The Biggest Bullies In The World 

When a woman historian uses the internet to debunk misinformation about Aryan migration theory and smash myths about the Mughals, how do you think Indian men receive her work? You're right—now multiply what you're thinking by a hundred.  

Responses to Delhi-based professor Ruchika Sharma and her YouTube show 'Eyeshadow and Etihaas' are largely communal and misogynistic. These days, Sharma faces the camera with a popular quote by Bhagat Singh clearly visible on the wall behind her: "They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit."

It's a message to viewers who are obsessed with her body, who slut-shame her, try to dox her, send her death threats, private messages with dick pics and theorise about her personal life. Is she 'against Hindu culture' because she has a Muslim boyfriend or because her alpha Hindu ex dumped her? 

"There's all kinds of trolling," she says. "There's communal trolling where they call me a jihadi or a mix of misogyny and communal trolling where they talk about a Muslim boyfriend in a sexual manner, not as nicely as I'm saying it."

Sharma lists some other themes that repeat: We can't take someone who wears makeup seriously. Opinions of a Jawaharlal Nehru University alumnus must be rejected. Lose some weight, fatty. It's only the ugly ones who have such opinions.

There are gendered abuses and attempts to shame Sharma. "The fact that I dress as I please or show cleavage becomes a big thing," she says.

At least Sharma has the experience required to fight back. Watching internet users shred the looks of a 16-year-old exam topper from Uttar Pradesh this past week reminded me how weary I feel about the daily abuses and insults most of us (except straight, privileged men) face on the internet about the way we look, sound and dress.

Every day, we navigate rape threats, insults, sizeism, sexism, casteism, colourism, homophobia, ageism and every other attack on our bodies that you can possibly think of. And the world mostly tells us to develop a thicker skin, ignore the hate or cede public platforms.

The hate comes not from people lurking behind anonymous handles or shadowy display pictures. It comes from mostly male internet users whose bios display their full names and workplaces. The internet is their common address—a safe space for the world's biggest bullies. Their confidence comes from knowing that their patriarchal right to bully has been enshrined in the digital age.

Preteens, teenagers, queer and other marginalised communities, it goes without saying, are favourite targets. One McAfee report from 2022 found that 85% of Indian children have experienced cyber bullying. 

In November last year, Pranshu, a 16-year-old trans child from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, died by suicide after a flood of online hate and bullying. The hateful homophobic comments started when Pranshu, a self-taught makeup artist with one of the happiest faces I have ever seen, posted a happy Diwali reel wearing a sari and gold jewellery. People took time out from their Diwali celebrations to abuse and insult the teenager, flooding Pranshu’s account for a week with thousands of messages. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that Pranshu died because they wore a sari.

"Even after my child has passed away, people are continuing to comment on his reel, calling him crazy and saying that it's good he has died," Pranshu’s mother Preeti Yadav told Newslaundry, days after her child’s death. At that time, there were 50,000 comments on the post. Many noted that Pranshu had adeptly batted away such abuses on previous occasions, but who knows when the soul can take no more. Besides, how can we expect any teenager to find their way through such relentless hate?  

In the case of Prachi Nigam, trolls (the innocuous word we use to describe the world's most hateful people) ignored the board exam topper's achievement to focus exclusively on her facial hair. "Trollers can live with their mindset, I am happy that my success is now my identity," Nigam eventually said. I'm guessing she put out a statement only after repeated requests for a 'comment' by dozens of 24/7 news media outlets.

In my growing up years, most insults were verbally communicated to people you knew and not blithely texted to strangers. You could break the heart of a 16-year-old girl with ONE hateful comment. In the internet age, of course, the comments are never in single or even double digits. Any woman journalist who speaks against the establishment will tell you that her mentions can fill up like a fast overflowing pool of hateful sludge in seconds. 

The racist and sexist attacks against tennis superstar Serena Williams are well documented. But overall, women in sport and trans athletes are a frequent target of men who believe they know best.

"You exercise so much but your thighs are still fat." This is just one of the daily observations that creep into the direct messages of Debjani Carole Aich, a competitive swimmer and advanced scuba diver.  

She says this daily harassment is "not as harsh" as what many athletes face. "Women who don't appear muscular get comments about how skinny they are. There's very little that you can do right."

Recently, one of the self-proclaimed 'experts' who said he had followed her for years remarked, "Your fitness journey is amazing, but why can you also not make looking better your second or third priority?"

Ruchika Sharma battles the hate with a large dose of pragmatism. "Most of the time, I ignore it and don’t let it get to me," she says. "I remind myself that this is just mob mentality, it's people who would never be able to say anything to my face if they met me. Their main idea is to derail my work." 

She also knows the internet is a place where men think they can shut down women's voices by shaming us. "If you are a history teacher, then Mia Khalifa is a virgin," one gent said. But Sharma has the power to decide when to respond and when to ignore. "I control the narrative."

Priya Ramani is a Bengaluru-based journalist and is on the editorial board of Article-14.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of NDTV Profit or its editorial team.