Are Women Apprehensive To Talk Politics? What Their Responses Tell Us

In recent times, India has seen a transformative shift in political panorama, as more women are taking charge of exercising their democratic rights. The burgeoning number of female voters in the country is a testament that women are stepping into the landscape that controls their policymaking. According to a recent report by the State Bank of India's Economic Research Department, female voters could surpass males from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections onwards. The report has revealed a total voter turnout of around 68 crore in the 2024 elections, of which women voters make up 49%, a remarkable growth since the last few elections.

The keenness that Indian women are showing to actively participate in the political landscape could be credited to several reasons including the rising awareness employed by social media. Digital empowerment has made it easier for women to engage in discussions, express their opinions, and mobilize support. However, with the tangled lines of discourse, indifference, and trolling that we see on social media today, an unavoidable question has emerged-- Is social media a safe space for women to share political opinions? 

Women's Involvement in Politics Through Social Media

Recently, the Women's Reservation Bill was passed, providing a quota of 33% to women. While many argued that this was an act of tokenism and that women "should make it on merit," the reality behind women's meagre participation in the political sphere was ignored. In the recent assembly elections across five States, less than 12% of seats were contested by women from each party, whereas the voters showed an undeniable inclination toward female contestants.

However, a 2020 study affirmed that the gender gap in politics does not seep into social media, which means more women are likely to share political posts and opinions online than men. As social media has transformed from a source of entertainment to a valuable tool, some women talked to SheThePeople about what draws them to engage in political discussions online and their experience with it.

Sathya Sundar, a BPO employee from Tamil Nadu said that she shares political posts on social media to spread awareness among her contacts. "My stance is always neutral, the sole objective is to share the recent events in our country." She added, "People have the freedom of speech so they can share their political opinion online, but they should not cross the line from giving political opinions to giving hate speech which can incite or provoke others." 

Sundar said that she only shares her opinion when backed by facts. Sharing an example she said, "I shared an article published in the news on my WhatsApp [status], on the topic of the name change from India to Bharat, and I mentioned that India already is facing a lot of issues like poverty, unemployment, and low debt recovery rate while we are talking about a name change."

Spreading Lesser-Known News

A lot of news that the media overlooks garners attention on social media, amplifying the voices of women and minorities. Ruth Mahesh from Bengaluru said that she advocates for social media to create space for lesser-known political information and opinions.

"People should share their political opinions online as it helps shape and educate uninformed or misinformed political stances. Often people can break away from media propaganda by sharing content that is not “popular” enough to be broadcasted by media houses. This helps provide a 360° picture of issues," she opined.

Sabah Batul, a social media marketing specialist also resonates with this viewpoint. She told SheThePeople about how news from around the world on social media has helped her shape opinions and do her bit to take action. "I remember many years ago I had found a few articles on Israeli products and quit [using] them, and I used to talk about it a lot to people because I wanted to educate them, but now there are a lot of people talking about it online so I try to engage with these posts so they get picked up by the algorithm."

The Flip Side: Online Hate

Women find freedom in exercising their socio-political autonomy on social media, which has become a prop for their activism. However, they are still targeted with hate by people attempting to dominate them just like in real life. 

As Ruth Mahesh pointed out, women get more targeted online because of "the rise of women being more vocal about feminism and their bodily autonomy over the last couple of years. Since the #metoo movement it seems to be some sort of trend or common practice to target women for their (harmless) feminist views."

Some women feel the need to dilute their stance while sharing political opinions online to avoid hate from people with indifferent views. "I had stopped sharing anything about politics for a while because I felt I should keep social media light-hearted. But recently after the movie Kashmir Files started a whole debate online, I started posting again. I felt like I had to defend my community. But since day one of my posting something I already got threatening DMs (direct messages) so I decided to stop sharing opinions even if they are unbiased. I only repost news articles now without any self-written captions," expressed Akshara Dhar from New Delhi.

Representing A Community Online

Similar to Dhar, Sabah Batul said that she also struggles with separating her personal identity from her political/communal identity on social media.

"Sometimes I back away from sharing certain things about my community, the Muslim community, there are some people who would misconstrue it. I feel like I am carrying the burden of how I represent my community because it is a minority and it's judged so fast by one person['s actions] and a generalist statement gets built. It's not my sole responsibility but I don't want to misrepresent either so in such instances I do soften my political stance. Not that I am proud of it but I feel like I am doing what I can do best," she expressed.

Batul also stated that women get targeted online and in real life regardless of whether they share an opinion or any other mundane post. She narrated the example of a content creator who recently received lewd comments for her outfit. She also recalled how celebrities' toddler daughters, who do not even have any media presence, are subjected to appalling threats if their parents do something bad. Batul said, "Women get trolled much more than men when they share their opinions online. It's just power dynamics," she stated.

Is Sharing Political Opinions Helping?

As a young reporter when I wander the streets of any Indian city with a notepad and pen in hand, asking people to share their experiences or opinions, I always notice a dismal trend. Women, especially those from less fortunate societies, shy away from talking to a media person while men are more enthusiastic to be named in an article. 

During one such instance, I asked one of the hesitant women why she wasn't willing to talk (about a topic that was not even political), and she said that she was afraid she'd get hate or threats if she shared her opinion on record. Even the young girls around, with smartphones in their hands, agreed with her.

This highlights how social media is partial to people from privileged societies, especially when it comes to women. Even activism which is meant for the benefit of less privileged people gains more attention if initiated by a person with privilege. Moreover, another issue with online political discussions is that they can be extremely performative, which means that people might only raise their voices online while not doing anything to help issues in real life.

So what is the solution? Should social media also have a women's reservation to share their uncontested opinions? Or how about a space for the less-privileged communities to voice their stories? But wouldn't that create an echo chamber? The most sensible solution is a change in mindset, where there is parity in the power that everyone holds. However, that sounds easier in theory, so for now, all women and minorities can do is just endure society as it comes, as they have been doing for years in real life.

Views expressed are the author's own.