The German Twitch streamer Mahluna created a post on Twitter on October 9: She discovered a private forum on reddit where users share masturbation fantasies involving her as the center of attention. The 23-year-old finds this disgusting. However, some reactions on Twitter explain to her that she needs to deal with it. That’s just the way it is when you are a woman on Twitch and in the public eye.
This is Mahluna on Twitch:
- The 23-year-old is one of the biggest gaming streamers in Germany. When she streams, an average of 2,386 people watch her, which puts her on a level similar to streamers like Gnu.
- Mahluna prefers to play the shooter Valorant: Last year, she spent 540 hours on Twitch playing it. She started in 2019 with League of Legends, a slightly toxic MOBA that she is still connected to today.
- Some may know Mahluna from YouTube videos, for example, alongside Rezo. Or have heard her imitate a seagull (via reddit).
This is what Mahluna discovered: On October 9, Mahluna discovered a private subreddit where users are actually misusing completely harmless images of the streamer as masturbation templates: Among other things, role-playing games are conducted there in which a person pretends to be Mahluna and performs virtual sexual acts with other users of the forum.
Mahluna says people would masturbate to images of her showing just one shoulder or screenshots from moments in her Twitch stream where she had her eyes squinted.
Apparently, an image of the streamer in the subreddit was also shared as a masturbation template, in which she is wearing a cosplay of the Valorant heroine Reyna.
“You are the scum of society”
What particularly annoyed her: The streamer shares a post showing how users of reddit discuss that Mahluna knows about the subreddit and does nothing about it.
One user even suspects that the streamer might actually find this exciting and looks at it herself.
However, the streamer clarifies: She knew nothing about this subreddit until now. She finds it disgusting. She writes: “You are the scum of humanity.”
Users of the forum masturbated to cosplay photo from Valorant
What does this do to the streamer? The streamer says that when she sees such things, she wonders if it’s her fault that she causes this. She says it burns into her mind, and then she questions herself.
Even the reaction to her cosplay has disgusted her for a long time:
I thought being a Reyna main was just cool, but now such a photo is lying in a disgusting reddit.
Mahluna says she avoids wearing tight clothes in public.
Users tell her she needs to “show tolerance” and get over it
Which comments annoy her? In the discussion on Twitter, a comment tells her: That’s just a fetish. You have to “show tolerance” – there are worse things.
Mahluna later shares some comments that show what kind of reactions she faces when she complains that strangers misuse her as an object of desire without her knowledge:
- One comment says: “She needs to get over it”.
- “If you show your face in public, it’s your own fault – because there are such people.”
- Mahluna can’t do anything but look “mediocre.” She should be grateful that she even makes money for it.
- Women are only watched by “horny men.”
This is how the streamer reacts: The streamer says: She has not encouraged this behavior, has mostly been in a relationship, warned about the danger of parasocial relationships and talked about it.
This special role that a woman on Twitch is automatically a girlfriend substitute or object of desire is completely rejected by Mahluna:
I had the same dream as every other colleague, regardless of gender, to just be accepted in the community.
I invested so much energy into this shit just to read this. […] Thanks for nothing, this goes out to everyone who thinks like that. You make me sick.
Discussion shows that women on Twitch are confronted with prejudices
What’s behind it: In the comments that annoy Mahluna, three prejudices against female streamers are mixed, which we have already dealt with on MeinMMO:
- “Women have it easier on Twitch than men”
- One only has to be “pretty” on Twitch to earn a lot of money
- Men who watch women are just “simps” and are infatuated with the woman
Practically every single successful female streamer faces these exact prejudices – no matter if they appear revealing like Amouranth or not like Pokimane.
Especially a female streamer’s success seems to trigger these reactions, rather than her individual appearance.
All of these prejudices cannot be true, especially since among the top earners on Twitch there are hardly any women.
Even Amouranth, the top earner, makes most of her income not through Twitch, but follows a completely different business model, which most female gaming streamers have nothing to do with.
English-speaking female streamers report further escalations
What are other streamers confronted with? The phenomenon that Mahluna describes is known by many other women on Twitch: The larger the reach of a female streamer, the greater the problem of this sexualization.
The most popular Twitch clip is then not a particular gameplay segment, but when a female streamer stands up from her chair or leans forward.
There are YouTube compilations from big female streamers that depict them as particularly “curvy.” The streamer earns no money from these contents – but the people who compile these videos and upload them to YouTube against the will of the streamer do.
Especially the big English-speaking streamers Valkyrae, Pokimane, and Sweet Anita have already publicly dealt with how they are sexualized against their will and how they struggle with the outcomes of parasocial relationships.
They talk about the “disgusting sides” of being an influencer, about crazy fans who think they are in a relationship with the streamer and suddenly show up at their apartment.
There have even been reports of deepfake porn videos.
This is not behavior that a streamer like Mahluna provokes in any way.
Streamer feels sexually exploited – Considers quitting Twitch
