Since the start of 2021, the streaming platform called Twitch has recently seen a great rise in its female creators streaming themselves sitting in hot tubs or pools while speaking to viewers.

Twitch is a streaming platform that allows its creators to stream anything within the set guidelines and rules. The primary reason people stream on Twitch is that it allows creators to interact with their viewers live and in real-time unlike other platforms such as Youtube.

Creators are able to make money off Twitch through ads, donations, and subscriptions. Money made off donations go directly to the creator while money from subscriptions and ads has a cut taken out by Twitch. To buy a subscription to a streamer, viewers pay just under $5.00 a month. Benefits include special emotes to put in chat, no ads, and your name will pop on stream or the streamer will thank you directly.

Some of the most popular Twitch streamers have made a fortune off streaming alone, particularly video game streamers, the most popular genre to watch. For example, XQC who has a net worth of about $3 million dollars off Twitch alone, Ranboo who started streaming recently who has made around $100k at the age of 16, and Shroud who has been streaming for a long time as an ex esports player with a net worth of $3 million.

But now female streamers in hot tubs have risen in popularity.

Twitch has received a lot of backlash from creators and viewers because of female creators streaming themselves in bikinis in hot tubs doing all kinds of things. The top female streamers making the most out of this are XoAeriel, Indiefoxx, Faith, Amouranth, and Spoopykitt.

What makes this topic so controversial is that most of these streamers have been banned multiple times, for example, Indiefoxx just received her 6th 3-day ban on the 28th of June but she still has her channel and Twitch partnership. The controversy is centered around female hot tub streamers getting banned multiple times, yet they still keep their channel. Conversely, when someone else gets banned more often or not they lose their channel.

Hot tub streamers are causing a rift between the whole community and Twitch, while every creator is calling out the streamers for deliberately sexualizing their streams for money. At this time, Twitch isn’t doing anything about it. The argument that other creators have been banned for much less keeps coming up as the primary reason the hot tub streamers are so divisive.

Hot tub streamers are doing everything in their power to flaunt their “assets,'' whether it be trying on different bikinis or dancing in bikinis. One of the more problematic aspects of hot tub streamers is that when individuals subscribe they will either write their name on a board behind them so they have to turn around flaunting their “asset,” or they will write their name on their body. There is a clear question of objectification and the overt sexualization of streamers. Some streamers are even using their streams to promote OnlyFans, which is a service that anyone can subscribe to and see nude and other explicit videos and photos of that creator.

People on Reddit have started to say that the reason Twitch isn’t taking any action is that the streamers are making a lot of money which in turn part of that money goes to Twitch.

The double standard comes into play when male streamers mimic some of the female streamers. A few male streamers started to do hot tub streams as a joke, wearing similar revealing bathing suits that females streamers wear, but then proceed to get banned for sexually suggestive content.

Twitch has a number of options to deal with the way in which hot tub steamers are disrupting the platform. Permanently banning hot tub streamers is one way to solve the issue, or change their TOS (which blocks certain content) so streamers can no longer stream hot tubs or pools or beaches. In addition, a financial disincentive—not paying hot tub streamers for ads or subscriptions—would be a powerful message.

By Thomas Grecco

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