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

DigitalOp said:

Its not as difficult as people make it. Many have already said he has explicit control over his chat with mods......

That actually solves the issue right there.... Mods can kill all the bullshit right then and there.

The thing is he's using his personal marriage as a shield. We can't comment on their marriage, thats between them. But when he brings it up as a reason on why he can't interact with women on stream, then he's using it a crutch for his argument. It becomes a shield because its as if he know's that people have no weight to make a personal statement on his relationship.

In my world, marriage is based on ironclad trust. And Im sure this girl knew he was a big streamer before if not now. Then that should be that. If rumors can threaten their relationship, then that's on them. That's their problem to work out. He said he didn't want flirting to be blown up....... then don't flirt? Im not seeing what his concerns have to do with women, they all rely on his toxic viewerbase.

The irony of all this is that he acts as if this is only internet shit. Suppose he goes to Starbucks with a friend and gets photographed? Rumors only happen online? The shit just doesn't make sense.



If the guy is scared of his fanbase ruining his marriage, then the dude has a weak marriage IMO. But he know that I have no weight nor stake to make that claim and thats half the reason why he uses that argument.

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Yeah but he has zero control over youtube, and youtubers are profiting off spreading misinformation like what happened to Poki and Myth.

"Tfue and Myth get into huge fight, No longer friends !" 2.7 million views in 5 days

Video with thumbnail of Poki and Myth with DATING? in the middle 4.4 million views

"MYTH YELLS AT VALKYRAE! Then FLIRTS with her? (Girlfriend?)" 5.2 million

which is why other streamers have defended him

So does he have friends that are women, or girls that play the games he plays, but deny streaming with them? Most likely his friends that are women or girls would be someone that are also friends with his wife, and are in relationships of their own which the wife knows. He apparently doesn't just stream with people he's not networked with, he doesn't have random guests on his broadcasts unless introduced via other friends (Kimdotcom with Drake, + whoever those other artists and athletes started streaming in from friends of friends).

To get People like Beyonce on it would most likely be a marketing deal and set up professionally with his wife and a lot of other people monitoring or participating, because it's a big deal. I doubt he would be calling her up out of the blue (unintentional) for some runs on this new battle royale game because his other friends are offline.

DigitalOp said:

From my experience, the last thing sting couples are affected by is outside noise. Now a family member or a stupid close friend (which I usually consider family at that point) comes with information? It may be considered, and it will be hashed out between partners.

But gossip rags? Twitch chat nobodies? Random clickbait websites? How can that affect a relationship that one considers strong? Even if it wore over time

Trust. Actual trust is an ironclad thing once its developed. It must be nurtured and cared for until its mature. Its the base block of every healthy relationship. Its a necessity. If you do not have Ironclad Trust in you're partner even before marriage, it will not work.

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We get it, Ninja doesnt have the perfect marriage you envision.

Falcon511 said:

We get it, Ninja doesnt have the perfect marriage you envision.

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I aint say I don't stream with women because of my marriage, Ninja did fam

Shark said:

'Too scared' because there are real world consequences for what he does in the public eye that he cannot control. I'd like to think what I'd do as a married person in his position but I have no idea if I actually could. It's easy to make the hypothetical correct choice when I don't have to face his reality.

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Shark said:

I don't know why people are insinuating that the potential problems that could arise stem only from his Twitch chat or 'shitty fanbase'. He's a public person. He can't control the Internet.

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If you as a married person in a heterosexual relationship can't bring yourself to work alongside someone of the opposite sex for fear of rumors and innuendo then frankly you're not cut out for public life. I'm sorry, but it's an extremely lame line of thought, which is a position I take as someone who works with talent in New York City who aren't married to the people they are on camera with or on the air with all the time. Are there social media troglodytes who will try and say some stupid shit to you and your family? Absolutely. But being a public figure isn't all glitz and glamor. You're always going to have to deal with a toxic element. If it's not someone going to his wife about him cheating on her, it'll be about something else. Some people are just straight up slime. That shouldn't be a factor for you if you're trying to pursue a career within the public spotlight. Him buckling like a belt to perceived pressure that he COULD face makes me question if he's really cut out for this.

And look, it's not like he's adverse to going against the grain. A big hubbub was made over the fact that he was going to start streaming while maintaining "PG" levels of commentary. That garnered some negative reaction which he managed to come out of no worse for wear. Of course part of the impetus for that was that by his own admission it would open up other celebrities for him to associate with. But the fact remains that it's not like he doesn't already have the potential for people to go after him and his family as it is. Going on stream with a girl is not going to suddenly make him more susceptible to all of the things he claims to be worried about.

