Works Cited
Berger, John. “3.” In Ways of Seeing, 45–64. London: Penguin Book Group, 1972.
The main message that is applicable to my research from this piece is the idea that women are frequently demonized or otherwise diminished by men when they are filling a role that those very men created. For example, when a woman makes money from being a sex worker, some men will demonize her even though she is not the one creating that market.
Brewster, Kathryn, Amanda L. L. Cullen, and Bonnie Ruberg. “Nothing but a ‘Titty Streamer’: Legitimacy, Labor, and the Debate Over Women’s Breasts in Video Game Live Streaming.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 36, no. 5 (August 2019): 466-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2019.1658886
This paper focuses on the derogatory categorizations female streamers face specifically on Twitch through conducting analyses of reddit posts on r/Twitch. Generally, this piece interfaces with the discrimination women face on Twitch and within Twitch communities. Furthermore it establishes the notion that women on Twitch must work to establish themselves as “real streamers” simply because of their gender.
Clement, J. “Distribution of Game Developers Worldwide from 2014 to 2021, by Gender.” Statistica, September 2, 2022. Accessed October 15, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/453634/game-developer-gender-distribution-worldwide/.
This showcases that from 2014 to 2021, the number of female game developers has increased from 22% to 30%. Additionally, this shows that approximately 8% of game developers identify as neither men nor women.
Clement, J. “Distribution of Video Gamers in the United States from 2006 to 2022, by Gender.” Statistica, October 20, 2022. Accessed October 25, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/232383/gender-split-of-us-computer-and-video-gamers/.
This article showcases the distribution of gender among video gamers in the United States from 2006 to 2022, showing that women currently make up 48% of gamers in the US. This data does not include individuals who are nonbinary.
Cullen, Amanda L. L. “Just on the Right Side of Wrong: (De)Legitimizing Feminism in Video Game Live Streaming.” Television & New Media, Vol. 23, no. 5 (2022): 542-552. doi: 10.177/1527464221080937.
This paper focuses specifically on feminism on Twitch through analyses of Reddit threads. In particular, the article deals with the notion of what is “correct” or accepted feminism in gaming spaces—what women should or shouldn’t be outraged about on Twitch. For example, it’s socially acceptable to be upset about women who “ruin it” for other female streamers by showing a lot of cleavage, but it’s not acceptable to being doxxed because you’re a feminist.
Cveticanin, Nikolina. “Twitch Stats and Demographics for 2022: The Most Influential Streaming Platform for Gamers.” DataProt, August 24, 2022. Accessed November 5, 2022.
This article details current statistics related to Twitch.tv and establishes that the site is currently growing and is one of the biggest live streaming platforms in the world. Key figures include: there was an average of 8.5 active Twitch streamers per month in 2021 and in the second quarter of 2022 99% of the top streamers were male, although there are other stats that might be worth including as well.
Galupo, M. Paz and Lex Pulice-Farrow. “‘Every Time I Get Gendered Male, I Feel a Pain in My Chest’: Understanding the Social Context for Gender Dysphoria.” Stigma and Health, Vol. 5, no. 2 (2022): 99–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000189.
This study involved interviews with trans and nonbinary individuals regarding their experiences online. Many of them reported misgendering online contributed to gender dysphoria.
Glick, Peter and Susan T. Fiske. “The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating Hostile and Benevolent Sexism.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 70, no. 3 (1996): 491-512. doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491.
This study focuses on measuring and defining “ambivalent sexism.” This is applicable in particular to the notion of what is and isn’t considered “acceptable” feminism on Twitch and how that demarcation is itself a form of sexism.
Howard, Judith A. “The ‘Normal’ Victim: The Effects of Gender Stereotypes on Reactions to Victims.” Social Psychology Quarterly 47, no. 3 (1984): 270–81. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033824.
This study focuses on perceived vs actual rates of victimization as well as rates of victim blaming. The author found that women are more likely than men to be blamed for being victims.
Johnson, Mark R. “Behind the Stream: The Off-Camera Labor of Game Live Streaming.” Games and Culture, Vol. 16, no. 8 (2021): 1001-1020. doi 10.1177/15554120211005239.
This article focuses on the labor that necessarily accompanies live streaming, especially the labors that may not be apparent to the average viewer or to someone who knows very little about live streaming. In particular, the author discusses the work that goes into maintaining a cross-platform social media presence, managerial roles involved in moderation teams, statistical analysis required for understanding analytics, and the graphic design required to maintain a high quality stream. Furthermore it deals with the idea that streaming lends itself to an “always-on” or always working life-style.
Kassorla, Matthew. “Sexism Within the Video Game Industry.” The Cornell Daily Sun, August 30, 2021. Accessed October 15, 2022. https://cornellsun.com/2021/08/30/sexism-within-the-video-game-industry/.
This article details the 2021 Activision Blizzard lawsuit regarding sexual harrassment in the workplace. The piece details the shocking incidents cited in the case and discusses the festering “frat-like” work environment of Blizzard, claiming that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that since 2014’s GamerGate, sexism in the industry has only gotten worse.
Lark, Daniel and Bonnie Ruberg. “Live Streaming from the Bedroom: Performing Intimacy Through Domestic Space on Twitch.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Vol. 27, no. 3 (2021): 679-695. doi: 10.1177/1354856520978324.
