Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy
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Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy Antonia Hernández A Thesis In the Department of Communication Studies Presented in Partial Fulfllment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) at Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada July 2020 © Antonia Hernández, 2020 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Antonia Hernandez-Salamovich Entitled: Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Of Philosophy (Communication) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. Richard Lachapelle External Examiner Dr. Geert Lovink External to Program Dr. Johanne Sloan Examiner Dr. Fenwick McKelvey Examiner Dr. Mark Sussman Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. Kim Sawchuk Approved by Dr. Krista Lynes, Graduate Program Director August 25, 2020 _____________________________________________ Dr. Pascale Sicotte, Dean Faculty of Arts and Science iii ABSTRACT Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy Antonia Hernández, Ph. D. Concordia University, 2020 Once a peripheral phenomenon on the Web, sexcam platforms have been gaining social and eco- nomic importance, attracting millions of visitors every day. Crucial to this popularity is the tech- nical and economic model that some of those sites use. Sexcam platforms combine the practices of labor and user-generated platforms. As platforms, they mediate between users and providers, becoming the feld where those operations occur. Sexcam platforms, however, are more than inter- mediaries, and their structures incorporate and reproduce discriminatory conventions. Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy is a research-creation project exploring digital labor through the American sexcam platform Chaturbate.com. Rather than treating this platform as an exception, this project invites the consideration of Chaturbate as a paradigmatic instance of work in the context of platform capitalism. Sexcam platforms, this research argues, illustrate recent changes in the notions of what is work and what is leisure, what generates value, or the shifting nature of social relations through social media. Using a made-up dollhouse as an interface and stage, this project set up a series of performative in- terventions on the sexcam platform. Through humorous yet critical play, these pieces asked about the situation of social reproduction on the platform economy, the role of maintenance practices in the generation of value, and the incorporation of new technological infrastructures into daily life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This was not and could not be a solitary process. While it is tempting to make jokes on the multi- tude required to build a dollhouse, from a social reproduction point of view, this makes absolute sense. I rejoice in this interdependence. First things frst, I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Kim Sawchuk. Kim has always been enthusiastic about this project, encouraging and taking great delight in all its transgressions. Without her active support, this improbable research would never have existed. I also want to thank my thesis committee: Mark Sussman, who has always been generous with his time and knowledge; Fenwick McKelvey, who encouraged me to own what I supposedly know; Johanne Sloan, who infuenced this work from its very beginning; Geert Lovink who, although not having an agenda, has always included me in his. My gratitude goes to all of them, and I cherish the conversations we have had. I want to thank as well Tagny Duf, who helped me in the initial steps of this project, and the advice given by Concordia faculty members: Owen Chapman, Mia Consalvo, Jeremy Stolow, Alessandra Renzi, Orit Halpern, and David Newton. Special thanks to Brian Massumi, always available and enthusiastic. I am very thankful for the fnancial support I received for this research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Concordia University, and the SSHRC Partnership Grant ACT (Ageing, Communications, and Technology). Mitacs Globalink Research Award, and Hexagram (Performative Research Grant), made possible my fellowship at the Institute of Network Cultures in 2018. With or around the dollhouse, I had the luck to travel and have many encounters that shaped this research. My deepest gratitude to Geert Lovink and the INC team: Inte Gloerich, Miriam Rasch, Barbara Dubbeldam, and Sepp Eckenhaussen. Many thanks to Marijke Hoogenboom, who wel- comed at DAS (Amsterdam University of Arts) and Sher Doruf, who gave me generous feedback. I wish to acknowledge Aslak Aamot Kjærulf’s great camaraderie and Donatella Dellarata’s un- bridled enthusiasm. Many thanks to Susanna Paasonen for her insights and good humour, and the Turku’s editorial team: Kaisu and Mari. My special thanks to the anonymous reviewers in the SM+S