Tags:Androcentric Hegemony, Cultural Production, Dude Bro Streamer, fall guys, Inductive thematic analysis, toxic geek masculinity and Twitch
Abstract:
I conceptualize Twitch as a live streaming playground between social media entertainment (Cunningham & Craig, 2021), advertisers, and the corporate field of game development known as the AAA industry. Specifically, I analyze how bodies that perform as Dude Bro Streamers have access to opportunities that advance their career. The Dude Bro Streamer persona is a self-branding strategy that leverages masculine bravado and perceived gaming expertise as cultural capital to appeal to Twitch’s core viewers of 18-34 year-old men, which reinforces androcentric hegemony in Twitch’s creator economy. In this extended abstract I examine how streamer TimtheTatMan used the Dude Bro Persona to make his spectacle with Fall Guys game a success for his career.
Dude Bro Streamers: Complementary Labor, Androcentric Hegemony and Cultural Production on Twitch