Blending these two worlds, the streamer has amassed a large following across platforms despite all the odds and obstacles as her unique point-of-view guides her to success. “We’ve been so incredibly shocked and grateful for the growth we’ve seen. It all seemed so far away and so impossible to reach,” she said in a phone interview with Lifewire. “I am representing an underserved community and a lot of my community sees my content and are so excited to see a Muslim streamer, a hijabi streamer, and they’re so on board to be a part of the community.” Her name, hijabberwocky, is a portmanteau of the Islamic head covering and the dragon-like beast from the Alice in Wonderland series by Lewis Carrol. Like the literary monster, this streamer is a representation of something unique and, some may even say, a bit surreal. Her goal in this gaming world is to be a positive representative for Muslims and hijab-wearing women around the world and show that they, too, can enjoy a little ruckus in a first-person shooter every now and then.
Non-Hostile Keyboard Warrior
Raised in a quaint suburb of America’s smallest state, Rhode Island, Kadry describes herself as an impossibly shy, introverted child, which many may find at odds with her current career as a necessarily outgoing streamer. Her father worked in robotics, so she recalls being surrounded by computers, which began her interest in all things tech. She grew up playing games like Pokemon Snapshot and Rugrats: Search for Reptar to more modern titles like Call of Duty, the latter of which she discovered via her older brother leaving the room briefly, prompting the then 13-year-old Kadry to secretly take his controller and play. She immediately fell in love. “That moment is what changed me when it comes to gaming and opened me up to the FPS world…as far as meeting people online and socializing that way,” she said, detailing how the military-style shooter became her favorite game. Despite being introverted, she said she came alive in the game. She would make friends through online chatting and feel more at ease than she did outside of the game world. Every day she would get home from school to play Call of Duty until the early morning hours completely engrossed in its world. It gave her a sense of freedom to be who she was without a sense of repercussion: a kind of non-hostile keyboard warrior she says. “It was less so to do with the game itself and more so with the socialization aspect of it. I didn’t know how to make friends in real life, so it really provided me with an opportunity that I couldn’t make for myself,” she said.
A Brand New Life
It became such a big part of her life that being a streamer was a more natural move for her than those who knew her would’ve imagined. Until then, she worked a series of odd jobs between playing games before eventually settling on a position as a flight attendant, which she left in March before going full-time as a streamer. Her first stream took place on January 5, 2021, and she uploaded her first TikTok a few days later. In six months she’s grown in a way that few other content creators on the platform can say. She’s reached heights that it took others years to reach. She has amassed nearly 170,000 followers on TikTok and a substantial audience of 14,000 on Twitch, where she’s an affiliate with the streaming giant. Serving as a kind of feedback loop, her TikTok, which is dedicated to her gaming life, directly feeds into her streaming success. “It wasn’t an accident… I knew I wanted to do this so I did a lot of research into the best practices,” she said. Her popularity further exploded after a successful TikTok series, Unban Requests, which she launched on May 15. The series sheds light on her experience with Islamophobic trolls, but with an air of levity and that TikTok brand of subtle comedy. This multipart series has garnered about 7 million views since its inception on the bustling, short-form video app. She says she hasn’t had the opportunity to properly take in the success thanking her community for the support she’s received. She hopes to continue her mission to take over social media and become a gaming force; all because one day in January she decided to finally chase her dream. “Don’t let doubt or fear keep you from trying to achieve your goal. If you don’t, you’ll always be stuck asking what if. I’m doing what I love [and] I’m enjoying myself,” the streamer continued. “Be the light in your own life.”