In short, do it for the culture. Man up like literally every other entertainment medium has and stop letting other people dictate who you associate with because of some perceived fear of trolls. You want to be a baller, then stop giving a shit about people like that and accept it's beneath you. The community will be better for it.

I completely agree that ninja is wrong to be like this. I completely agree that gaming culture is sexist.

But banning a guy for saying female? And letting bear force one argue his legal crap and racist bad faith arguments and let him go Scott free seems really odd.

I love resetera but lately I don't get the moderation stance.

Sorry it this is a bit of a derail.

Again I think Ninja has done this stupidly bad and as someone who watches him now and then this has definitely made me want to stop.

Pixieking said:

Imagine this all happening in an actual company:

"Hi, I'm executive sales manager for a growing company, and I'm here to give a presentation. Unfortunately, whilst there's a lot of talented women in my company, I think some of you might think I'm having an affair with whoever I would pick to co-host, so here's a guy instead."

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There's a huge distinction between a company and an individual - it's very disingenuous to compare the two in this context.

Slayven said:

I just don't get the reasoning. By that logic why have anybody on? Or does homosexual relationships not exist in the twitch/youtube universe.

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With how overwhelmingly homophobic gamers are? I highly doubt there's any of note.

bottom line : you don't get to call yourself a role model and pull shit like this

Khamsinvera said:

There's a huge distinction between a company and an individual - it's very disingenuous to compare the two in this context.

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In Ninja's case, he's making money whilst allowing a toxic work environment to spread throughout the rest of Twitch. Also, his stance prevents opportunities for women to be seen and elevated, in effect creating a form of glass ceiling, as his views permeate Twitch culture, and are seen to be "okay". So, in both of these senses, I would argue that the analogy is not disingenuous, but draws a parallel to a situation that, were it to happen in the real world, would be viewed as ridiculous, and ridiculously bad. Case in point, the other reply to my post, which contains this quote:

Just after starting on "Cars 2," I was told by a superior that I would be uninvited from all our weekly art department meetings because Lasseter "has a hard time controlling himself" around young women. I was crushed to have my participation in the filmmaking process –– and subsequently my career trajectory –– thwarted simply because I was female. It was clear that the institution was working hard to protect him, at the expense of women like me.

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Replace "has a hard time controlling himself", with "is afraid of rumours", and the situation is pretty similar, no?

And yet it took me all of 15 seconds to find people replying to his wife's tweets with "let your husband stream with women"

Or just any other type of harassing tweet you'd imagine a woman in the public eye would receive.

What is most baffling to me is that for some reason people in this thread feel the underlying issues with this is unique to the "gaming community" and a sign that it's just "gamers" that are "toxic"

It's an issue with society (at least US society) as a whole regarding interactions between men and women and how they can be viewed.

Before any mod gets trigger-happy, I'm not "downplaying" sexism, I'm saying this issue is much bigger than just in the gaming culture and is prevelant outside it

watdaeff4 said:

What is most baffling to me is that for some reason people in this thread feel the underlying issues with this is unique to the "gaming community" and a sign that it's just "gamers" that are "toxic"

It's an issue with society (at least US society) as a whole regarding interactions between men and women and how they can be viewed.

Before any mod gets trigger-happy, I'm not "downplaying" sexism, I'm saying this issue is much bigger than just in the gaming culture

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Gamergate happened in gaming

I didn't happen in Sci-Fi, comcis, Star Wars, despite the efforts of the same bunch of asshats.

You should never shape your behaviour based on the idiotic portion of humanity. Giving in to their stupidity is a loss to us all.

If this helps to keep him out of trouble with the wife, more power to him.

excelsiorlef said:

Gamergate happened in gaming

I didn't happen in Sci-Fi, comcis, Star Wars, despite the efforts of the same bunch of asshats.

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Did you read all my post?

sabrina said:

This attitude is dismissive. Let's say you're right, the problem is men in general, not just men in the gaming community. Well, we're in the gaming community. We can make progress in this community.

That's all we're asking. Within the confines of audience and community you hold, make an effort to improve it. That's what we're doing here. That's what we're asking Ninja to do with his audience.

The whole idea that it's someone else' problem is why nothing changes. Twitch isn't ever going to be less toxic if influencers like Blevins don't work to better it, to influence people to be better. You can't just throw up your hands and accept things if you want them to get better.

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I'm not trying to be dismissive at all. I apologize if I come across that way. What I am saying is it's unfortunately a bigger issue that extends outside of the gaming community.

Falcon511 said:

I can understand his choice in the matter. Twitch culture is toxic as fuck. Ninjas audience is young kids. Gossip among this crowd and the internet in general can affect relationships. I cant imagine having thousands of people a day tweeting at me let alone tweeting at me about a relationship that I am in and possibly how me or my partner is cheating on me. That can harm a marriage and Ninja wants to keep his personal life healthy. Especially if he wants to have kids, which he has mentioned a bit here and there.

