Ladies, has the internet judged you? If so, was it what you were wearing or what you were saying? Or was it both?
Trolling on social media is a much bigger problem for women than it is for men. The ITU is reporting an increase in this online harassment during the pandemic.
The fight against patriarchal ideologies has been going on for centuries. Yes, we have made strides toward the right direction, however, there is still work to be done. Progress doesn't mean equal, nor can it happen fast.
Social media is a key setting where women are targeted for their appearance, identity, views, voices, and are severely criticized. In Africa, particularly, women face the issue of cultural conditioning. The patriarchy is alive and thriving which is what lead to the research of Neema Iyer, Bonnita Nyamwire, and Sandra Nabulega's African Feminist Research for a Feminist Internet: "Toward a cyberfeminist future: A new study centers African women as protagonists online".
Nanjira Sambuli, digital equality advocate for the World Wide Web Foundation, believes that "adverse social norms around what women can and cannot do lead to self-censorship."
The bottom line is there is no safe space for women when gender inequality enters the era of technology, A woman can't go for an evening walk the same as she can't post a picture of herself that brings her confidence. Women are targeted and trolled for their appearances and their beliefs. Then in order to be "the bigger person" or just plain ole safe women oppress themselves so that they don't provoke.
“[Trolls] see a woman who has power, and they’re convinced they have the right to attack and shrink her down to the size they believe she should be,” said activist Mona Eltahawy. “This is ultimately patriarchy, a social construct that privileges male dominance,” said Eltahawy to Quartz Africa.
The cruel behavior that women in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana face inspired "A Survival Guide to Being a Woman on the Internet". For women it's about inclusivity, we know we are stronger in numbers than in strength. This "survival guide brings light to topics that many women just deal with. The research shows staggering numbers of reported and guesstimations of unreported cyber harassment. Though there are cyber laws against harassment and sexual aggression most bots are triggered only by what one might call top priority instances.
One example from Ethiopia: Faris Cuchi Gezaheg, a trans-non-binary, was interviewed by the BBC about the living conditions in Ethiopia for a person such as they.
African women activists have become a frequent target. Hodan Nalayeh, a Somalian Youtube blogger, admits to a lack of confidence. "I don't think that women in our country and our culture have been given that confidence to have dreams, goals, and aspirations," Nalayeh said. A cyberfeminist future forces one to recognize the plague of systemic oppression against women. It is up to us to educate women of their resources and power, that way offline inequalities are no longer replicated online.