This particular passage reminded me of a mocumentary I watched where a young man begins an online relationship with a woman who he has never met before. The woman sends him pictures, videos, and audioclips which all present her as a beautiful, twenty-something singer/songwriter. The man quickly falls for her as any gullible person might, believing her every word. She even goes so far as to introduce him to her family members. They plan to eventually meet but when he asks her about it she is elusive and vague. Finally by a fluke occurrence he is sent to a city close to where she lives and decides to pay a surprise visit. The story that follows is surprising, but it does not surprise the viewer to learn that she is not who she said she was.

Senft cyber theory implies that identity formation for women online, “helps destabilize feminism’s too easy dependence on identity politics.” For many women, operating webcams online enables a separate identity from the one they’re allowed in daily life. Many of the women interviewed in Camgirls admittedly interact with their viewers in giving them what they want, whether it is more chat time, stills, or visual performance. Some claim that they’re only performing as themselves and that their reality is meant to stand alone as performance in itself. In all cases, the women are aware of at the very least an imagined audience. I think that by being aware of this imagined audience women are naturally driven to perform online, it is only through their mediated interactions that they give in to viewers’ desires. As I read, I struggled with the idea of webcams as a tool for identity formation because of the potential for disaster. Rather than rant on with my own opinion, I would like to ask the question:” At what point does a false identity online become detrimental?” Is it when it begins to effect other people in negative ways? Do we have an obligation to admit who we are in “real life” when we present ourselves as someone else online? Why or why not?

I’m going to post the trailer of the movie I was talking about. I spoiled a bit of it but it’s still good if you have the time to watch it!