Lithium Magazine
  • Home
  • About
    • Editors
    • Writers
    • Artists
    • Photographers
  • Contact
    • Work With Us
  • Events
  • Shop
  • Read
    • Sex & Love
    • Culture & Entertainment
    • Activism, News, & Politics
    • Life
    • Photography
Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Followers
Followers
Lithium Magazine
Lithium Magazine
  • Home
  • About
    • Editors
    • Writers
    • Artists
    • Photographers
  • Contact
    • Work With Us
  • Events
  • Shop
  • Read
    • Sex & Love
    • Culture & Entertainment
    • Activism, News, & Politics
    • Life
    • Photography
  • Culture & Entertainment

The Untold Truth of Being a Twitch Thot

  • August 24, 2020
  • 4 comments
  • 4 minute read
  • Kiddest Sinke

“Are you…watching porn?”

We were on a Greyhound bus traveling across the Midwest, and I could swear I heard moaning from the seat over. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of my neighbor’s phone screen: a busty white cosplayer, dressed in booty shorts and a low-cut ruby red crop top, swaying her hips while playing Just Dance.

Oh. This wasn’t porn. 

It was Twitch, the world’s top streaming platform for video games, and the girl on the screen was Amouranth, one of Twitch’s top-paid creators. A brilliant businesswoman, Amouranth makes millions of dollars from her “IRL” streams—live recordings of gym workouts and hot tub BBQs and cosplay ASMR and naptime sessions—not to mention her premium Snap, Patreon, and OnlyFans subscriptions. 

“It’s for research,” my friend assured me, which wasn’t a lie. She was working on a paper about the gaming industry; these kinds of hypersexualized videos were normal to her. 

“We should be doing this,” I joked. “Just look at how much money she’s raking in.”

“Yeah, one problem with that plan,” she responded. “We aren’t hot.”

But that didn’t stop us from trying. 

Fast forward a few months, and my friend and I completed our first stream. She was tipped $400 within the first few hours. Her strategy? Roasting men through freestyle raps. I, on the other hand, made a whopping $0 playing Club Penguin Reunion. Granted, I did give up on streaming after a few minutes when an army of horny 12-year-old boys began spamming my chat with “send nudes!!!” and “b00bies pls!! XD.” Twitch wasn’t a porn site, but it certainly harbored the same misogynistic viewers. 

Unlike my friend, I didn’t stream again. Not because of the comments, but because it honestly takes a shit-ton of work to be entertaining. On a livestream, if you have even one awkward lull of silence, you can lose your entire audience. But I did keep watching other female Twitch streamers. I was curious to see what people were saying to them. Disappointingly, I found that no matter the channel, male viewers found some way to objectify the female streamer. This objectification was just the norm on Twitch.

“This used to be a goddamn community of gamers, nerds, kids that got bullied, kids that got fucked with, kids that resorted to the gaming world because the real world was too fucking hard, too shitty, too lonely, too sad and depressing,” roared the streamer Trainwreck in a viral video from 2017 that got him banned from Twitch for five days. He believed that Twitch had been overrun by “the same sluts that rejected us, the same sluts that chose the goddamn cool kids over us. The same sluts that are coming into our community, taking the money, taking the subs, the same way they did back in the day.”

This kind of misogynistic language is normalized in the gaming community—where literally anything a female streamer does is “wrong” or  “ruining the community,” regardless of how she presents herself.

“Don’t have any reservations about wearing revealing clothing if you want to; you’re going to be called a tit streamer and a camwhore by this community no matter what you wear [because] a lot of them are inherently sexist,” explained Kaceytron, a Twitch streamer famous for her “fake gamer girl” character—which “satirizes the stereotypical hyper-sexualized female Twitch streamer and pretends to be a professional League of Legends player while playing the game badly on purpose.” 

“No matter what I fucking wear, there’s always a comment,” tweeted another Twitch streamer, ZombiUnicorn. “There’s always someone calling me a titty streamer, fake gamer, or a whore.” 

Kaceytron and ZombiUnicorn aren’t the only streamers to call out their experiences with sexism. There seems to be a consensus amongst many female streamers: regardless of how you present online, you’ll receive sexist comments, so you might as well take advantage of that sexist attention, reclaim it, and transform it into something monetizable. 

I’m all for profiting from the male gaze—especially financially. But I do wonder if, when these female streamers turn off their cameras, having such sexist viewers affects their self-worth. If I were in their situation, would I feel empowered by these men’s money and attention? Or would I just be conflating empowerment with money and fame? 

