CARACAS, Sept 22: Millions of women in Brazil have united under the hashtag and social media campaign #EleNao (#NotHim) against the early presidential election front-runner Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party.
Bolsonaro, who is currently recovering in the hospital after being stabbed by a mentally ill man during a political rally on Sept. 6, is known for making offensive, off-the-cuff remarks about women, Black people and members of the LGBTQI community. He has jumped in the polls to 28 percent, leading all competitors in the first round of the presidential election scheduled for Oct. 7.
However, several female TV presenters, journalists, and actresses have taken to their social media accounts in the past few days, posting the hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to counter his rise in the polls.
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"#EleNao is not just about politics — it is about morals," tweeted Deborah Secco, an actress with 3.4 million followers. Actresses Fernanda Paes Leme and Bruna Marquezine, as well as singer Daniela Mercury, have all joined ranks with #NotHim.
As of Thursday, the tag had been mentioned almost 200,000 times on Instagram. Additionally, it was mentioned over 193,000 times and tweeted 152,000 on Twitter as of last weekend, according to researchers at the FGV university.
The online war to win hearts and minds hasn't stopped with #NotHim. "Women United Against Bolsonaro," a private Facebook group for women, more than two million of them, against the presidential hopeful was hacked last week. The page has since been restored to its rightful administrators, according to the BBC.
"Women With Bolsonaro (Official)," another private Facebook page that totaled 850,000 followers as of Thursday, describes his female supporters as "women of courage who don't need feminism and support Captain Bolsonaro for president."
