KOCHI: Recently, singer-songwriter Gowry Lekshmi faced cyberattacks over one of her songs released more than a year ago. The song Murivu talks about her personal experiences, especially child sexual abuse.
A woman artist speaking up about personal traumas almost always invites a floodgate of online abuse. It was true in the case of Gowry as well.
Trolls descended on her social media pages and soon, comments poured in. They mocked the incidents portrayed in the song, her dress; slut-shamed and dissed her for speaking up.
“It was a very confusing and overwhelming experience for me,” says Gowry.
“Murivu was released a year ago and I was being attacked out of nowhere. My song does not tag all men as rapists but all hate seems to be springing from this idea.”
Gowry believes the controversy only started after a section of people thought she was crossing the line.
“The lyrics are inspired by incidents in my own life. I have been harassed by men on the bus, by a relative and many more in my lifetime. And I know that I’m not the only one who has gone through such experiences,” she explains.
According to the 30-year-old, it was her way of delivery — bold and unapologetic — that triggered the trolls.
“I wasn’t asking for anyone’s sympathy. And that’s precisely why it became a controversy. If a TV channel had reported my story of abuse with sombre background music, it would have won more hearts, don’t you think?” she asks.
There is often a fine line between critiquing women and misogyny. For the uninitiated, misogyny means ‘a feeling of hate or dislike towards women and girls, or a feeling that women are not as good as men.’
Though the many comments under Gowry’s songs are likely intended as ‘constructive criticism’, they inadvertently spew misogyny.
Not new
Online trolls and malicious comments are nothing new. They are an unfailing accompaniment to any campaign protesting crimes against women, experts say.
Though the reportage of sexual abuse cases has increased over the years, the bigger threat that looms over women’s safety in the state is the growing forms of assault. And Gowry’s experience, where she turned to her art to open up about child sexual abuse, is only a recent example.
She adds that there are also comments from all corners in support of her and the song. Many have also opened up in the comments section about the abuse they have faced. A mini-#MeToo.
Ambily Prakash, a 50-year-old homemaker talks about one such incident she faced. “Once, a man approached me for ‘favours’ in return for helping me. He kept inviting me for coffee despite many refusals. I had to tell him that I didn’t need his help,” she says.
Earlier, men groping women on the bus and public spaces was rampant. But the nature of such abuse has changed in today’s tech-savvy world, Ambily says.
There has also been a huge shift in people’s attitudes towards women, too. “However, women continue to be shamed and objectified. And cyberbullying has become the latest form of such attacks towards women,” Ambily says, adding that she limits using social media for this reason.
Athira R Chandran, a marketing and communication manager, is one such woman who faced sexual harassment online. She had an Instagram handle, where she uploaded her writings and photos.
“I had around 6,000 followers. At some point, random men started sending unsolicited photos of their genitals to me,” she explains.
Athira decided to call out these abusive men by putting up a story on her profile. “However, my profile got banned. I haven’t been able to retrieve it yet,” she says.
Since the incident, she has not been very comfortable sharing her photos online.
Most of the time, when survivors call out abusers, the power dynamics in society become more visible, Athira says.
“If you have the right kind of people supporting you, it gets easier for you to fight the abuse. But this is not the case for everyone. Vedan, the Malayalam rapper, is one example. Many get away with crimes because they have the right kind of people to fight for them. And often, the system is skewed against the survivors and they become reluctant to approach the authorities to file a complaint,” she adds.
‘Society not ready’
But addressing cases of cyberbullying against women can never be seen in black and white, says Aabha Muralidharan, a writer and photographer.
“Intangible factors of caste, creed and colour also manipulate society’s reaction to such incidents,” she says.
Aabha adds that society at large isn’t prepared to handle sexual assault cases even now. She recalls the #MeToo campaign that created ripples around the world. Many accused around the world were either arrested or faced consequences for their actions.
However, in Kerala, it was not effective, Aabha points out. “While such campaigns have helped many women worldwide, I don’t think incidents of sexual abuse have reduced. Instead, crimes against women and other minorities have branched out into newer forms — online and offline. And cyberbullying is just one form of it,” she says.
Anupam Sheena Das, an architect and writer, says that the intolerance against women’s uprisings against sexual assault has many layers to it. “It’s no news that our society is rooted in patriarchy. A lot of people benefit from the systematic oppression of women. A whistleblower becomes a threat to this institution,” she says.
Gayathry Hema Suresh, a content creator, observes that online space seems riddled with a huge army of misogynists, both men and women, who diligently wait to pounce on any opportunity to insult women and their choices.
“But most of their identities remain anonymous. After the online trolls and abuse, Gowry recently performed on stage with a reel of social media hate comments projected onto a screen behind her. That was a power move, I think. And one way to come on top of such vitriol,” Gayathry says.
However, one huge concern, she adds, is that many such accounts seem to belong to young men.
“There was a perception that the newer generations are becoming more progressive. I recently came across a study that said a majority of Indian men in their 20s support content that spreads ideas of toxic masculinity and misogyny,” she says.
What’s the solution?
Every crime committed in society holds up a mirror against the bigger problems at hand.
“What we need is a more focused intervention against crimes committed in society,” Aabha says.
Athira asserts that the government has yet to bring laws that take online bullying seriously. “We keep hearing news about how foreign governments confront Meta and Spotify for lack of security and safety. In an ideal scenario, the government would take action to form a commission to look into the allegations on social media platforms. But in India, we do not see it,” she says.
“But the government is not solely responsible for driving change in society,” explains Gowry. Going back to the recent incident, she says, she noticed that most of the hate comments came from men. Though it is not uncommon to see women joining men to abuse a survivor of sexual abuse, she found that almost 99% of abusers were men.
A cause for huge concern, she adds. “That means change has to begin at every home and classroom. It is not an easy task and will likely take years,” she says.