HOLLYWOOD – Amidst the glitz and glamour of last night’s inaugural YNOT Cam Awards, adult entertainment legend Nina Hartley took the stage to deliver a brief speech to the assembled audience of models, performers and adult industry entrepreneurs.

Hartley’s remarks bore all the hallmarks of her public appearances past – by which I mean they were insightful, encouraging and sex-positive, with just a touch of delightful, determined defiance included for good measure.

Central to Hartley’s speech was a celebration of the independence and creativity afforded by adult webcamming, the continued growth of which she positioned as an ongoing revolution in the adult entertainment space.

“I’ve seen a lot of change in my 36 years in adult entertainment and the most exciting development, the one that helps the most people over the greatest geographic range, is livestreaming.,” Hartley began. “No longer are model’s jobs at the mercy of a producer’s whim; they create their own work. No longer do they need to perform another’s notion of what’s sexy; they do exactly as they please online and no more.”

Hartley also noted how camming serves to remove barriers between performer and fan, saying the “direct connection between provider and user is nothing short of revolutionary.”

“Once strangers to one another, models and fans can now build communities and relationships that, while physically distant, are emotionally close and vital, even lifesaving,” Hartley observed. “Decent folk pay for their pleasure and fans can now know their money is going to support the model of their choice… As a safe place to discover one’s sexual nature, no matter on which side of the camera you find yourself, camming is unsurpassed.”

Hartley also noted that whether a model works full- or part-time camming, “its flexibility and portability are hard to beat.”

“Being a model dovetails well with entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, time management, creative expression and navigating sometimes complex sexual issues, all while creating community with other models and with fans, who know a warm connection to a real person is just a few clicks away,” Hartley said.

Naturally, if for no other reason than it represents a form of adult entertainment, camming isn’t universally embraced as a positive development. As Hartley remarked “many try to shut us up or shut us down.”

“Don’t let them,” Hartley instructed, prefacing a quote from suffragette and activist Victoria Woodhull by adding “Here’s what I repeat when they try: ‘Yes, I am a free lover. I have an inalienable constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to change that love every day if I please, and neither you nor any law you can frame, have any right to interfere.’”

Hartley concluded by commenting that Woodhull’s quote is “as radical today as when it was first uttered one hundred and thirty years ago.”

Hartley closed her remarks by drawing a direct connection between Woodhull and the models in attendance last night.

“We carry on her legacy – and build our own – every time we switch on our cameras,” Hartley said.