Hyderabad: When a social media post goes viral for the wrong reasons, the resultant online bullying and threats can have an extremely adverse impact on a person’s mental health. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the ‘Stand with Her’ campaign in the city recently, national award winning singer Chinmayi Sripada told TOI she has faced criticism both online and offline simply for speaking up on women’s issues.“The first thing is to shrug off the need for social acceptance or being the most liked person. You live your life for yourself,” Chinmayi advised young people facing online harassment. “You will neither get the red carpet treatment, nor will you get acceptance. The best way to live online is to try and be your most authentic and honest self.”She also said that if one is unable to deal with online bullying, it is okay to walk away from it for a while.Talking about the use of deepfakes to shame women, Chinmayi said one way to address the issue is to remove the shame associated with women’s bodies. “We can say, ‘I scraped my knee,’ but we hesitate to say, ‘Someone groped me.’ Why is naming a body part such a problem?” she questioned, adding that age-appropriate sex education is needed to remove the stigma surrounding the issue.Chinmayi also pointed out that sexual harassment is the only crime in which the survivor is often shamed. “If someone’s house gets burgled, nobody asks why you had gold there. But when sexual assault happens, people ask what the woman was wearing. This is the only crime where the victim’s identity, family and background are used to justify the act.”Chinmayi’s husband, actor-director Rahul Ravindran said that unlike his wife, he found it difficult to speak up on social media where he felt everything was misconstrued. “In a way, it’s understandable, as one does not know with what expression or context something is being said. I find it exhausting. I used to speak up about certain things at one point, but I’ve slowly stopped doing that,” he added.The director of ‘The girlfriend’ said that anything posted online receives a wide range of reactions and is quickly polarised. “Whatever you say is immediately broken into two sections, one for and one against. And then there is no communication possible between the two sections. So I’ve kind of given up talking about most things on social media. But I’m grateful to people like my wife who speak up,” he added.“Because some people have the stomach and the energy to take online harassment, there is still some communication. Nothing can ever be achieved without that,” he said.
