You Secret.ly Hate Women

It’s not new that women are routinely harassed online and subjected to abuse, condescension and objectification. For one, I don’t think the ‘It’s the internet. Not all men are like this.’ attitude is permissible.

Now, Secret. I am horrified at the levels of malice, misogyny and hate messages directed at women on this. This includes posters, commenters and known women who aren’t necessarily on the thread. You know why this horrifies me so much? Because these attitudes reside in the heads of people I know – classmates, friends, lovers, colleagues.

I walk among would-be rapists, murders and Nirbhaya-attackers. I’m talking about you.

Update 2023: Secret was a mobile app that allowed users to network anonymously by sharing ‘secrets’ that would be visible only to people on their contact lists but without their identifying details. It became a craze very soon. But was shut down by its founders who said that it was being used for purposes other than they envisions. I’m glad sense and humanity prevailed in the otherwise death-trap world of tech startups. Their legacy is chronicled here.