Polygon: Tyler "Ninja" Blevins explains why he doesn't stream with women

The internet can be immature as fuck, and that's not getting into Ninja catering strongly to teens and preteens. To a lot of boys, any interaction with a girl is flirting, and any long-term relationship must be romantic (and thus sexual). So I get nipping it at the bud and saving yourself the stress.

But goddamn do you come off as weak when you actually say it out loud. Better to just not say anything and not give a shit than attempt to "head-on" a bomb like this needlessly.

CloseTalker said:

Hmm, interesting question. Why would someone whose income revolves solely around his personality and public image care how he's perceived publicly...

Its a head scratcher!

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Because someone thinking people online talking about him streaming with women would affect his job is ridiculous, head scratcher indeed.

Shugga said:

I expected his reason would be twitch chat behaving like animals towards women but this is pretty weak

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Same here. If there is one thing we could expect from Ninja streaming with women, is that they will be mercilessly harassed by some NEET incels in the Twitch chat and beyond. I'm sure Ninja saying "hey guys, maybe don't do that because that's not cool" wouldn't change anything.

His actual reason is really silly.

Smart move, you'll only get outrage from people here on ERA that will blow over and never affect you. The other route, you risk way more on numerous levels.

Dr.Acula said:

It's a sexist community that has problems promoting real female stars and the answer is for the male talent, instead of doing the brave thing and working with them in a professional manner, is to shut them out entirely?

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Ninja, or any male streamer for that matter, doesn't owe it to anyone to stream with them. If he doesn't want to stream with females that's his choice.

The situation applies the other way as well (females not choosing to stream with males)

Sevyne said:

Like, I get what he's saying, pretty much feels like your walking on eggshells sometimes. I still think there's a better way. He's kind of being a coward by a avoiding the possibility completely, when instead he could man up, take the risks for a greater cause. It's like looking the other way when you see someone who needs help.

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Get with the times and quit that shit.

Nothing wrong with that.

I mean, maybe it'd be more helpful in the long run if he was able to stream with women and normalise it to his audience that he can manage interacting with someone of the opposite sex without it necessarily being because he wants to sleep with them.

I swear people are way too involved with this shit.

Maybe it's something his wife doesn't want to see or hear about? Gamers are the most immature group around, and it doesn't take much for a rumor to blow up on the internet with people taking it for face value.

I don't blame him, and really he doesn't owe anyone an explanation.

hussien-11 said:

He is right.



exactly.

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It reminds me a bit of what it's been like being a male teacher. I'm actively told I can never do something as simple as complimenting a female coworker's clothing because that can be ammunition used against me later.

People look at today's issues in the media and instead of adopting a healthy approach become hgper-critical. It's terrible.

OT: He could definitely work on how to model healthy relationships, maybe by starting with streaming ocassionally with his wife and being intentional about streaming partnerships with women and the way they're advertised.

I certainly don't blame him for wanting to avoid it altogether given the current state of social media and the internet though.

Pokimane gets shipped with every male that has ever been on her stream. She's plays it up and adds fuel to the fire in her youtube videos like with Fed and Myth.

It's Ninja's stream so he can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants, I actually watch Ninja only when he teams up with people who are just above average at the game, like Timthetatman. I'm not really into watching him win every match he plays, its like having cheat codes on, it's just not entertaining imo.

Ninja base is kids and casual people discovering Twitch and Fortnite. I would be overly protective of my million dollar stream as well. Can you imagine how many people tried to play with him after the Drake thing happened?

e: I gotta compliment Poki btw, she made an entire career playing 2 F2P games. She doesn't seem to spend a single dollar on video games besides her initial computer investment. Girl is gonna be set for life if she keeps it up

Cronogear said:

Then just don't be flirty? I don't really get it. Is he saying ANY interaction with another woman will spread rumors? That seems a little extreme.

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Twitch culture is extreme in general. Dude stops streaming for 3 days and loses 40k subs. This really isn't a stretch.

Twitch regulars aren't exactly the smartest bunch.

Saint-14 said:

And why does he care what others say about him exactly?

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Ah, any rumor about him is a rumor about his wife. It's one thing to take it on your own - another to put it on another person.

Still disappointing. But that just continues to set the bar for male/female platonic relationships.

That he can do something doesn't mean that doing said thing can't be judged... especially when he's doing a thing because of a thing that he also does.

So he's a hypocrite, and a little bit of a coward. Got it.

chobel said:

The life of a male streamer is hard

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Yep, just like the life of a female streamer is hard for a myriad of different reasons.

