Why Are Women Trolled On The Net?

A certain section of Internet users need scapegoats and heroes. They need constant debate. About whether the cat is coming down or going up the staircase. Whether a dress is blue or white and gold. Whether Prince Harry was right in refusing a selfie with a fan. Some of us want to see the last minutes of panic on the Germanwings plane that was intentionally crashed into the Alps. We want to know about the final moments of those aboard (including Kalpana Chawla) the space shuttle Columbia even after all these years. And yes, we want our dose of belittling laughter.

Because everything at some level becomes on the Internet about the cabal of shaming someone or the other. Recently there was a meme about Sania Mirza fumbling at some question asked during her appearance at KBC. So what if she has just hit the number 1 spot in the WTA Doubles ranking? She must be laughed at for her lack of knowledge in other important areas. Do we remember even one male contestant from KBC being mocked thus? Ever wondered why only poor Alia Bhatt was picked on after her appearance on Koffee with Karan when there was Varun Dhawan on the same show fumbling with his questions? Recently Leslee Udwin was targetted by the trolling brigade for being a privileged white woman with little or no insight into the great culture of India, who had dared to question the gender equations in her documentary India’s Daughter.

And regardless of the merit or the puerility of the reviled My Choice video, it was Deepika who was laughed at. The most. Oh, that hair. That bra strap. All those women who have never known the ‘’real’’ struggles of real women.  While a video featuring a certain KRK’s rebuttal where he crudely spoke about his choice to expose himself in a street corner went viral, Shobhaa De, as privileged as any of the women featured in the video, got personal beyond acceptable limits. De did not just speak about the confused messages the video sent out but implied that  the  maker Homi Adajania (incidentally a married man) was infatuated with his beautiful muse. And could not let go after shooting Finding Fanny and hence had made the video to celebrate her one more time.

Some memes pitted Deepika against “real achievers’’ like Saina Nehwal to show that an actor, especially if she is a woman, cannot be taken seriously. An Aamir Khan, selling the idea of virtual shopping in a Snapdeal ad is another matter. He did Satyamev Jayate, remember? How many memes can you remember on Salman Khan and his lawless indiscretions? Even abroad, a well-meaning campaign from Lane Bryant – the plus-size lingerie retailer-did not just say that women with curvy bodies are beautiful. It implied that they are better than the flat-stomached, long-legged bewinged angels we see on runways. It is finally clear that even when we are celebrating some women on the Net, we must tear down a few others just to keep the balance of the universe intact.

As we fight to keep net neutrality intact, we also must give a thought to the idea of staying neutral when an opportunity to collectively shame another human being arises. Criticism is healthy when it does not target gender, sexuality and fundamental humanness of another being. The privilege to criticise is precious because it can bring down despots, question faulty government policies, unethical policing, irresponsible celebrities. The Net can fuel mass movements to fight for the environment, for efficient governance, for issues that concern us a race.

Too bad that some of us would rather use its power to pan Anushka Sharma for a lost match she did not even play.

 with The New Indian Express  Reema Moudgil works for The New Indian Express, Bangalore, is the author of Perfect Eight, the editor of  Chicken Soup for the Soul-Indian Women, an artist, a former RJ and a mother. She dreams of a cottage of her own that opens to a garden and  where she can write more books, paint, listen to music and  just be silent with her cats.