While chatting with viewers on Twitch, popular VTuber ‘CodeMiko’ broke down and had to remove herself from the broadcast for several minutes after facing a barrage of inappropriate comments over her attire.
For many female content creators, dealing with inappropriate comments is simply viewed as part of the job. Ranging from minor remarks to claims of full-blown sexual harassment, female streamers often find themselves in extremely uncomfortable, and even dangerous, situations.
During a stream on her Twitch channel, CodeMiko’s technician — the wizard behind Twitch’s most well-known VTuber — broke down in tears after being bombarded by inappropriate comments, and slammed those viewers for the way they interact with women on the platform.
While testing out some new motion-capture equipment for her VTuber streams, Miko’s technician had to put on a new mo-cap outfit. While doing so, some of her viewers began to comment on the attire, and she quickly tried nipping the conversation in the bud: “Chat, don’t be weird.”
Unfortunately, things escalated as some viewers began making sexually suggestive comments. “You wouldn’t like [it if I said] ‘Did your d**k get smaller? Your crotch area looks smaller today’,” the technician quickly clapped back at them.
As some viewers tried to justify their comments, Miko chastised them again: “There are certain ways [that] you say certain things that makes it creepy!” The VTuber also pointed out the difference between receiving a compliment from a close friend, compared to a random stranger on the internet.
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“It’s like it’s wrong for me to feel uncomfortable [when people make these comments],” the streamer revealed. “It’s like if I feel uncomfortable, then [viewers] are just like ‘wear [something else]’.”
Despite trying to stay positive in the face of such harassment, Miko’s technician nearly broke down into tears, and had to exit the stream for several minutes in order to collect herself before returning.
Miko eventually continued testing out her new VTuber gear, but the incident serves as another stark reminder of the issues female streamers must contend with that their male counterparts do not, and the overwhelming harassment many female content creators face on a daily basis.