Side note shit like this is why I answer no when people ask am I a gamer...

He's basically admitting he's too immature to just talk to a woman normally like you would any one else? He's incapable of spending time with a woman without it ending in flirting? weird.

Nav said:

As if two dudes streaming together can't be down to clown???

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My takeaway

Hagi said:

I'm a bit tired so please excuse this but why would he face backlash from alt right people? I'm struggling to connect the dots here.

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Think it might go down like this.

Streams with a female streamer
Viewer makes disgusting comment
Ninja feels obligated to say something in response
"You trampling on my rights as a man!"

NimbusCub said:

It reminds me a bit of what it's been like being a male teacher. I'm actively told I can never do something as simple as complimenting a female coworker's clothing because that can be ammunition used against me later.

People look at today's issues in the media and instead of adopting a healthy approach become hgper-critical. It's terrible.

OT: He could definitely work on how to model healthy relationships, maybe by starting with streaming ocassionally with his wife and being intentional about streaming partnerships with women and the way they're advertised.

I certainly don't blame him for wanting to avoid it altogether given the current state of social media and the internet though.

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Exactly as a male you can never be too safe, especially when your in his position and his fanbase with take any little thing and run with it.

I mean, I guess he is right to have that opinion in the sense that the Twitch community is extremely immature. But, as someone else said in this topic, he maybe should try to normalize that idea that men and women can do things together without this meaning they want to have sex with each other.

It seems strange to hear this, but he's not wrong at all, considering twitch culture.

Also, sure is people who never used twitch ITT

HipHop said:

Yeah, it is extreme because the community is just that, extreme.

I dont blame him, you people getting "worked" up above my posts already,

Blame the shitty community, the social media community. I dont think this is a gaming issue exclusively, you see this everywhere now.

Id do the same if it was that bad and I was in that position, just to keep any sort of "drama" away from me. And not just gaming, with anything really.

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So much this. I don't blame the dude at all.

Mobyduck said:

I mean, I guess he is right to have that opinion in the sense that the Twitch community is extremely immature. But, as someone else said in this topic, he maybe should try to normalize that idea that men and women can do things together without this meaning they want to have sex with each other.

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But but but then he would miss out on the fun of going on other streams and spreading gossip.... Much better to just have his cake and ban women too.

Oh, and! Just like with work relationships, people who spend time with the people in power go further. So the cycle continues. Execs don't want to be around women? The men get the dinners and promotions. Big streamers don't want to stream with women? Means the men are the only ones who can benefit and grow.

monketron said:

He's basically admitting he's too immature to just talk to a woman normally like you would any one else? He's incapable of spending time with a woman without it ending in flirting? weird.

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Not even close to what he said.

excelsiorlef said:

Side note shit like this is why I answer no when people ask am I a gamer...

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Because you're a compulsive liar?

I fail to see the relationship between this and the thread topic.

Lyon N. Laap said:

So he's a hypocrite, and a little bit of a coward. Got it.

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Or he's putting his marriage in front of the wishes of some internet gamers.

I didn't realize Mike Pence streamed Fortnite.

Conkerkid11 said:

Because you're a compulsive liar?

I fail to see the relationship between this and the thread topic.

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This thread is full of gamers totally understanding why not streaming with women is totally a rational and logical thing to do.

I'm not a gamer because gamers go out of their way to make it toxic as fuck to be a woman in gaming and then use that to then justify why it's totally rational to not game with women.

This reminds me of this article I read about J/K-pop stars where they have to go out of their way to be seen with members of the opposite sex in intimate situations in public because their fans are all insane and see them being intimate with other people as cheating.

monketron said:

He's basically admitting he's too immature to just talk to a woman normally like you would any one else? He's incapable of spending time with a woman without it ending in flirting? weird.

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That's not what he's saying. He's saying it's not worth rumors getting started because human beings have an innate desire to ship everybody. And that in turn can hurt your brand or your real life relationships

excelsiorlef said:

This thread is full of gamers totally understanding why not streaming with women is totally a rational and logical thing to do.

I'm not a gamer because gamers go out of their way to make it toxic as fuck to be a woman in gaming and then use that to then justify why it's totally rational to not game with women.

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Why are you assuming that about me? Seems like the only toxic person here is you.

BioDigital Jazzman said:

That's not what he's saying. He's saying it's not worth rumors getting started because human beings have an innate desire to ship everybody. And that in turn can hurt your brand or your real life relationships

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But again he has no problem starting rumours on other streams... he kinda loses the high ground ya know.

