More and more young women in Melbourne are picking up the controller and logging onto Twitch, and it is great. Before the pandemic and lockdowns became a thing, people all around the world relied on gaming for entertainment and even for connection to others, which is where streamers come in to fill the void and give the feeling of community gameplay with audiences.
Through the popular live-streaming website, Twitch, millions of people sign up to play games, talk or create art in a live format. It’s like live TV, but far more personal, and the creator can be reached directly in real-time. Twitch has become synonymous with live gameplay and has become a vital part of the gaming industry, especially in Melbourne, where more and more people have turned to gaming during the lockdown period.
The gaming industry is usually viewed as a male-dominated genre, with most gaming-orientated entertainment, commentary and decisions coming from men, for male-audiences. This led to what many consider to be a boys-club culture in professional gaming. This particular criticism of the gaming community has been around for years, but has not stopped many young women in Melbourne from doing what they love, and are challenging this norm. Currently, Twitch statistics say that women represent only 35% of all Twitch users. This is worldwide, not just in Australia.
As content creators, young women are generally well-liked by audiences. However, in spaces like gaming, where men were traditionally the main audience, there have been issues with stereotyping and even harassment towards women gamers. This is combined with a pre-existing culture of trash-talking and toxic communication associated with online gaming.
“What makes female gamers stand out is them being themselves and not trying to be someone they’re not… Being happy-smiling and bubbly is my personality, so I put that into my streams too and lots of people thank me for making them happy and cheering them up. I think streams are a reflection of the persons personality…” Says Kayla, who goes by Kittu on Twitch and is based in Melbourne. She currently has a healthy following of 16.2k on Twitch, and regularly streams Overwatch, as well as her own artistic content.
Women in the gaming industry are statistically more likely to face some kind of discrimination, whether it’s audience members sexualising them, or other gamers thinking lesser of their skills. Kayla has not personally been affected by this, however, she says “It is 100% a big thing in the Australian community. It happens all the time with toxic masculinity how guys find it threatening when a girl is better than them at a game, so they say something to make (themselves) feel better.”
Another local Melburnian streamer, SarahJane, or rather, Sarah Jane (as she goes by in real life), is a full-time partnered Twitch streamer with 14.8k followers, started out streaming her digital art work process, but later found herself gaming, “I see streaming as a creative outlet, I also enjoy meeting new people and being able to bring enjoyment and sense of community to people…”
It is important to remember that in this point of time that online bullying, directed towards both men and women, is a fact of life of being online, especially when competition is involved. However, not everyone is out to ruin another players days, in fact, the majority of gamers are lovely people, especially the ones based in Melbourne. There’s just a toxic and vocal minority. Everyone who experiences bullying in the gaming arena responds differently, and these young women don’t let it bother them, and they have amazing support from their fans and viewers.
Sarah has seen sexism in online gaming, however, she does not let it take too much of her energy. “I’m sure 99% of female gamers have come across a male in a game with the line 'go back to the kitchen’, I’ve learned to laugh at them with my chat and shake it off.”
She knows that female gamers are outnumbered, but knows they are still on the rising. Women are becoming more and more present in the gaming industry, and all are determined to stand out from the regular sausage fest. As more girls get into gaming, and then into streaming, hopefully, the leaderboard will become a little more evenly spread. With women like Sarah and Kayla, who are gaining more and more following with each passing month, fun times and positivity are taking back the gaming scene.
Video gaming has become a massively powerful and profitable industry, with streamers at the forefront of an evolving form of entertainment. While gaming used to be part of the male-domain, more and more Melbourne-girls are taking the controller and are giving a new meaning to playing “like a girl.”