Gender Regime of Webcam Modeling

Sex work is being modified by the influence of the Internet, and new forms of sex work are emerging. Webcam modeling is a new sex work in which the interaction between the client and the model is conducted on special Internet platforms in the online broadcast mode. In scientific academic discourse, sex work is studied within the framework of feminist paradigms that initially define the place of sex work in society. Feminist concepts view sex work either as work of a coercive nature, or as work expressing sexual freedom. This work will focus on the study of webcam modeling in the framework of gender studies, which makes it possible to look not only at the individual experience of sex workers, but also to include it in the broader context of gender characteristics of modern society. This master's thesis focused on the study of sex work in a qualitative methodology – 21 webcam models participated in the study. The structural-constructivist paradigm in Connell's interpretation allowed studying the gender regime in webcam modeling using the following structural models – power relations, sexual-social relations, industrial relations, and symbolic order. Consideration of these aspects is necessary for a broad study of the significance of this type of sex work in the Russian context. Keyword: sex work, webcam modeling, Connell's structural constructivist paradigm, gender regime