I dont think he is being sexist. I think the internet at large is and it creates issues. When you are an internet celeb, its best to keep your sanity as this is a self employed job and could also leads to issues in marriage.

Also Valkyrea had some thoughts on this as well.

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No lies detected

watdaeff4 said:

Did you read all my post?

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Yes it's the usual it's not a gaming problem it's a society problem...

i was simply pointing out that gaming is especially shitty so saying it's not a gaming problem is a cop out.

No one thinks it's just gamers.... but I definitely think it's especially gamers.

watdaeff4 said:

I'm not trying to be dismissive at all. I apologize if I come across that way. What I am saying is it's unfortunately a bigger issue that extends outside of the gaming community.

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To engage with people, talking about sexist gaming culture, under the assumption that they are so utterly ignorant as to believe that it is only a gaming problem is to belittle and insult those people.

excelsiorlef said:

Yes it's the usual it's not a gaming problem it's a society problem...

i was simply pointing out that gaming is especially shitty so saying it's not a gaming problem is a cop out.

No one thinks it's just gamers.... but I definitely think it's especially gamers.

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That's fair. Thanks for clarifying.

watdaeff4 said:

What is most baffling to me is that for some reason people in this thread feel the underlying issues with this is unique to the "gaming community" and a sign that it's just "gamers" that are "toxic"

It's an issue with society (at least US society) as a whole regarding interactions between men and women and how they can be viewed.

Before any mod gets trigger-happy, I'm not "downplaying" sexism, I'm saying this issue is much bigger than just in the gaming culture and is prevelant outside it

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I think the gaming community (and industry) has the opportunity to actually improve wider society, as it has so much influence on boys (and girls, but mostly boys) at a formative age. That Blevins thinks he can't influence teens is incredibly defeatist and just perpetuates toxicity, which in turn leads to a toxic society, as a good portion of teens grow up thinking their attitudes are okay.

What he says is correct.
I can actually see the repercussions and reasoning behind his words.

Not to mention the amout of booty streamers that would love their moment of fame with the biggest steamer of all time.

But resetera just gonna give era PC answers without putting themselves in the actual situation

Slayven said:

I just don't get the reasoning. By that logic why have anybody on? Or does homosexual relationships not exist in the twitch/youtube universe.

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I do recall erotic fanfiction of Siglemic and Narcissa (when she was formerly CosmoWright) being shitposted everywhere when those two streamed together.

Lmao

That's pathetic, that apparently just ignoring idiots or telling them he loves his wife is harder than this cop out

My question is what if Ninja's wife expressed concerns to him about how the rumour etc are upsetting her or affecting her personal life, and this is just the hamfisted way he's decided to talk about it, to avoid putting his wife in the spotlight?

Gaming absolutely has a sexism/misogyny problem, but part of me wonders if this is just a fucked up result of it, rather than someone deliberately perpetuating it.

Benson827 said:

What he says is correct.
I can actually see the repercussions and reasoning behind his words.

Not to mention the amout of booty streamers that would love their moment of fame with the biggest steamer of all time.

But resetera just gonna give era PC answers without putting themselves in the actual situation

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...

Dmax3901 said:

My question is what if Ninja's wife expressed concerns to him about how the rumour etc are upsetting her or affecting her personal life, and this is just the hamfisted way he's decided to talk about it, to avoid putting his wife in the spotlight?

Gaming absolutely has a sexism/misogyny problem, but part of me wonders if this is just a fucked up result of it, rather than someone deliberately perpetuating it.

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My first thought upon seeing the article was that if he's openly talking about it, it's already happening in some form. You don't just randomly bring something like that up.

Ninja is part of the problem.

Benson827 said:

What he says is correct.
I can actually see the repercussions and reasoning behind his words.

Not to mention the amout of booty streamers that would love their moment of fame with the biggest steamer of all time.

But resetera just gonna give era PC answers without putting themselves in the actual situation

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A prime example of being Part of the Problem. *claps*

Sean said:

A prime example of being Part of the Problem. *claps*

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10 posts but registered when we opened he's someone's alt or just a troll placeholder account.

Benson827 said:

What he says is correct.
I can actually see the repercussions and reasoning behind his words.

Not to mention the amout of booty streamers that would love their moment of fame with the biggest steamer of all time.

But resetera just gonna give era PC answers without putting themselves in the actual situation

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when your business model can only survive by banning a whole gender, your the problem

Benson827 said:

What he says is correct.
I can actually see the repercussions and reasoning behind his words.

Not to mention the amout of booty streamers that would love their moment of fame with the biggest steamer of all time.

