Lola (played by Clara Galle) and Sara (Mia Sala-Patau) are two friends who host a video podcast dedicated to video games. Lola is also a streamer: she has a channel where she plays various video games live. Lately, she’s been obsessed with a Spanish video game from the ’80s surrounded by all kinds of urban legends. The video game is called Místicas and it’s extremely difficult: no one manages to reach the end. So, when Lola discovers a secret room inside the game, the popularity of her streaming channel explodes. Meanwhile, she and Sara begin to investigate the origins of Místicas: behind it lies a very disturbing story, linked to an abandoned convent.
This is, in brief, the plot of Místicas, a scripted fiction audio series created by that brilliant screenwriting duo Carmen Pacheco and Manuel Bartual and produced by the independent film studio VIVA with European funds. It is one of the most interesting and original audio works I’ve listened to recently. The podcast is constructed like a kind of narrative matryoshka with multiple narrative levels, and each narrative level is contained in a different frame. There’s the video podcast frame, with the interactions between Lola and Sara; there’s Lola’s streaming channel frame; and then there’s the story of what happens in the lives of the two friends.
The reason I’m telling you about Místicas, however, is not to talk about its structure, but to reflect on a phenomenon that the second episode of the podcast clearly highlights.
At one point Sara asks Lola if she has seen the comments under their podcast’s latest video. “There are at least a hundred guys commenting on which of the two they would sleep with,” Sara observes. Lola downplays it, Sara gets angry. Lola then bursts out:
“So we shut down the podcast? I close the channel? If it were up to that, there wouldn’t be a single streamer in the world. Not one. As if I’ve never played online and don’t know how things are.”
Sara accuses Lola of having put on so much makeup to record just to please the male audience. Lola responds that she wears makeup because she wants to, that it’s her way of “empoderarse” (emancipating herself). According to Sara, Lola wears makeup because the comments undermine her self-esteem. Lola retorts that she wears makeup, and puts up with drunk men in the bar where she works, because she needs money: “And now I put on makeup and stream because I want to earn a little more and suffer a little less.”
Sexism in the Streaming Video Industry
Sexism has been a part of video streaming since its inception. Since the early 2010s, platforms like Twitch and YouTube began allowing live content creation, and female creators have always had to face a hostile environment: sexually explicit comments, harassment, constant sexualization of their bodies and content. All of this in an attempt to delegitimize the presence of women in traditionally male-dominated spaces like gaming, tech entertainment, and cultural criticism.
With the increase of video-format podcasts, this phenomenon has become even more widespread in the podcasting world, where creators often deal with text-based harassment in chats, body shaming, and sexual innuendos that reduce their work to mere objects of male desire. Sexism is a strategy of exclusion designed to discourage female participation and keep these spaces as exclusively male territories.
The Gender Gap in the History of Podcasts
Even the history and industry of audio-only podcasts are not free from gender-related mechanisms.
Podcasts had been around for a couple of years when, in 2005, Heather B. Armstrong launched MommyCast. In 2001 – the golden age of blogs – Armstrong had created a blog that quickly became extremely popular, where she shared the challenges of motherhood, a topic that was at the time quite uncommon on the internet. MommyCast also talked about family life and motherhood: it was one of the first podcasts to do so. Moreover, MommyCast was, in general, one of the first podcasts with a female host, within a digital media landscape that at the time was almost entirely the domain of men.
Even as late as 2013, according to the Stitcher app, only 20% of the top 100 podcasts were hosted by women. It was in response to this data that Radiotopia, a newly established network of narrative podcasts, declared its goal of promoting female-led podcasts. The network explicitly committed to giving space to new shows hosted by women, and soon after, podcasts like The Heart by Kaitlin Prest (here you can find a deeper dive on Prest for QdO) or The Kitchen Sisters became part of Radiotopia.
By the mid-2010s, things were finally starting to change. A key contribution to gender equality in podcasting certainly came in 2014 with the success of Serial, hosted by journalist Sarah Koenig. In the following years, podcasts like Call Your Girlfriend by Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow and Another Round by Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu emerged, addressing personal, cultural, and social topics from a female perspective.
Between 2016 and 2018, there was an exponential growth in content giving voice to female narratives, often linked to movements such as #MeToo and discussions on gender equality. At the same time, platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts began actively promoting content from female creators, making it more visible.
Today, podcasts represent a much more diverse ecosystem compared to ten years ago, with significant female representation in almost every genre: from narrative storytelling to journalism, from entertainment to political and cultural analysis.
On the other hand, even in 2021 in Italy (and not only there), a certain gender gap could still be observed: in the top 100 on Spotify Italy, only 22% of podcasts were hosted by women, mainly in categories like Health and Wellness (32%) and Education (27%). To promote equity and inclusivity in the podcasting sector, in the same year, Spotify launched the first edition of Sound Up in Italy, a training program in podcasting aimed at underrepresented categories. Not by chance, it was decided to dedicate this initiative to aspiring female podcasters.
But what are the reasons for this gender gap? A 2022 study by WomenX Impact illustrates it:
- 74% of the women interviewed saw technology as an insurmountable obstacle, compared to only 26% of men.
- 54% were afraid of judgment.
- 53% feared not being taken seriously.
- 60% felt insecure about their content.
The WomenX Impact study also highlighted how men tend to prefer podcasts with predominantly male voices, while women listen to content hosted by both men and women.
This disparity is also reflected in the composition of the audience: historically, the podcast audience has been predominantly male, with women representing a smaller segment of listeners. However, in recent years, the female component of the audience has grown significantly worldwide.
The Illusion of Progress
Despite the progress in podcasting, as I mentioned earlier, the rise of video podcasts risks undoing much of the progress made in terms of inclusivity and female representation. The emphasis on “camera-readiness” has introduced new barriers for female creators, subjecting them to a high level of aesthetic scrutiny.
Podcasters now have to not only produce quality content but also appear perfect. Impeccable hair, well-done makeup, professional lighting, and strategically selected outfits have almost become a requirement, much more so for women than for their male counterparts.
In general, the world of video podcasts is increasingly reflecting the dynamics of the “manosphere”: spaces dominated by men interviewing other men, with a narrative that favors predominantly macho perspectives.
This is evident from a recent analysis by Bloomberg of content from a series of U.S. podcasters and streamers who have emerged in the last two years as a new mainstream source of information for millions of young men. Bloomberg‘s analysis highlights the role of these creators, all men and mostly conservatives, in supporting Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election.
This situation, of course, is not limited to the United States. It is becoming increasingly widespread in our country as well. For example, journalist and writer Selvaggia Lucarelli recently discussed it in her newsletter:
“Observing how communication around politics (and vice versa) is moving in America, it is impossible not to notice how a very similar framework is being built in Italy. A framework that was chillingly summarized by the new macho [Mark] Zuckerberg, who, as a guest on the famous podcaster Joe Rogan’s show, said: ‘Male energy is a good thing. And obviously, there is a lot of it in society, but I think corporate culture is really trying to move away from it. I think having a culture that celebrates a bit more aggression has its merits.’
The Italian rise of macho, aggressive, conspiratorial, and inappropriate video podcasts, mostly hosted by men interviewing men and strategically and comradely promoting each other, is not accidental. It is perfectly in line with what is happening in America and with the cultural hegemony project and ideas of Musk and Trump.”
Despite the advances in audio podcasting, video podcasts risk representing a dangerous step backward: a territory that, rather than opening up to greater inclusivity, reaffirms old gender stereotypes and discriminatory practices.
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