YouTuber Maximilian “HandOfBlood” Knabe (30) is one of the most popular gaming influencers in Germany. He received hate comments for using gender-sensitive language in a video – now he explains why he changed it anyway.
What was that video? In a YouTube video from February 5, 2023, HandOfBlood presented the new office of I3 Holding GmbH, which includes the creative agency Instinc3 and the e-sports team Eintracht Spandau.
At the time of writing, the video had nearly 620,000 views and made it to #6 in YouTube’s overall trends. This actually speaks for the success of the video, but also means that it is seen by many people outside of its own target group.
In this case, it resulted in comments from people expressing their displeasure at the content creator’s use of gender-sensitive language: He changed it, so he’s talking about influencers, for example. Comments are said to range from claims that he is state-funded to death wishes.
Spandau explains on Twitter why he changed it anyway.
If you would like to learn more about the Eintracht Spandau e-sports team, start our video:
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YouTuber wants to do “his part”.
Why did HandOfBlood change? By using gender-sensitive language, he positions himself in solidarity with people who are discriminated against because of their gender identity.
I do my part to make language more neutral, which automatically makes people think more openly about gender roles. Because language leads to recognition. Whoever is linguistically underrepresented loses importance.
HandOfBlood via Twitter
The YouTuber admits that innovations in language use are exhausting, and he is sometimes overwhelmed. The more often you use new words, the easier it is for you. He concludes with the request to give it a try, because language changes have always existed.
We’ve included the beginning of the thread explaining HandOfBlood here for you:
“Love Goes Out”
How is that received? As unpleasant as some of the comments on the original video may have been, the content creator also receives a lot of support on Twitter.
The comments on the thread are closed, but that doesn’t stop people from expressing their opinions in the quote tweets: that’s why he’s one of the few content creators still actively following or why he’s the favorite YouTuber (via Twitter).
Other Twitter users express their incomprehension that one can get so upset about gender, even wish someone dead: “I don’t understand why inclusion still triggers so many people so much,” it says (via Twitter) .
There seems to be hardly any criticism of the statements. It will still take some time before gender is normalized the way HandOfBlood would like it to be.
Opinions differ on gender. While advocates like HandOfBlood see this as a normal part of language change and an important sign of equality, critics see it as a threat to the German language.
The creator of the survival hit 7 vs. Wild, for example, has his own opinion:
Creator of the YouTube hit “7 vs. Wild” makes a sweeping bang on Instagram, railing against everything and everyone