But resetera just gonna give era PC answers without putting themselves in the actual situation

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Nah, he's being dumb. You don't give in to the idiocies of shitstains of humanity. You don't shape your behaviour based on the stupidity of hateful/ignorant/stupid people. That way they win.

Partnership Accounts Manager at Twitch

Dominic Decoco said:

Partnership Accounts Manager at Twitch

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LOL

Twitch can go with Twitter.

I have though it of other streamers, if they could be dating or sth when they partied often, so I get his point of not wanting this to happen, someones will only think it, but others will harass on social media, will meme, will what ever u think...and that can mental hurt his wife

at the end, the problem is our shitty mentality

its easy to talk about it here, where i am none and im not earning ninjas money

Dominic Decoco said:

Partnership Accounts Manager at Twitch

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Now this is fucking stupid.

"Ninja announces he doesn't want to stream with non-white people anymore because he doesn't want to deal with his racist fans kicking up a fuss"

Twitch: "Personally, it's his choice, he can do whatever he wants. Just move on."

Dominic Decoco said:

Partnership Accounts Manager at Twitch

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Oh wow I had no idea it was his choice and opinion

Thanks for clearing that up for me Hassan

Pixieking said:

Replace "has a hard time controlling himself", with "is afraid of rumours", and the situation is pretty similar, no?

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Not really. Ninja has no obligation what so ever to stream with women/men nor does he have an obligation to put them in the spotlight or elevate their streams in any way shape or form. Why should it fall on Ninja's shoulders to advertise other streamers on his own stream when he's built the whole thing himself? The example you gave is pointing towards sexual harassment in the workplace this isn't the same thing.

Now if he had been previously streaming with women and now admitted he has stopped doing so because of potential twitch bullshit then that would be some serious shady behaviour. However we can't keep holding these popular streamers as some beacon of light, they grew with their communities and the communities grew with them. In a sense they are victims of their own success.

Dominic Decoco said:

Partnership Accounts Manager at Twitch

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Twitch was a mistake.

We here at Twitch are an open minded platform, we believe in ultimate inclusion so if you want to exclude women you are welcome here because hey everyone has an opinion

Commander Quackers said:

bottom line : you don't get to call yourself a role model and pull shit like this

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Famassu said:

You should never shape your behaviour based on the idiotic portion of humanity. Giving in to their stupidity is a loss to us all.

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sabrina said:

This attitude is dismissive. Let's say you're right, the problem is men in general, not just men in the gaming community. Well, we're in the gaming community. We can make progress in this community.

That's all we're asking. Within the confines of audience and community you hold, make an effort to improve it. That's what we're doing here. That's what we're asking Ninja to do with his audience.

The whole idea that it's someone else' problem is why nothing changes. Twitch isn't ever going to be less toxic if influencers like Blevins don't work to better it, to influence people to be better. You can't just throw up your hands and accept things if you want them to get better.

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All of this. Every last drop of it.

Shogun said:

Not really. Ninja has no obligation what so ever to stream with women/men nor does he have an obligation to put them in the spotlight or elevate their streams in any way shape or form. Why should it fall on Ninja's shoulders to advertise other streamers on his own stream when he's built the whole thing himself? The example you gave is pointing towards sexual harassment in the workplace this isn't the same thing.

Now if he had been previously streaming with women and now admitted he has stopped doing so because of potential twitch bullshit then that would be some serious shady behaviour. However we can't keep holding these popular streamers as some beacon of light, they grew with their communities and the communities grew with them. In a sense they are victims of their own success.

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He's a "victim" of fucking shit all...

He's raking in cash while a bunch of dudes parade around him, including the people who run the platform he's on, defending his right to an "opinion" and defending excluding women as a rational decision.

Look at this cowardly smarmy shit.

God, fuck that asshole.

Shogun said:

Not really. Ninja has no obligation what so ever to stream with women/men nor does he have an obligation to put them in the spotlight or elevate their streams in any way shape or form. Why should it fall on Ninja's shoulders to advertise other streamers on his own stream when he's built the whole thing himself? The example you gave is pointing towards sexual harassment in the workplace this isn't the same thing.

Now if he had been previously streaming with women and now admitted he has stopped doing so because of potential twitch bullshit then that would be some serious shady behaviour. However we can't keep holding these popular streamers as some beacon of light, they grew with their communities and the communities grew with them. In a sense they are victims of their own success.

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So, on the one hand, I cannot disagree with anything you said, and on the other hand, you've effectively said that Ninja is part of the problem. So we're on the same page.

Also, the example I pointed to is a woman being excluded because a man has control issues which don't occur with men. I didn't say it was the same, I was saying the similarities are pretty strong - specifically, excluding women due to the actions of other people, and creating a workplace that is inherently biased against women (with Twitch being the "workplace" in question).