In my mind, more money doesn’t necessarily equate to feeling more valuable. But capitalism tells me it should. Money is supposed to equal power, and neofeminism tells me that if I get that power, I’ll finally be equal. But in reality, capitalism was founded on inequality—and in the context of Twitch, profiting off sexism is nowhere near smashing sexism. You’re still operating within the sexist system. And while you may personally be thriving, there are countless who still aren’t.

So really, we need to reframe the narrative around female streamers—and that means radically restructuring the entire video game industry. 

Sexism is present not just in livestream comment sections, but in all corners of the gaming industry. It’s present when eSports celebrities like Ninja refuse to play with women gamers. It’s clear when female video game developers get doxxed and harassed for releasing their work. It’s obvious when character artists design hyper-sexualized female characters. It’s striking when people say “girls suck at video games” considering approximately 46% of video game players are female. Until we eradicate all forms of sexism in the gaming industry, female Twitch streamers will continue to be considered the “downfall” of Twitch—when in reality, they’re revolutionizing the industry for the better. Those gamer boys just don’t know it yet.

 

By Kiddest Sinke

Illustration by Damien Jeon

Related Topics
  • ATTENTION
  • Damien Jeon
  • gaming
  • Kiddest Sinke
  • Twitch
  • video games
Previous Article
  • Activism, News, & Politics

The Bastardization of Black Lives Matter

  • August 24, 2020
  • Sydney Paolercio
View Post
Next Article
  • Fashion & Beauty

Ethical Online Shopping: Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 

  • August 25, 2020
  • Jill Risberg
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

What’s the Point of “Fake Accounts”?

  • March 1, 2021
  • Katherine Williams
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

Oops!… We Did It Again: Why We Get Off on Women’s Pain

  • February 28, 2021
  • Tamara Jones
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

“Whole Lotta Red”: A Feverish and Avant-Garde End to 2020

  • February 28, 2021
  • Kaiya Shunyata
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

Blind Worship and the Films of Quentin Tarantino

  • February 27, 2021
  • Kaiya Shunyata
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

Why You Should Reject Music Elitism

  • February 26, 2021
  • Ellie Greenberg
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

Middle School Ends, But “Pen15” Is Forever 

  • February 26, 2021
  • Jadie Stillwell
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

How TV About Getting Lost Taught Me About Survival

  • February 25, 2021
  • Alex Eichenstein
View Post
  • Culture & Entertainment

An Ode to Garage Bands and Punk Shows Past

  • February 25, 2021
  • Sheena Holt
4 comments
  1. Bri says:
    November 4, 2020 at 7:32 am

    Excellent article!

    Reply
  2. Jake says:
    November 20, 2020 at 1:23 am

    Really? You’re going to condone this sh*t? It’s articles like this that keep these girls rich. Very disappointed.

    Reply
  3. Ti Jake says:
    December 22, 2020 at 2:24 am

    So encouraging women to continue to be used as eye candy is the great manifest destiny of feminism? Is this how you fight the wretched patriarchy? By encouraging women to continue being seen as a sex symbol for the guys watching? The logic of this article is absolute genius, no wonder feminisms hasn’t fixed any problems. It only created more over the past 20 years.

