Being in the public eye is never an easy feat. In a world where the media cloud is overflowing with opinions, there are ample of voices that disagree with you but all this further multiplies whenever someone of clout is involved. With topics like equality, women empowerment and feminism becoming more and more relevant, there is oft the influx of an internet troll who decides to hijack the movement with their hateful and biased messages laced with misogynistic undertones.

An episode of similar nature occurred with one individual who made her feminist views public.

Sundas Khan is a TV anchor with her own dedicated morning show called “Mehekti Morning” on ATV.

In between lining up entertainment for her viewers and hosting celebrity guests, Sundas decided to use the platform wisely in order to highlight how little details in content of the show actually embed the deep-rooted misconceptions in our society.

While hosting the show I noticed this chart in the background and everyone who knows me will know why this must have hit a nerve.

“It is these small details, these visual reaffirmations of the evils in our society that fuel the ‘jahalat’. This is not the normal visual representation of a woman ageing”, Sundas shared in a Facebook post on her Official Page soon after her show went live.

Discussing the biases gender roles and a systematic pattern that needs to be reversed, Sundas elaborates;

“She must be given the chance to get a proper education to be able to educate the people around her and to raise responsible kids who are a valuable addition to the society. She must be given a chance to find a purpose that fulfils her. She must learn how to sustain herself and her family, not for the mere sake of proving something but for the sake of herself and her family if they ever need her to. Most of the women suffering in abusive relationships cannot get out because there is no way for them to sustain themselves or the kids out of that marriage.”

She must also be given the chance to enjoy the early period of a new beginning in her life.

“She must get to know her husband and make her likes and dislikes known, to connect to her husband on a level like an intimate life partner does. Unfortunately we raise daughters cocooned, shy and underexposed to the world, get them married to cousins that they have called ‘bhai’ all their lives and expect a ‘khushkhabri’ the next morning.”

While there were lots of positive messages on her post, one internet troll started off commenting on the video about how women rights are overrated and men are not appreciated enough in the society.

The troll raised a hue and cry for “men’s rights” (typical)

and proceeded to label the feminist movement as a means to “poison society’s mindset”

Narrating her experience to MangoBaaz, Sundas says that though she tried reasoning with him the best she could, he would not let go of his misogynistic views, “When I stopped replying, he resorted to sending me abusive inbox messages.”

“Though this is nothing new,” she says, “as a girl usually receives messages like that for merely existing. This time it hit a nerve.”

Sundas feels strongly about using this particular instance as a means to highlight the issue with abusive regressive minded trolls that have nothing valuable to add to such pertinent discussions and actually proceed to personally attacking and harassing those who most clearly have a difference of opinion in the matter.

Watch the full video here: