Is Pokimane Transphobic?

TwitchBeat - October 1, 2020
Is Pokimane Transphobic?

Imane Anys aka Pokimane is well-known for having one of the largest fan bases on the platform. Recently, she defended some of her male fans that were being called ‘Simps’. She posted on her Instagram account stating; “Stop calling male a simp for simply being a decent male”. But what is a Simp? The word simp is meant to troll young men for doing anything for a girl to get some action he supposedly deserves. While much older as a term, simp massively trended among late 2019 and early 2020 due in part to a TikTok trend among male members of Generation Z called “Simp Nation”.

Her post became controversial when she wrote, referring to people “male, female, attack helicopter, other”. She was accused of being transphobic because of the word “attack helicopter’. It is a transphobic Internet meme. The phrase originated as part of a copypasta text posted in 2014 on the Internet forum Reddit.

Clearly, Pokimane’s only intention was to protect those who are being called simps but she has been accused of something unexpected because of her use of words. However, when the issue came out, she quickly posted on her Instagram an apology letter to those who had been hurt by what she had said.

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