Camfrog women 'fight oppression'

They have chosen to perform their sexual desires through sexy dresses, dancing, sexual language and making love, Wachira Chanthong told the first "Annual Conference on Sexuality Studies in Thai Society".

She presented her new study of the sexual preferences of young women who use Camfrog.

Women in her study were aged from 16 to 29 and most were members of the urban middle class. They usually begin chatting on the webcam from 11pm to 4am and most do so on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the researcher said.

"Camfrog is a social phenomenon that reflects diversities of sexuality," Wachira said, adding that young women used the webcam community to fight against the sexual discourse constructed by society.

Society had a double standard because young women's sexual behaviour was always an issue to be criticised, she said.

Some women in her study entered the webcam community because they wanted freedom and space to express their sexual desires.

Many wanted to find new friends while some said they had learned about Camfrog from news reports before becoming members.

Alhough sexual exploitation was still an issue on Camfrog as male visitors often use insulting words to criticise women's bodies, women could exercise their power by deciding if they wanted to communicate with them or not, Wachira said.

Camfrog was at least a space for women to show their bargaining power, but community members had to exercise self-censorship because the state had tried to invade their space.

"Some owners of chat rooms warned members not to show nipples and other parts of their bodies, otherwise they would be banned," Wachira said.

Community members no longer showed themselves making love on the webcam, she said.

The young feminist said she would like to see better under?standing of women and sexual?ity. "The problem is not about sexual behaviour but about social thinking which oppress?es women," she said.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

 The Nation