In May, Jair Renan, the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, was banned from the platform after spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and encouraging gamers to break social isolation. His father also has difficulty communicating with the gaming crowd– built a solid base among his constituency.
Lola said of politics: “Anyone who follows gay people knows right away which side we are on. She emphasized that her audience should be critical and informed enough and debate the topic in an engaging way. It’s hard to imagine that she’s new to streaming — having started her channels when the pandemic hit Brazil — as she emerges as a seasoned pro.
Godmother of Brazilian Gays
Samira Close is one of the seasoned professionals. She is the manipulative character of Wenesson Pereira da Silva, a 27-year-old man from northeastern Brazil who worked as a seamstress and telemarketer before becoming a streamer.
The son of a single mother and a Protestant, Wenesson never considered streaming a career while growing up. He didn’t have enough money to invest in gaming equipment, which back then was just a hobby. At first, he joined his friends’ streams. Over time, followers began to comment on his level of humor and improvisation and ask if he would consider creating his own channel. “Why not?” he thought while looking for solutions to pay electricity and internet bills.
Samira Close was born in 2014 and the longest time she’s been offline since then is 10 days. Samira now transmits from her shiny work station to her nearly 900,000 followers who are eager to interact with Godmother—A nickname coined by her fans.
Samira’s live streams last from 5 to 10 hours a day and at their peak attract more than 15,000 concurrent viewers. She plays various games: from Garena’s Mobile Survival Game arrive Resident Evil, depending on her mood.
Samira in general has a very optimistic aura. She talked enthusiastically — as if she was always ready to joke. Her mouth has a permanent, almost ironic smile, and she uses her beard as a statement. “When I decided not to shave, I wanted people to understand that I’m not there to be a woman, that’s not the point. It’s simply the way I want to appear and it fits my message of ‘you can be anyone and do anything, you don’t have to conform to any expectations, even expectations,’ she said.
Thinking back, Samira says she couldn’t recognize herself in the game streamers she watched before starting her channel — not just in terms of their looks, but their gestures, their humor, in topics they choose to discuss. Their only thing in common is their love for the game.
But sometimes shared care isn’t enough to bring a community together. “When I started, other gamers didn’t take me seriously. They cursed me, they mocked me, I felt so disgusted,” she recounted.
Separation in the game community
According to a Anti-Defamation League Report from July 2019. When talking specifically about LGBTQ+ players, 35 percent said they were harassed because of their identity. Dr Goulart explains: “We are living in what I like to call post-Gamergate.
Gamergate (GG) is a year-long online harassment campaign began in 2014, with members coordinating a series of violent and deviant attacks against female gamers and developers. According to Goulart, GG members have claimed what could be seen as a culture war, mainly of two things: the diversification of gamer identities and growing social criticism, such as: discussions about race, gender, and diversity in video games.
