Twitch, ‘Boys’, and the ever-changing language of social media
If you spend lots of time watching streamers on Twitch, you’ve probably heard them use the term “boys” to address their audience. However, are there not people of all genders on Twitch? Is “boys” becoming all inclusive like “dude?”
Popular streamer PayMoneyWubby almost exclusively uses “boys” to address his growing audience. Per stream, Wubby has around 7,000 viewers, so there is no way he’d be able to solely have men in his audience. That being said, Wubby has stated in previous streams that when he says “boys” he is referring to everyone in his Twitch chat, including women.
So, how did this start, and when did it become a standard in the Twitch community?
According to Urban Dictionary, a website used for defining slang and popular terms, “boys” simply means your friends, or someone who is a part of your crew. With that in mind, applying it to Twitch culture, it seems likely that boys is gender inclusive. That would mean that when streamers call their collective audience “the boys” they are simply just addressing everyone at once, not meaning to disregard any gender in the process.
Likewise, popular indie game Fall Guys has dropped recently, and is currently a huge game point on Twitch. Fall Guys uses the term “guys” in their name, however, the game is completely non-gender conforming. The indie game itself lets players dress their fall guy in any colors or outfits they want, and the guy itself has no distinct body shape or features. They truly look like weeble-wobbles. Thus, Fall Guys is a gender-neutral game, with a somewhat gendered title. “Guys,” as well as “boys,” seems to not be about gender whatsoever, and rather, a way to speak to a community as a whole.
However, does this exclude women from the conversation completely? “Boys” indicates a masculine term and while it seems to be gender-inclusive, it’s not completely. Women have been fighting for decades for equality, and it’s not a huge secret that women in the gaming industry are not as well known or perceived. The biggest gaming content creators that come to mind are people like Markiplier, Pewdiepie, and more who are all men. Women in Gaming, like Pokimane for instance, are often sexualized and undervalued for the work they do, simply because of the idea that women can’t play video games. By addressing women on Twitch as “boys” it erases women from the gaming industry narrative in total.
C, otherwise known as seaweedtarot on Twitch, is a female Twitch streamer. In an interview with Gayming Mag, C said that when she first noticed other Twitch streamers addressing their audiences as “boys” she was taken aback by it. The streamers would say things like, “let’s go boys” and C initially had a negative reaction to it.
“Not everyone who is watching the stream identifies that way, which just seems to prolong the male-dominated, sometimes sexist, gender-non-inclusive streaming and gaming community,” C said in her interview.
C went on to attempt to open a dialogue on Reddit, where she was met with mass hate about her opinion. Redditors asked her to seek help, and she eventually deleted the post. Several female streamers also pointed out to C that in order to fit in on Twitch and hold space there as women, you have to be down with the lingo their male counterparts are using. By using “boys” female streamers fit into the “cool gamer girl” stereotype.
However, after talking with a few nicer people on Reddit, C’s mind began to change.
“Has ‘boys’ just transformed into a gender or person all encompassing term in the gaming community?” C said. “I still don’t really have the answer.”
Twitch as a streaming platform is generally all inclusive; they even have sections on their website where viewers can select to watch LGBTQIA+ streamers. In theory, this is a great concept, though people on Reddit have said to be careful because some people claim to be LGBTQIA+ streamers, and in fact are not. For views. Likewise, Twitch has gone under fire in the past for favoritism and for the sexualization of female streamers. While it does seem that Twitch is attempting to put in the work towards full gender equality, there still is work to be done.
It is also important to note that the term “boy” when used to describe a Black male, is actually considered a racist slur. According to ThoughtCo, when Black men were reffered to as “boy” before and after slavery, it meant that they would never stand on equal footing as a white man. Perhaps “boy” or “boys” should be eradicated from our vocabulary all together, if it is something that doesn’t sit right with you. However, everyone is different, and it is important to remember that what is deemed okay for some, isn’t for others.
“Boys” seems to be used as a new, gender inclusive term. As many streamers adapt to this new wave of Twitch culture, perhaps “boys” has become similar to “dude” in that it is not meant to leave anyone out. Although, by using the term, does it inherently reinforce the idea that women and non-male identifying people have no place in the gaming industry? While everyone’s feelings on this are valid, take the term with a grain of salt.
Streamers like Wubby and games like Fall Guys are inclusive of all genders as they use the terms like “boys” and “guys” neutrally. However, streamers like C opt out but still keep an open mind to the ever changing rhetoric used in the gaming world. Using “boys” and accepting it as gender inclusive is up to each streamer and viewer. The movement towards gender inclusivity could include “boys” just like “dude” has. Language and slang change constantly as we evolve, so it could be important to consider that terms like “boys” are etching their way into inclusivity, and not intending to exclude any gender.
As a female gaymer, I agree that women continue to be etched out of the gaming world; however, I believe that “boys” is gender-neutral. I have not come across a streamer, in my experience, that has used “boys” to exclude women. In the gaming community, “boys” is the new “dudes.” The Twitch community is evolving in their terminology, for better or worse, and we’ve can choose to evolve with it!
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