Simp — a word you’ve probably heard of on the internet or a term you might have been called as after doing something nice online to a girl.
The word has been subject to rather controversial connotations, especially when someone is branded as a Simp mostly tries to step back almost immediately or keep their mouths shut before doing anything else further.
Should the term “Simp” be something perceived in a negative light? Is it something to be truly ashamed of? Well, you might be surprised to know that the act of Simping can make gamer girls rather uncomfortable at some point… If the Simps decide to cross the line, that is.
What is a Simp?
According to Urban Dictionary, a “Simp” is a person (usually a man) who puts himself in a subservient/submissive position under women in hopes of winning them over.
Another definition claims it’s a man that puts too much value on a female for no reason, who prides himself with “Chivalry” in hopes of getting sexual gratification from women.
Contrary to being just a “friendly, nice guy”, Simps are acting favorably because of hidden personal intentions in mind. Gen Z often uses the word across online communities to describe the typical millennial nice guy.
We’ve also written a brief overview as to what the term “Simp” means in various online communities if you want a more comprehensive reading.
The Challenges of being a Girl Gamer
Gaming is already an industry filled with cutthroat competition, but being a girl gamer adds some more additional harassment and bullying issues to deal with.
In particular, there are negative stereotypes attached to the term “Girl Gamer” in itself. It’s as if girls can’t be “real” gamers no matter how hard they try.
Some girls who have played multiplayer games and are actually good at it might still be perceived in a negative light. There are girl gamers said to be Boosted — the act of playing with other accounts (often cheaters or players on a higher Elo) or letting your account be played by some other player to quickly climb a game’s ranked leaderboards.
In particular, Valorant content creator VAL_Kaylee was speculated to have been ramped up or Boosted by cheaters after achieving a feat on the game. In case you missed it, she’s considered as the youngest female player to reach Radiant rank on Riot’s FPS title.
The allegations put all her efforts in the Competitive playlist into question, and that her historic Valorant feat wasn’t achieved by herself alone.
Regardless, VAL_Kaylee posted a tweet to explain her side of the story and to deny the allegations.
“hey guys i wanna say i queued with my friends to radiant & i don’t play the game professionally.. i didn’t pay anyone to boost me and didn’t pay a cheater either? i didn’t want my tweet to blow up and i’m sorry for getting radiant :/ i trio queued and i guess i got lucky”
Whether a girl gamer is good at a game or not, it’s often the constant harassment they receive in the community that pushes them to entertain and encourage their Simps— who are often more than willing to make them feel validated for their efforts.
These Simp fans, who might begin to feel special after being acknowledged by their gamer girl idol, might cross the line if their delusions and personal desires get to the best of them.
How is Simp Culture “Toxic” for Girl gamers?
Simp Culture, although flattering at some point, can also get nasty and destructive at some point. If a guy acts severely nice to a woman online with the intention of getting closer to her in a more intimate way, that’s a rather unhealthy way to Simp.
Here are some more situations to elaborate how Simp culture can be toxic for girl gamers:
- Unwarranted harassment – There are countless times where female streamers are bombarded by one or two clingy viewers in the chat. It feels as if they are obliged to pour all of their attention towards the said person, because if they won’t— they’re most likely to cause a scene simply because they didn’t get what they want.
Nobody wants to deal with an overly clingy viewer, let alone a man who exclusively wants the streamer’s attention all to themselves. This can also be distracting especially during a gameplay livestream. Always respect the stream and keep in mind that the streamer is broadcasting to an audience of different backgrounds, it’s not just you alone.
- IRL stalking – Some streamers share their address to the public in case some fans want to send some packages or goodies, but there are also instances where toxic, delusional fans personally head over to the place themselves. Their unwanted appearance places any female streamer at such an awkward situation.
For instance, popular League of Legends Twitch streamer Janet “xChocoBars” Rose opened up about the stalking issue she faced in August 2020. Apparently, she has been dealing with a persistent stalker for over 2 years now. Though she went to the authorities, spoken to lawyers presenting an overwhelming amount of evidence – the same responses boil down to: “We can’t do anything unless he does commit a crime.”
Earlier that year, another Twitch star Sweet Anita also came forward with a similar issue, saying she was continually being stalked online. She also contacted the platform to come up with a solution to the problem, as well as to raise awareness about the stalking incident and warn other content creators for their own safety.
- Overstepping privacy – There are some girl gamers who are bombarded with random DMs from other players asking for their personal information, social media accounts, and private selfies. It’s kinda tricky to avoid being in this situation though, considering gaming is still a largely male-dominated industry.
Thirsty gamers will go out of their way to constantly harass a gamer girl they’re interested in, which can be a problem for the lady who just wants to focus on gaming in peace. Even if you ignore these persistent types of players, there are others who will shame you for not answering and will stop at nothing just to get what they desire.
- Trust Issues towards men – In today’s modern world, a guy who’s merely being decent and nice can be instantly branded as a Simp. It’s as if being a polite human being in the gaming community equates to Simping.
Although their intentions are pure and they mean no harm, these guys often get called out by the community for “Simping” which is often perceived in a negative light and bears a shameful connotation.
This blurs the line between a person who just wants to be nice towards a girl gamer and someone who’s Simping for personal benefit. As a result, there will be trust issues every time a guy tries to be nice towards a female gamer. The phrase “Trust no one” also makes it difficult for some girl gamers to fully trust a guy who’s being nice towards them, especially if they met them in a game.
- Taking away the room for improvement – Some white knights on various multiplayer games tend to be more than willing to help a girl gamer get a win, to the point that they leave little to no room for the girl to actually improve in the game.
This includes hogging all kills/objectives, and in a more specific example— not trusting the girls to finish off the enemies in Battle Royale games. Seriously, they’d rather ask for themselves to be healed first (when they’re knocked down) instead of letting the girl do what she thinks is best in the situation.
While it’s great that some nice guys want to help out a beginner gamer girl, they must learn to trust the girl with her in-game decisions and strategies at some point. When a girl gets boosted to a higher-level rank with little improvement on her personal gameplay, it might honestly take away all the fun of gaming when she realizes how high her skill gap is against other players in the same tier.
Keep on Simping
Of course, being a Simp is not exactly creating a negative online environment for girl gamers. It’s when a Simp decides to overstep personal boundaries that things start to get dirty.
If “Simping” means being polite to women and saving them from unnecessary and rather rowdy, rude remarks— then please keep on simping by all means. Though the term has been received in a rather negative light, especially in the online community, women deserve a safe space on the internet. Everyone does.
Just remember to respect personal boundaries like a decent human being. Simping for a famous video game content creator might leave you vying for their attention all the time, but keep in mind that they’re human too. Don’t be greedy just because they’re a public interest.
Besides, it doesn’t hurt to be nice. This will decrease your chances of getting banned from the chat or the channel in itself, as well.
