However, as Berg explains, the way many cam streaming sites set up payment structures can intensify the emotional demands of the job, leaving cam performers particularly vulnerable. "Companies typically treat performers as independent contractors, so there are no guarantees, and one could work for hours and make very little," Berg says. "Like customers in non-sex industries, clients come with ideas about how much a given worker's labor is worth, and cam performers of color, who are gender queer, fat or disabled have to navigate some clients' perceptions that their labor is worth less."
"Webcam performers have to establish connections with clients and grow a fanbase, and tap into clients' fantasies all while protecting their own boundaries," says Heather Berg, professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Washington University in St Louis. "Many clients want an interaction that feels authentic to them and seek out performers who seem not to be obviously money-motivated, so performers do a lot of work to make sure they're getting paid without disrupting the illusion of an unmediated connection. In addition, clients are often quite lonely."
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by the autumn
of 1999 the main contestants in the approaching elections ?from
communists to liberals, from local bureaucrats to ultra璶ationalists
?were ready to enter the election fray, with the chances of the
communist party, the fatherland桝ll russia bloc, and yabloko looking
particularly good. it was at this moment, when the process of
coalition building across the entire political spectrum seemed to be
complete, that the kremlin suddenly sprang into action and attempted
to recapture the initiative in the run-up to the december elections. |
by that time,
the social misery and political gloom of the postcrisis period had
largely receded: the economy was picking up, and some social
stability had returned. it appeared that the financial crash came
with a 搒ilver lining? the rouble
devaluation and the collapse in imports from august 1998 created
conditions for the revival of domestic production. the presidential
administration had little to do with the economic recovery but was
quick to take credit for it. it also intended to gamble on the new
face in russian politics ?vladimir putin ?who had just been
appointed prime minister.
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in a matter of
days the federal administration managed to set up from scratch a new
election bloc, the interregional 揢nity?(edinstvo in russian)
movement. its core was comprised of local bosses from less
economically viable regions, which depended on subsidies from
moscow. |
these regional administrators had little chance of playing a
prominent role in the existing governors?blocs, such as fatherland
and all russia, led by strong governors from industrialized regions
like moscow and tatarstan.
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