special issue for their helpful comments. I feel lucky to have had meaningful conversations with Elena Pilipets, Crystal Abiding, Eduardo Espíndola, Yener Bayramoglu, Paula Montecinos, Ailie Rutherford, Rachel O’Dwyer, Lana Swartz, Stephanie Rothenberg, Silvio Lorusso, Lotte de Jong. v My gratitude to the classmates that helped me making sense of this research: Luciano Frizzera, Samia Pedraça, Myriam Rafa, Cherry Smiley, Emilie St. Hilaire, Julia Salles, Scott de Jong, An- drea Tremblay, Alison Loader, Christina Haralanova, Myriam Durocher. Special thanks to the magnifcent Porn Studies Group: Rebecca Holt, Brian Bergstrom, Nikola Stepić, Troy Bordun, Maggie MacDonald, Aurelie Petit, Grace Mendenhall. Special thanks to Constance Lafontaine and Dave Madden for their great insights. I want to recognize the multitude of sexcam performers who work on the platform. Thanks for, knowingly or not, sharing your time with me. A special thanks to my students, who made me realize that my toolbox was rusting Many thanks to the Communications department: Mircea Mandache, Sheelah O’Neill, Donna Stewart, Eve Girard. My thanks to my partner in crime CMD, and to our MAT3RIAL clients, for making this research sustainable. Many thanks to the people who took care of me during this time: Tatiana Vera-Lescano, Dr. Zhang, Véronique Cry. The love and support of my friends were vital during this process and flled me with joy. My deepest gratitude and love to Trish Toso, Corina MacDonald, Liz Miller, Jaimie Robson, Myri- am Jacob-Allard, Islandia Guzmán, Francisco González-Rosas: thank you so much for your love and hands-on help. Many thanks to Mél Hogan, Itza Gutiérrez, Deb Van Slet, Daniela Cross, Dasha Diakovska, Francisca Insulza, Masako Tanzawa, Ichiro Fujinaga, Ángela Acuña, Rola Har- mouche, Prasun Lala, Salka Tennen, Sergio Fortuño, Andrea Rojas, Laurita Otaola, Andrea Chi- gnoli, Álvaro Ceppi, Hernan Pisano, Omer Eltigani, Letizia Chiappini, Desirée Rochat, Valeria Sanhueza, Carolina Redondo, Juan Sáez, Marie Lavorel, Anne-Marie Brown. I am very grateful to Samuel Thulin for his great help in making this real. Many thanks to the people who helped me building the dollhouse: Ronnie Araya, Marian Salamovich, and Eduardo Pérez. My special grati- tude to Mila Gallanti for reminding me what a dollhouse is really for: playing. Thanks to my beloved aunties and their daughters: Patricia, Sofía, Ety, Silvia. Many thanks to my siblings Pilar and Nicolás. Thanks to Nicolás, Monse, and Tomás, and thanks to Sybila, Mariá and René. My deepest love to my sister Manuela, to Yoyi, to my mother. Thank you, Iván, Nonie, Rafa, Vivian, Rita, and Dorita for your care and inspiration. My deepest gratitude to my sweet children who amaze me daily with their beautiful souls: Justina, Santiago, and Vito. Thank you so much for your generosity, thank you for sharing your lives with mine. To my life partner, Gabriel, thank you for your precious presence, for loving me and laughing with all of this. Gracias, tigre. vi This work is dedicated to the loving memory of Iván Hernández vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES viii INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION I: FOUNDATIONS 13 CHAPTER 1: THE PLATFORM AND THE BUSINESS OF REPRODUCTION 14 CHAPTER 2: THE DOLLHOUSE 34 CHAPTER 3: THE JENNICAM 45 SECTION II : THE REPRODUCTIVE MACHINE 61 CHAPTER 4: THE BUILDING COMPLEX 62 CHAPTER 5: THE ROOM 115 REFERENCES 140 APPENDIX: STILL LIFE 155 viii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1. Dolls’ house of Petronella Oortman. 36 Fig. 2.2. Frances Glessner Lee, Kitchen. 42 Fig. 2.3. Miriam Schapiro and Sherry Brody. Dollhouse. 43 Fig. 3.1. XCofee. 46 Fig. 3.2. The (allegedly) frst frame of the JenniCam. 48 Fig. 3.3. Screenshots from the JenniCam. 51 Fig. 4.1. Percentage of rooms per gender 65 Fig. 4.2. Percentage of performers by age 69 Fig. 4.3. Percentage of performers by gender and hour 75 Fig. 4.4. Percentage of viewers (average) per performer’s age 79 Fig. 4.5. Visualization of the most common tags on the platform. 87 Fig. 4.6 Percentage of performers by age and gender 90 Fig. 4.7. The fow of money on the sexcam platform. 102 Fig. 4.8. Viewers per room ranking on may 15, 2017, 10pm est 106 Fig. 5.1. Panel 39 of Aby Warburg’s “Bilderatlas Mnemosyne.” 117 Fig. 5.2. Between the drawer and the dollhouse. 118 Fig. 5.3. Projections on the dollhouse. 119 Fig. 5.4. Projections on the dollhouse. 120 Fig. 5.5. Projections on the dollhouse. 121 Fig. 5.6. Projections and performance with the dollhouse. 122 Fig. 5.7. Miniature detail. 124 Fig. 5.8. Situating Maintenance 128 Fig. 5.8. Maintenance Pornography. Detail. 130 Fig. 5.9. (Performer’s) view of the transmission and the chat window. 132 Fig. 5.10. Living room. Detail. 133 Fig. 5.11. On failure. 134 Fig. 5.12. Dollhouse detail. 135 Fig. 5.12. Performance in collaboration with Clivey69. 138 Fig. 6.1. Screen capture from Chaturbate, 2014. 141 Fig.