Twitch king Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins has addressed the recent debate surrounding his choice to avoid streaming with women.

In a recent chat with a Polygon reporter, Blevins explained that he doesn't create content with women for the sake of avoiding internet gossip.

“If I have one conversation with one female streamer where we’re playing with one another, and even if there’s a hint of flirting, that is going to be taken and going to be put on every single video and be clickbait forever,” Blevins told Polygon.

While that seems like a pretty sweeping and exclusionary statement, Blevins' reasons for doing so are not completely unfounded.

The internet divided over the streamer's choice - some accusing Blevins of being sexist and perpetuating the notion that women are just sexual objects. Some people agreed with him and his attempt to protect his family.

Family comes first

Blevins tweeted a statement addressing the conversion, saying that his choice is to "address online harassment and minimise it from our lives".

He also names a handful of female streamers and encourages readers to go and support them.

There's an argument that Blevins could be using his influence to counteract rumour and speculation rather than just excluding the opposite completely.

However, while Blevins' choice is not born out of sexism, the age old attitude that any man must be romantically involved with any girl he talks to is still massively prevalent. It happens in every industry - even more so in games - and it's not something that will go away even if Blevins' did choose to battle it.

Please read. pic.twitter.com/egfplBQFYD

— Ninja (@Ninja) August 13, 2018