“Please tell me you’re not leftist, you’re too pretty to be.” But Vivian is a supporter of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and because of this, flirting on Tinder is doomed to failure.
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This is a clear demonstration of how political polarization in Brazil influences relationships – including romantic relationships – in this election year.
With about three weeks to go until the second round of the presidential elections, on October 30th, between President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Lula, political orientation has become a weapon of seduction or disposal on dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble, Happn and Grindr.
“I don’t think there’s any point in interacting with people on the right,” says Gabriela S., a 25-year-old psychologist from São Paulo, who says she’s not even willing to share a beer with someone she associates, for example, with racism or contempt for. the homosexual community.
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The political filter is the “most used by Brazilians”, says Javier Tuiran, Bumble’s communications director for Latin America.
The use of this tool “it even increased in the months that preceded it” the first round, held on October 2, in which former president Lula came out ahead with 48,43% of the votes, against 43,2% for the president, explains Tuiran.
Application for leftists: to avoid waking up nostalgic for the dictatorship
Did you know that there is an app for dating left-wing people? Lefty, exclusively for leftists. “The search for a mate can be difficult in itself. Not having this possible (political) incompatibility is of great help to many people”, says Alex Felipelli, president of Similar Souls, owner of the application with 15.000 users, which even measures the level of activism.
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Another case is the pt.inder, an Instagram account with more than 26.000 followers, which “seeks to generate interactions, even with an ad space between opponents of Bolsonaro”, explains its creator, Maria Goretti.
This 38-year-old lawyer was inspired “by her friends' fear of meeting someone incredible at night and realizing in the morning that he is nostalgic for the dictatorship or other Bolsonarist ideas”.
According to Goretti, his initiative has already reaped several successes, crowned with marriage.
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Flirting group for Bolsonaristas
Bolsonaro voters, in turn, can join “Bolsolteiros”, a Facebook group with around 6.700 members.
Elaine Souza, a 46-year-old social worker, started the group in 2019 with the same spirit of avoiding unwanted encounters: “the left defends what we disapprove of. Being right-wing is already half the battle” in the search for a partner.
Source: AFP
