Highlights
- Online games streaming is a male dominated hobby
- As a girl gamer, discriminations are always present
- Gaming is not bad as long as it is regulated
“Feeling mo pag narinig mo ang girl gamer o streamer, sa tingin mo nagpapakita lang siya ng skin o ng beauty para sa views. The main reason why people stream is that they love playing games. Babae o lalaki ka man na naglalaro ng online games, walang competition at difference. Lahat tayo ay equal.”
With over 10,000 followers on Facebook and an accredited partner in the platform, Rhea Lorraine Ballan or popularly known as "Nurse Rheaahh" finds online games streaming a worthwhile hobby.
Unlike most streamers who started their streaming career on the fly, Rhea began her professional career as a nurse. Rhea Lorraine Ballan came from Sarangani, Philippines and pursued her medical professional career in Thailand. Here in Australia, she is doing her further education hoping to land a permanent job in the medical field.
Rhea as a nurse back in Thailand Source: Supplied by Rhea Lorraine Ballan
The gamer girl within
She was always fond of playing games such as Ragnarok, DOTA and Counter Strike back in her high school and college years. She would also raise the challenge of being able to play games while growing up in the Philippines. Even now, some of her family members were not that too supportive of her hobby.
“May isa akong stream dito na naka block ang mom ko kasi dahil narin sa discouragement. Even though before nung nag take ako ng mga tests, naglalaro ako kasi isa yan sa mga anti-stressors ko kaya nakakatulong talaga siya ng malaki.”
Stepping stones to streaming
When she moved to Australia with her partner, she was opened to an emerging entertainment industry - online games streaming. Citing her inspiration from a Filipina DOTA streamer named “Aubrey”, and with her partner’s encouragement, Rhea began streaming her online plays.
She started streaming back in July 2020 and she describes her humble beginnings as small successes.
“Before sobrang konti pa lang ang aking followers. Mga 2 to 5 lang mga viewers ko. Tapos dahan dahan nagiging ten tapos twenty. Pag twenty masaya na ako nun.
She strongly expressed that her motivation to stream was not to attract viewers, rather as a self-fulfilling hobby that she really likes to do.
Rhea with her initial streaming set up Source: Supplied by Rhea Lorraine Ballan
“May times talaga na kailangan mo lang i-push kung ano gusto mong makita sa future mo. Kung mag give up ka in the middle, hindi mo makukuha yung gusto mong ma-achieve. Pag alam mo sa sarili mo na masaya ka kahit walang nanonood sayo, sapat na yun."
Discrimination and stereotyping
In the gaming world, there had been a lot of discriminations and stereotyping over girl streamers -let alone girl gamers. Rhea has experienced such, however she would just shove them away and just continue what she loves to do.
“May mga natatanggap rin akong mga ganun, pero di siya masyadong dinidibdib. May discrimination na dahil babae, ibig sabihin ‘weak' yan. Di ko na lang iyon mina-mind.”
Rhea playing a famous FPS gaming title 'Valorant' Source: Supplied by Rhea Lorraine Ballan
“Depende yan sa personality ng mga babae. Nasa kanila iyon. If feel nila mas komportable sila dun, kung feel nila mas fun ang setting ng kanilang stream doon, it’s really up to them. For me naman, di ako ganoon, I just want to play game na masaya ako.”
Breaking the generalisations over gaming culture
Different generations have different views on gaming. Rhea raised her difficulties in her gaming experience during her childhood. She believes that gaming is not a bad hobby. She even encourages aspiring streamers out there.
“If they really want to pursue streaming lalo na pag magaling na sila sa kanilang gaming. Mag-practice lang sila magsalita at maging komportable mag interact sa mga tao.”
She also appeals to parents to not totally discourage their children in playing games. She highly suggests that this could be an avenue in connecting with their children even more.
“May mga streamers ngayon na kasama ang mga parents at children. Mostly ang mga mas bata ngayon ay maraming alam sa mga games. Kailangan ng responsible parenting parin para may proper guidance at maiwasan ang addiction.”
Rhea is currently pursuing further education in nursing Source: Supplied by Rhea Lorraine Ballan
A lasting career?
Despite having a lot of following in her streaming career, Rhea sees it as a hobby for now. She still wants to focus on her further education and getting a more stable career in the medical field.
She however would be very much happy for her streaming community to grow -aiming to get 50,000 to 100,000 followers by the end of the year. She also admittedly said that she does receive some monetary donations from her viewers and she sees it as “sharing of blessings.” These donations helped her fund her now newly built gaming computer set.
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