Pokimane Says Using ‘Simp’ as an Insult Is 'Lowkey Misogynistic'
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Twitch sensation Imane ‘Pokimane‘ Anys reviewed urban forms during her Twitch stream on June 26, 2022.
She came across a fan who had been banned from her channel for repeatedly calling people simps in the chat. The streamer immediately denied the request and listed the reasons for her decision.
Using this incident, she also discussed the usage of the word simp and her feelings towards people who used it as an insult.
Pokimane Condemned the Use of Simp as an Insult
The oxford dictionary defines the word as “a silly or foolish person,” but in recent years, the term is more commonly used to degrade a person who seeks affection from someone else.
On Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter, the term is used to insult people who support or compliment female content creators.
Pokimane iterated people should not be using that term as an insult and opined that ‘simping’ was a way of loving another person.
“I want you to know that’s really weird and low-key misogynistic because why do you even care if someone were hypothetically simping? Huh? You sad they love someone that ain’t you? And that it’s a woman,” said the streamer.
The streamer then exemplified why the word should not have negative connotations by mentioning spouses simping for each other in a marriage. She then referred to a fan's mother and father, saying they probably simped each other.
Pokimane during her trip to Korea. (Source: Instagram)
The streamer added it was unhealthy of netizens to teach young boys that simping was terrible because, according to her, there was nothing wrong with doting on a woman.
She then shared how her life had been affected by this cultural phenomenon.
Pokimane believed people had misconstrued the term so badly that, as a female streamer, she had encountered male friends who were afraid to defend her in certain scenarios many times in her career.
Fans and viewers present in her Twitch chat room agreed with her sentiments.
Twitch Banned the Word Simp
In December 2020, Twitch updated its community guidelines by introducing new policies that would go into effect from January 2021.
Wait is the word simp like bannable if said on stream? O_O I need to find a new word... instead of incel I’ll say manbaby and instead of simp I’ll say KINGS 💯 — neekolul🌈 (@neekolul) December 16, 2020
One such policy was the ban of the term simp when used as an insult under its harassment policy. As a result, streamers and commenters could no longer call one another simp.
The platform noted users could still use the term passively, but when used repeatedly to harass others, there were serious consequences.
Other such words included “incel,” “virgin,” and sexually focused terms that negatively targeted people. The platform also banned derogatory statements about another person’s perceived sexual practices or morality.
Some popular Twitch streamers were not happy with the move, dubbing it “easily the most ridiculous thing ever.”
“Can’t imagine gaming with the boys and not roasting the hell out of ‘em,” Nicholas ‘Nickmercs’ Kolcheff joked while Jack ’Courage JD’ Dunlop added they “may as well start gaming while muted.”
Meanwhile, Nicole ‘Neekolul’ Sanchez suggested using “kings” in place of simps and “man-baby” instead of incel.