Friday, May 22, 2015

Woman In The Streaming World

*Disclaimer: I'm not saying all females do these things and I am not saying that only females do these things. This is just a blog of my opinion of things I have recently noticed a lot of from other female streamers*


Streaming live game play has been a growing community for years now and it's just getting larger. This community is so large that yes some people make a living from it. I myself do some streaming on Twitch TV which is all casual for me. In my free time when I will lurk on other peoples channels or look around to see who else is out there, and if there is anyone I would like to watch when I'm not streaming. I am a female gamer so I like to go and look at other female gamer's since it's nice to meet other gaming girls since we exist even though sometimes that is hard for some people to grasp. Right now there is only 1 female gamer I really watch. She's a wonderful woman who is a new mother and just recently got her sub button on twitch. I feel a great sense of happiness for her in these accomplishments, since this will help her be a stay at home mom and support her family. This woman is very professional, loving and caring. You feel like you are a part of her family.

Yet there are other woman I have found who seem to be in it more for the attention then anything else. I have noticed somethings that are kind of consistent and rubs me the wrong way with some other female streamers. The first thing that really rubs me the wrong way is when these female streamer's show off their biggest donations and how many donations they have received and things like that(this part really applies to any streamer for me). I understand wanting to thank your donors, and show appreciation but I don't think broadcasting who and how much especially large amounts. This is more like bragging and it's even worse when the way you present these donations is calling them "The Biggest D". We all know this is a sexual reference and it's not like we woman don't deal with sexual harassment, sexual degradation or rude comments enough. This is just pointing a large attention arrow right at yourself in a sexual manner.

With the woman who seem to post "The Biggest D" I have also noticed that they like to dress in very revealing ways on stream, doll themselves up and look ultra pretty. I once joined a channel where the streamer starts the channel early while she is putting on make-up. We waited 20 minutes for her to finally start her stream and even then there wasn't any game play immediately. As a female gamer and streamer I don't want people coming to my channel because I'm a female. I want them there because of my games and game play. I want them there for community and Interaction. Dressing up to impress or get attention is something that I do not do, in real life or on stream.

The next item on my list of things I have noticed from other female streamers is drinking while streaming. In the last week I have visited a large amount of female streams and I have seen a lot of beer bottles and wine glasses. Streaming live video there are just certain things that shouldn't really be presented. I am aware that some people like to drink when gaming and I know a few streamers who do that. But they at least don't make it know. These other streamers will put their drinks in a not so noticeable container so they are not flaunting alcohol about on their channel. A few of the women I watched made sure the label of the beer bottle faced the camera every time she picked it up, and another streamer would show off her wine glass. With the combination of alcohol and sexual references on these channels it makes sense why a lot of guys make the comments that they do on female streamer channels. I'm not saying it's right for a guy to make sexual references, harassment or degradation, but with woman presenting themselves in such ways and manners it doesn't help our battle as woman to be seen as equals, and respected.

Now what I mean by equals and respected is that over the ages we woman have always had to fight for an equal grounding with men. We have gotten to the point that we are equals but yet we sometimes make it hard for anyone whether male or female to take us seriously when we do things like the above mentioned. If we present ourselves in a sexual manner and add alcohol to the mix we are not showing that we have respect for even ourselves let alone gaining the respect from anyone who is going to be viewing us on the internet.

With all that I have mentioned above, no matter if you are a male or female reading this post. Reflect on what I have said in a gender neutral way. Because no matter if male or female if you present yourself in the ways mentioned above it will be hard for anyone to take you seriously no matter who they are. Streaming live game play is just for that. The game, the game play and the community. These channels and streams are not for gaining attention by putting sexual references, your pretty/handsome looks, or showing off the fact that your getting smashed.

Respect yourself, respect others and show that you care. Keep it clean and professional.

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