During a Twitch broadcast over the weekend, popular streamer Pokimane criticized double standards that are imposed on female streamers.
The streamer and entrepreneur has received massive hate raids and an overwhelming number of misogynistic hate comments in 2022. In response, Pokimane condemned viewers who held attractiveness against women specifically.
“I was thinking about this, and I was like why is it that people like to hold how attractive someone is against them?” Pokimane said. “Let me elaborate. People will be like ‘your viewers like the way that you look and they want to fuck you.'” Pokimane referenced not only her comments but the hateful messages her viewers and subscribers have received.
“First of all, rude, gross, nobody asked. But secondly, even if people do find a female streamer attractive, what’s the issue?” Pokimane asked, “What’s wrong with finding someone hot?” The 25-year-old streamer went to Hollywood to point out the double standard.
Pokimane referenced male actors, typical those in dramas marketed towards teenagers, who have large fanbases, cultivated largely because of their attractiveness. Though she states that these actors have built audiences for similar reasons, Pokimane claims these actor counterparts do not face the same hate that women streamers do.
Pokimane said women uniquely face an issue of attractiveness on Twitch, continuing to question why it’s used to discredit female streamers. “That’s just what I don’t understand. No one ever goes ‘you’re a shit actor because your audience thinks you’re cute.'”
Pokimane went on to summarize her argument in one simple question: “Since when is being hot a bad thing?”
