“La Chichona” vs “El Pro”: roles de género de los jugadores de videojuegos en plataformas de Streaming

Abstract

This article presents the comparative study of the reception of two popular online video game players on the Twitch platform: a woman (@AriGamplays) and a man (@Junsguarnizo). From a gender perspective, this research resorts to Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis to inquire about 200 relevant comments left by users who followed a live stream of the female gamer and the male gamer (100 per account). The results reveal that video game culture is traversed by a patriarchal matrix that is expressed through cyber-violence, cyber-bullying and cyber-harassment: mainly directed at the female gamer @AriGamplays. While 52.9% of comments on the female gamer's account focus on physical attributes, with strong sexual innuendo; the male gamer receives 44.11% of comments with compliments that highlight his intellectual attributes and his skills in his role as a gamer. This article shows how there is an inequality in the valuation of a woman versus a man in the world of e-sports; in which, despite being an outstanding gamer, she ends up being subordinated in a reductive way. The study also presents a typification of the cyber-violence received by the female player: which in total contemplates 99% of comments in which sexual objectification, sexual threats, imposition and insult are expressed.