If you like getting your perceptions challenged, Shock Value is a book for you! I remember when I first got the request to review this book and I could not make a decision. I got into book blogging to be able to learn new perspectives and part of that is getting to understand myself better. But the only way I can do that is to accept when I’m uncomfortable and go out of my comfort zone. Take a look!
Shock Value is the brutally honest story of one webcam model’s sexual encounters with her online clients. In a world of sexual deviants, “Angelina” entices various men to her chat room to fulfill their sexual fantasies that some would consider taboo. This book of short stories encompasses the provocative world of web camming, fetishes, kinks, role plays and sexual desires. Her web cam sessions are often raunchy, hilarious and downright bizarre. Enthralling and surprisingly comical, Angelina leads you down numerous paths of some of the most outlandish, offbeat and peculiar sexual fantasies one can encounter.
Content Notes: Explicit Sexual content.
Why I chose to read Shock Value
I love reading for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being the fact that reading about other people’s experiences helps me get to know myself better – understand the questions as well as the perceptions I have about this world. When Eliza reached out to me to read this book, I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to read it (hence, conforming to whatever vague idea I had about webcamming) but the very fact that I could not explain why made me pick up this book. I wanted to learn what a web cam girl does, and I am not going to google that so here was my chance, to read in the comforts of my home.
Themes for Thought
Eliza is a 40 year old woman and being a cam girl is her alter ego, her part time job, something that not many people in her friend circle know about. Through this book, Eliza shares some hilarious and some awkward stories from her two years of working in this profession. She has had to do a lot of research for this job, and that clearly shows in this book as well. She shares some tips for women who might want to go into the industry themselves, showing the financial reality of the job, the kind of men she meets and more. I found this to be a neat study in the many fetishes that exist in the human population.
On Sex Work
I don’t know about you but I grew up in a very sheltered environment. In India, even having a boyfriend was quite taboo through high school, let alone junior high. We did not go on dates. There were no house parties. Doesn’t mean people did not try.
I distinctly remember the science lessons about the reproductive system and how awkward they were. One time in Grade 8, our teacher was actually pregnant so you can guess the jokes.
My point is that we often grow up with the idea that sex and body are things that are not to be talked about and the people who take pleasure in these things are strange. But are they really? Sex is a pleasurable activity that releases happy hormones. It’s a very personal activity, for sure, but just because a lot of us (me included) are not comfortable with talking about it, it does not mean that the person engaging in paid work in that area has something wrong with them.
I also never thought a woman my age would actually be successful at it, because like a lot of people out there, I assumed that most of the successful webcam models were in their early twenties with flawless skin and perfect bodies.
Eliza in Shock Value
That is one of the big myths that Eliza tackles throughout this book. She is just another woman who has a good well paying job in the law sector. She has been part of the military. She has a puppy! What she chooses to do to get some extra money is her choice and to continue to do that while people judge her about it, is something she has learned to be okay with.
Ultimately, we live with ourselves and we define what is ok and not ok in our lives. If I am unhappy with my decisions, then that’s a change I can make. That’s in my hands. It does not matter what people think or say.
On Boundaries
Shock Value was an interesting study in fetishes that I had not idea existed. I think back to my experiences of struggling with interacting with people online and making authentic connections (you’ve probably heard my take on book blogger and author relations). The webcam modeling world is fraught with its own problems because people still don’t follow protocol on how to approach and work with web cam models.
If you have been on the receiving end of dick pics on social media, think about a web cam model’s world. There too, dick pics are abundant.
Dick pics are the human equivalent of a cat giving you a dead bird as a “gift”.
Eliza in Shock Value
Even though Eliza works from the comforts of her home, she still has to set boundaries. Whenever there is a service being offered, whether it is book blogging, reviewing, editing, publishing, webcamming, there are rules and people don’t always follow them. I loved that Eliza gave examples of how she controls her chat room, the things she absolutely will not allow and reason she will kick people out of it. Webcam models have boundaries too, and why shouldn’t they?
Personally, I had just never given webcam modeling much thought except it dabbles into uncomfortable territories for me. But reading about it, was like learning about any other profession and I found this quite refreshing. If a close friend of mine was a webcam model, I would know what they do now; I am no longer going off to whatever mysterious unformed, un-validated idea I had previously.
Were parts of this book uncomfortable to me? Yes. Were there parts where I appreciated Eliza’s honesty and forthrightness? Absolutely, all the time. If you are curious about this profession, read this book. It’s not erotica. Even if you don’t want to read the book, come back tomorrow to read Eliza’s interview. It is brutally honest, like this book.
** Shock Value: a Cam Girl’s Sexy and Hilarious Stories of Capitalizing on Sexual Desire is now out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Many thanks to Eliza for the review copy of the book.
Cover image: Photo by Karan Nagpal on Unsplash
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