ShinUltramanJ said:

Or he's putting his marriage in front of the wishes of some internet gamers.

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Participation in the very thing he is using to justify avoiding interaction with female streamers does make him a hypocrite, yes.

I can't comment on his marriage because I'm not privy to that nor do I want to be. But I'd personally want better out of someone who has claimed to want to be seen as a role model. Publicly avoiding female streamers and weakly justifying it by bowing to the internet mob is not something I want out of a role model.

I hate Ninja, but I at least understand why you'd set a rule like this for yourself, and at the end of the day how he wants to run his business / company is up to him. If he thinks that this is a good way of avoiding unnecessary gossip or confrontations, I'm not going to talk shit about it. We've seen other successful streamers nearly ruin their marriages (Dr Disrespect) over cheating with fans, etc., so if Tyler thinks he will be unable to keep his shit together if he lets them in the door, then fine.

It's not how I'd run my show, but I don't see any issue with making decisions like that on an ad hoc basis for one's business in which the number of employees you have is approximately 1.

If he feels his marriage would be affected by Twitch rumours and hear say then it's up to him to stream with whoever he wants. We need to stop expecting streamers who are very much part of the twitch community as a whole to be role models.

Maybe stop cultivating that type audience and take a stand? Gaming culture is bad.

Edit: Oh, Ninja is the guy starting rumors in that video in the OP? After saying this shit to Polygon? Fuck that dude.

excelsiorlef said:

But again he has no problem starting rumours on other streams... he kinda loses the high ground ya know.

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What rumors ?

Hakk92 said:

What rumors ?

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Literally in the Op he went on someone else's stream and started up the are you dating that chick you stream with questions

So by this logic, if he's streaming with dudes, is he fucking them off camera? My god, do gamers never actually "grow up"????

Ever????

excelsiorlef said:

But again he has no problem starting rumours on other streams... he kinda loses the high ground ya know.

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Say it another thousand times please
You're clearly making this about you and in the most annoying way possible, you know

Watchtower said:

The internet can be immature as fuck, and that's not getting into Ninja catering strongly to teens and preteens. To a lot of boys, any interaction with a girl is flirting, and any long-term relationship must be romantic (and thus sexual). So I get nipping it at the bud and saving yourself the stress.

But goddamn do you come off as weak when you actually say it out loud. Better to just not say anything and not give a shit than attempt to "head-on" a bomb like this needlessly.

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Exactly. This reminds me of when Total Biscuit said that he never listens to his community on feedback for his videos because most of the opinions are "shit". There are some things you do without saying out-loud.

KefkaPalazzo said:

Think it might go down like this.

Streams with a female streamer
Viewer makes disgusting comment
Ninja feels obligated to say something in response
"You trampling on my rights as a man!"

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That's dumb. I watch a lot of streamers and people say toxic disgusting shit all the time and they either get banned from chat or called out on stream then banned from chat. I don't think he'd have to worry about internet nazi's lol

Nav said:

As if two dudes streaming together can't be down to clown???

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This is the same community that acts like complete morons whenever a girl or a black person shows up on stream. If you're not a straight white male there's a pretty good chance you're gonna get shit flung at you the bigger you get.

Pretty sexist, but alright ninja

Is he still actively doing to other streamers what he wants to protect himself with ? Good for him if he saw the light and stopped doing it. If not, he can go fuck himself.

Shahadan said:

Say it another thousand times please
You're clearly making this about you and in the most annoying way possilbe, you know

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Well it clearly has to be said a thousand times because ya know everyone seems to skip over it when declaring his "No Girls Allowed" to be rational and understandable

And last time I checked I am a woman who plays games so this kind of stuff does actually affect me.

Especially when a bunch of guys all line up to declare why not gaming with my gender is totally a sensible thing to do.

Soneji said:

Smart move, you'll only get outrage from people here on ERA that will blow over and never affect you. The other route, you risk way more on numerous levels.

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Riiiiiiight. That's why there's an article about this independent of Era. Take another shot, you've got this.

Lyon N. Laap said:

Participation in the very thing he is using to justify avoiding interaction with female streamers does make him a hypocrite, yes.

I can't comment on his marriage because I'm not privy to that nor do I want to be. But I'd personally want better out of someone who has claimed to want to be seen as a role model. Publicly avoiding female streamers and weakly justifying it by bowing to the internet mob is not something I want out of a role model.

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With the way gamers and the internet are today, he's absolutely making a safe and sound choice to protect himself and his marriage.

If that's a bad thing then oh well. Deal with it.