Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys believes that women are a marginalised minority in gaming and that the she hates industry because of men.
One of the wealthiest gamer girls on Earth feels as though, as a minority, she has suffered enough. Pokimane, 25, lashes out at male gamers and believes she’s a victim of harassment and hate in the gaming industry.
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Who is Pokimane hanging around? She seems to be constantly harassed by members of the opposite s*x when gaming online. As a self-proclaimed ‘gamer girl’ myself, I have a difficult time relating to her comment — perhaps that is because I surround myself with good people and don’t see myself as any kind of victim.
Shots fired! Pokimane tweeted about men in the gaming space and it wasn’t a positive take: “It’s bouta [sic] be 2022 and people are still mad about women in gaming?”
We know that she really means “men” when referring to people. But since I don’t think she’s being genuine and knows that this is just not true, she refrained from being direct and calling out men. However, her sentiment still implies that she’s some kind of victim on the gaming industry.
it’s bouta be 2022 and people are still mad about women in gaming?
— pokimane (@pokimanelol) December 29, 2021
Certainly you’ll find bitter people in the gaming space who are hellbent on trolling and harassing you online. I’ve had some disgusting things shouted at me during many games. I just don’t think that makes me a victim of anything. Most online gaming lobbies are toxic, men get harassed all the time in video games too. While some guys may ask me for “noods” or speak dirty to me, I’ve witnessed other men being called “fat sweaty virgins” if they are playing well or flat out told to end themselves if they play poorly.
The harassment is universal and I was fortunate to have an older brother who told me what to expect when I started playing online. But Pokimane, according to her Tweet, has had the absolute worst experience and believes that people don’t accept her as a gamer because she’s a girl.
Pokimane is one of the wealthiest girls in the world for her age; at age 25 she owns her own company and her net worth is approximately USD$20M. Did she earn this much money from getting a university education and working her way to the top? No. She got it from livestreaming her gaming.
If the world wasn’t ready for gamer girls, like Pokimane claims, then there is no way she’d be one of the most successful streamers and gamers on Twitch. As a girl, even I know that the gaming industry is largely male dominant. The majority of Pokimane’s 8.5M Twitch followers are male. Her top tier subscribers are male. I think someone is being disingenuous.
If anything, I think Pokimane is still mad about men in gaming and might be projecting a little bit. A quick browse through Imane’s personal Twitter account will uncover a plethora of anti-male tweets.
in this industry,
— imane 💜 (@imane) July 20, 2020
a girl fucks up:
what a fake bitch, such a worthless piece of shit, also go die in a hole.
a guy fucks up:
omg king don’t worry, everyone makes mistakes, we know you have a good heart and will be here for you forever 👑😔👏
In the tweet above Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys claims that men have it easier in the gaming industry then women. However, Pokimane received no backlash from her partners or sponsors when she falsely accused one of her old friends and Hype House buddies, Fedmyster, of “s*xually assaulting” her.
Pokimane uploaded a video, which accumulated many millions of views where she outright lied about the actions of her former fling and housemate. While he admitted that he was creepy and pushy with her, Fedmyster never once laid assaulted, let alone laid a hand, on Pokimane. Regardless, Pokimane never made a retraction and the man’s career as a streamer ended.
it’s obviously a generalization of what usually happens in majority male industries. not tryna be like “eff all men”, i’m just stating what i’ve generally observed being in this scene for 7 years.
— imane 💜 (@imane) July 20, 2020
Pokimane claims that she is harassed a lot and that it “generally happens” to her in a “male-dominant industry.” Perhaps she feels this way because she hasn’t been a gamer for more than 7 years, meaning she would have been 18-years-old when she started.
The gaming scene has always been highly competitive and quite vulgar, but ultimately I feel it is changing and not for the better. There was a fake harassment scandal that changed the face of gaming. A group of women who called themselves “proud gamers” alleged that they were constantly bombarded with death threats. After the FBI investigated they found that majority of the negative comments and death threats they received were posted by the group themselves. A 13-year-old boy was visited by the FBI for calling Anita Sarkeesian “ugly.”
Calling Pokimane “thicc” is harassment.
That really makes me wonder what type of harassment Pokimane is receiving. She made a lengthy rant about being called “thicc” by some of her fans, and said that men were objectifying her and called it a form of s*xual harassment, so there’s that.
Not only is Pokimane offended by being called “thicc” but she also mass flagged YouTube compilation videos that fans made of her doing s*xually suggestive things and making dirty jokes.
While vulgar comments are often thrown my way in online lobbies, I often find that boys are the main victims of online harassment, and there are no online support groups or programs for them.
As a girl who plays games I find myself with a massive group of male friends who always have my back. They are always willing to game with me, regardless of the game. I wonder how many guys can say the same?