    Reply
  4. Dante Alighieri says:
    February 16, 2021 at 10:47 am

    okay I do very much appreciate that the article shows a perspective so rarely seen, BUT
    firstly profiting of the male gaze is a two sided thing, (not as easy as just empowering) for one thinks, what one sees, so a woman playing along with the thot idea drags down the whole of the female gaming community, a female gamer will only ever be a tit streamer. Art streamers not relying on their sexuality, are struggling because someone else is using this rather dubious tool of the male gaze.
    Next: yes, the gamer community has a problem with its rampant sexism as these people often at the lower end of the social hierarchy now lash out against this supposed unjust world(they are troubled people and this is a big problem), but Ninja never refused female gamers as a whole, he regularly streams with them so this is utter bullshit.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Featured Posts
  • 1
    Sexual Empowerment or Reckless Endangerment?
    • March 2, 2021
  • 2
    What’s the Point of “Fake Accounts”?
    • March 1, 2021
  • 3
    Oops!… We Did It Again: Why We Get Off on Women’s Pain
    • February 28, 2021
  • 4
    “Whole Lotta Red”: A Feverish and Avant-Garde End to 2020
    • February 28, 2021
  • 5
    Blind Worship and the Films of Quentin Tarantino
    • February 27, 2021
Recent Posts
  • Why You Should Reject Music Elitism
    • February 26, 2021
  • Middle School Ends, But “Pen15” Is Forever 
    • February 26, 2021
  • How TV About Getting Lost Taught Me About Survival
    • February 25, 2021
Categories
  • Activism, News, & Politics (69)
  • Culture & Entertainment (141)
  • Fashion & Beauty (31)
  • Life (133)
  • Photography (63)
  • Sex & Love (68)
Search
Instagram
OnlyFans, selling worn underwear, sex work—are these acts of sexual empowerment or reckless endangerment? As Modesty Sanchez writes, “Because OnlyFans creators are portrayed as entrepreneurs taking control of their image and brand, the role that the platform itself plays is often obscured and dismissed, especially since the company prefers to hide behind the feminist, sex-positive glow emanating from the sex workers that have flocked to the site.” Often, the dangers of online and IRL sex work are simply swept to the side while corporate exploitation is covered up by a girl boss narrative. Read the latest on Lithium now ⚡️
What’s the point of “Fake Accounts”? Written by Lauren Oyler, Fake Accounts is a perfect addition to the list of much-overhyped millennial reading: Normal People, Bad Feminist, How to Do Nothing, etc. And if Oyler wasn’t such a harsh critic of that specific literary circle, this novel would just be another pretty well-written, unmoving book. But Oyler has gone after too many media darlings like Sally Rooney, Jia Tolentino and Roxane Gay in open takedowns that center on her distaste for moralizing, self-absorbed, digital-first writing. Read Lithium writer @katwilliiams take on this book, live on the site now 📚
Britney Spears, Tessica Brown “Gorilla Glue Girl,” and trauma porn all have something in common—they are representations of our fascination with women’s pain. In @tamaravjones’s latest piece for Lithium, she points out that “It’s up to readers to support better journalism and think about the consequences before sharing their unfiltered hot takes on social media. Britney Spears’ legal battle will continue and inevitably, someone else will take Tessica Brown’s spot as the internet’s main character, and I can only hope that we manage to break this cycle before someone else gets hurt.” Live on Lithium now 💫
Playboi Carti’s newest album Whole Lotta Red is the rapper’s ARTPOP. While it’s different from a lot of the rap dominating the Billboard 100, Carti does something a lot of mainstream acts are afraid to do: experiment. Lithium writer @kaiya.shunyata dives deep into Whole Lotta Red and discusses how the album, like Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP, is a fantastic work of exploration and departure from the rap that mostly dominated 2020. Read about it now 🎧
When you’re first getting into film, you tend to hear the same names repeated over and over again: Fincher, Scorsese, and, most of all, Tarantino. But when @kaiya.shunyata rewatched his directorial debut Reservoir Dogs, she couldn’t help but think of his mistreatment of actresses (notably, Uma Thurman), his use of the N-word in films, sprinkled in like a garnish he and his fans can’t live without, and decades of controversies. She writes, “It’s become impossible to ignore the way Tarantino has been worshipped, while simultaneously not changing the things for which he’s been criticized.” Read about it on Lithium now 🎬
Middle school sux. Hulu’s Pen15 follows thirteen-year-old best friends Maya and Anna as they tackle an endless seventh-grade year. From day one, they face humiliations that only strike when you are thirteen, like bad haircuts and periods. But Pen15 sets itself apart from all the other middle school dramas by not only having good stories and actors, but drawing attention to the fact that even performing thirteen is a complex thing. Read about it now on Lithium, written by Jade Stillwell 📚
We’re all culprits in contributing to the shame and embarrassment that have become synonymous with listening to specific artists. Rex Orange County has become the unofficial pinnacle of a wannabe-indie girl who’s a regular Urban Outfitters patron. A Smiths fan is egotistical and decidedly unable to get laid. Bon Iver attracts the coffee shop connoisseur with a God complex. @elliergreenberg’s latest is all about why you should reject music elitism— this one is a must-read. Live on Lithium now 🎵
@holt.sheena’s latest piece is an ode to garage bands and punk shows past. She writes, “I loved every part of it—the moshing (which I observed, perplexed, from the sidelines), the music, the sense of belonging.” Read her latest piece on Lithium now 🎸
Shows about getting lost are meaningful in a lot of different ways, especially during the pandemic. Watching shows like Lost and Survivor make us wonder, “how do people skip their skincare routine for more than a week?” to deeper examinations of trust and acts of selflessness when storylines like allies and sacrifice come into play. Alex Eich writes, “These are both stories about our magnificent, if inconvenient, need for other people. And they taught me to find beauty in a shared will to survive.” Read about it now on Lithium 🏝

Input your search keywords and press Enter.