This article deals with the fact that many streams appear to take place in a domestic space, whether they take place in an actual bedroom or simply in a room that has other cues for domesticity. Additionally this article deals with the gender breakdown of this phenomenon, concluding that women are more likely to stream from a bedroom than men.
McLaughlin, Heather, Christopher Uggen, and Amy Blackstone, “Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power,” American Sociological Review 77, no. 4 (2012): 625–647. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412451728.
This article studies sexual harassment in the workplace, and found that women in male-dominated work are more likely to experience harassment. Additionally, the main question of the piece was regarding how frequent women in positions of authority experience harassment, finding that they were more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment.
Payne, Diana L., Kimberly A. Lonsway, and Louise F. Fitzgerald. “Rape Myth Acceptance: Exploration of Its Structure and Its Measurement Using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale.” in Journal of Research in Personality no. 33 (1999): 199-208. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sah0000189.
This study deals with the development of rape myth and rape myth acceptance. I am especially interested in the elements related to victim blaming because of their application to Twitch streaming.
Perks, Matthew E. and Christopher J. Persaud. “Beauty from the Waist Up: Twitch Drag, Digital Labor, and Queer Mediated Liveiness.” Television & New Media, Vol. 23, no. 5 (2022): 475-486. doi: 10.1177/15274764221080912.
This article focuses on drag culture on Twitch and discusses, generally, queer spaces on the platform. Furthermore, it makes comparisons between Twitch drag culture and in real life drag culture. It also explores what it is to be queer on a platform as casual and in real time as Twitch. For example, the article mentions how during one “get ready with me” stream the drag queen “getting ready” (aka, putting on their makeup and otherwise transforming into their drag persona), was able to express how drag helped them come to terms with their identity as non-binary.
Ruberg, Bonnie. “‘Obscene, Pornographic, or Otherwise Objectionable’: Biased Definitions of Sexual Content in Video Game Live Streaming.” New Media & Society, Vol. 23, no. 6 (2021): 1681-1699. doi: 10.177/146144820920759.
This piece focuses on Twitch’s community guidelines and argues that its vague and inconsistent language surrounding sexual content disproportionately affects women and marginalized communities. For example, there are restrictions placed on things like camera angles, and language about clothing, that is either vague or inconsistent. What does it mean for a camera angle to be “inappropriate”?
Scott, Suzanne. “Interrogating the Fake Geek Girl: The Spreadable Misogyny of Contemporary Fan Culture.” In Fake Geek Girls: 22, edited by Jonathan Gray, Aswin Punathambekar, and Adrienne Shaw, 76-108. New York: NYU Publishing, 2019.
This chapter modifies the idea of “spreadable media” by discussing the idea of “spreadable misogyny.” It also discusses the development of the memes “idiot nerd girl” and “fake geek girl” as they relate to the notion of women legitimizing their nerdiness to men in various nerd subcultures and also explores the memes as examples of spreadable misogyny.
Salter, Michael.“From Geek Masculinity to GamerGate: The Technological Rationality of Online Abuse.” Crime Media Culture, Vol. 14, no. 2. (2017): 247-264. doi: 10.1177/1741659017690893.
This article defines the term “geek masculinity” and explores the rationalization of the harassment campaign, GamerGate. One concept here is the idea of women invading a male space as a threat to geek masculinity because technological ability functions as a sign of masculinity in geek culture.
Tran, Christine H. “‘Never Battle Alone’: Egirls and the Gender(ed) War on Video Game Live Streaming as ‘Real’ Work.” Television & New Media, Vol. 23, no. 5 (2022): 509-520. doi: 10.177/1527464221080930.
This article focuses on the term “egirl” and its shift in meaning from an insult to a popular aesthetic choice and reclaimed word for women who play video games. This article also discusses creators like Belle Delphine who capitalized on egirl branding to make a living with products that border on parody (ie selling “gamer girl bath water”). Additionally, it delves into the idea that some women feel that streamers who self-sexualize make it harder for women who do not do so because of the expectations of viewers of women who do.
Welch, Tom. “‘Love You Bro’: Performing Homosocial Intimacies on Twitch.” Television & New Media, Vol. 23, no. 5 (2022): 521-530. doi: 10.1177/15274764221081460
This piece focuses on masculinity and the performance of masculinity on Twitch. In particular, it focuses on the prevalence of jokingly made homoerotic comments in homosocial relationships as a way of affirming heterosexuality among gamer men. It focuses on one particular streamer and a few moments from some of his streams, analyzing various constructions of “gamer geek” masculinity within the streams.
Wittenberg-Cox, Avivah. “Gaming Industry: Please Wait… Gender Balance Loading.” Forbes, August 28, 2020. Accessed October 25, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/08/28/gaming-industry-please-waitgender-balance-loading/?sh=9131a1bd3045.
This article focuses on the gender breakdown of video game companies, in particular video game company executives. In the top 14 video game companies only 16% of their executive boards are women. This is significantly below the percentage of female game developers.
Zolides, Andrew. “Gender Moderation and Moderating Gender: Sexual Content Policies in Twitch’s Community Guidelines.” New Media & Society, Vol. 23, no. 10 (2020): 2999-3015. doi: 10.177/146144820942483.
This paper focuses on analysis of Twitch’s 2018 Community Guidelines update and how the new policies impacted women and the harassment female streamers faced on the platform. Additionally, there is a section on users policing based on the new policy, highlighting the irony of policies meant to protect users being used as a way to justify harassment.