personally i'm not a huge fan of sakshi shivdasani but i've seen SO many people trolling her and my biggest question was.... why? so i've decided to explore possible reasons in this thread:

1) you may think she's redundant/not funny.

okay, easy solution to that: don't watch what she makes. unfollow her. block her if you want to go that far.

male comedians can get incredibly redundant sometimes but i've never seen any of them receive the kind of flak that the women do. clearly, she has an audience that enjoys her work, and no one's forcing you to be a part of it.

like all creators, she can't put out top quality content all the time. and that's because she's human. no artist has a 100% perfect body of work that'll appeal to everyone, and it's unfair to expect that from her.

2) you may think she's propagating misandry.

i saw someone say that if a man said he hates women, the same way sakshi joked she hated men, then the internet would go wild. perhaps there's truth in that.

but here's the thing, saying "men are trash" doesn't counteract -

- centuries of oppression that women have been through. it's not a sign that women are superior now. men have bigger problems than this.

secondly, a man joking about how he hates women reinforces an existing culture that makes life dangerous for women.

dating, sakshi's main focus, is a much scarier space to navigate as a woman because you're FAR more likely to face violence. in instances like that, men are already showing us hate. they don't need to add to it by talking about it.

"not all men" "men have problems with dating too"

yes, we know! i'm not going over the reasons these arguments are unsound, please look them up yourself. if you still are confused, feel free to DM.

3) you think her voice is annoying.

i've seen so many people say this and the solution is the same as point #1. but also, it's not cool to insult something that she can't control. sakshi seems to have taken it extremely well -

- but at the end of the day there's still a person behind the ID you're sending "roasts" to. it wouldn't hurt to be a little more mindful of how you speak to them.

also while we're at it, this is NOTHING compared to the digital abuse faced by some women from marginalized communities. Priyanka Paul, Rana Ayyub, and so many more. but that's a story i'll discuss at length another time. until then, all i can offer is my complete solidarity.

final notes: before you're about to say something non-supportive about/to a creator, ask yourself:

- what is it about their work that ticks me off and why?
- is my comment necessary? can i go without saying it?

- why am i commenting? is it to gain clout or genuinely talk to this person?
- what's the kindest way i can put this forth?
- how would i feel if someone told me that?

(be prepared to find some answers that are,,, not pretty)

now more than ever, we need a kinder internet with spaces that allow dialogue and growth. hopefully this takes us a step closer to that