Bolsominion (from the English minion)[1] is a pejorative term used by opponents of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to refer to a segment of his supporters.[2] The word is an amalgamation combining the first half of the surname Bolsonaro, and the word minion ("servant", "follower"), which is also the name of the characters in the Despicable Me franchise.[3] The term gained prominence in Brazilian media with the rise of Bolsonaro throughout his 2018 presidential campaign.[4][5]

Jair Bolsonaro supporters demonstrating in London

Ideology

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One of the signs of the "bolsominions" is the hand imitating a firearm. The gesture was popularized by Jair Bolsonaro during his election campaign in 2018.[6]

In general, bolsominions are described as extreme right-wing people who are uncompromising, reactionary and adept at military intervention to solve problems related to public health, education, security.[7] They often use the term "esquerdopata" (pathological left) to refer to opponents, which is a term used on the internet to treat leftist ideology as a disease (psychopathy), to which its opponents usually respond by using the term "direitopata" (pathological right) to designate them.[8] They see the relationship between military intervention and morality as closely linked factors and they are, in general, antagonistic to agendas considered progressive.[9]

Many are also supporters of the Trump administration.[10]

In 2019, federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro celebrated his 35th birthday with a party themed around Minions, the characters from the Despicable Me franchise, which was reported as referring to the term Bolsominion.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Significado de Minion (O que é, Conceito e Definição)". Significados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  2. ^ Layton, Matthew; Smith, Amy Erica. "Analysis | In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro's victory may mean further shifts in tolerance and moderation". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  3. ^ "A formação e a grafia do nome bolsomínion - Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa". ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  4. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro: Why Brazilian women are saying #NotHim". BBC News. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  5. ^ Phillips, Tom (2019-07-03). "'A bad trip': Jair Bolsonaro's first six months leave even the right dismayed". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  6. ^ "Hyper-Masculinity and Gun Control in Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil". The Globe Post. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  7. ^ "Bolsominions: quem são e do que se alimentam". Extra Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  8. ^ "Bolsominions: quem são? Onde vivem? Do que se alimentam? Como se reproduzem?". Socialista Morena (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  9. ^ Fernandes, Peterson (2019-05-27). "Na caverna do mito". Medium. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  10. ^ "Churrascaria nos EUA simboliza divisão de brasileiros sobre Bolsonaro". BBC News Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  11. ^ "Eduardo Bolsonaro ganha festa com o tema 'Minions' em referência a 'Bolsominion'". Amazonas1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2020-11-21.

Bibliography

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