Hasan Piker thinks being a man is simple.

Like many of the successful internet personalities who appeal to a generation of young men, Mr. Piker, a 33-year-old Twitch and YouTube streamer, is a “bro”: He likes weapons, inhales supplements, uses nicotine pouches and ruminates endlessly on the legacy of LeBron James. But unlike many of his contemporaries, Mr. Piker, an avowed socialist, is just as at ease dressing in French maid drag as he is on a basketball court.

In the six years since he started his daily online broadcasts about culture and politics, Mr. Piker has become a streaming star: He has about 4.5 million followers combined on YouTube and Twitch, the platform wildly popular with Americans who came of age during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In the most reductive way, it just comes down to confidence — that’s what people are talking about when it comes to masculinity,” Mr. Piker said in an interview. “They’re talking about confidence.”

That confidence carries over into Mr. Piker’s discussions of politics. On his streams, conversations about dating, gaming or exercising often turn into rants supporting organized labor, universal health care or L.G.B.T.Q. rights. He will just as frequently pivot from criticizing the Democratic Party or the Israeli government to slamming right-wing comedians. This fluency between culture and ideology has led many to brand Mr. Piker a Joe Rogan of the left — if Mr. Rogan had a mop top and painted his nails.

Mr. Piker in his studio earlier this year. He knows his success on camera has been partly aided by the way he looks. Credit…Adali Schell for The New York Times

Mr. Piker’s success on camera, in some part, has been aided by the fact that he is, by conventional standards, a very handsome man. He is 6 feet 4 inches tall and built like a professional athlete, with a square jaw, a beard and a head of thick dark hair.