"Cute Goddess is Actually an Aunty": The Evasive Middle-Aged Woman Streamer and Normative Performances of Femininity in Video Game Streaming. (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ruotsalainen, Maria
• Other Names: Ruberg Bo guest-editor.; Brewer Johanna guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Television & new media. Volume 23:Number 5(2022)
• Page Start: 487
• Page End: 497
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: streaming -- video games -- gender -- critical discourse analysis -- age -- twitch; Télévision -- Aspect social -- Périodiques; Télévision -- Aspect économique -- Périodiques; Médias -- Publics -- Périodiques; Civilisation -- Histoire -- Périodiques; Television broadcasting -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Digital media -- Periodicals; 302.234505
• DOI: 10.1177/15274764221080962
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1527-4764

Abstract

In this paper the focus is on the representations of "middle-aged" or "aging" women streamers in western media. I analyze discussions in Western online media around a case of Chinese DouYu live-streamer. "Qiaobiluo Dianxia, " as her streamer name goes, became a topic in Western media after a glitch in her live stream revealed her to be a middle-aged woman, rather than young woman she was assumed to be. The discussions are analyzed with critical discourse analysis. It is argued that the aging bodies of women, both their presence and absence, should be read and understood through toxic gaming culture and geek masculinity and the hegemonic discourse they constitute.