There were words. Big, rounded, loud words spitefully written to shame a minor. The minor was Ziva Singh Dhoni, the 9-year-old daughter of MS Dhoni and Sakshi Dhoni. The comment was how women, wait, girls don’t wanna marry a Bihari guy. Not only was it racist, but it also meant to mock the child because she was looking and was dressed a certain way.

It didn’t end there, another comment on Abhishek Bachchan’s genes emerged today. The remark was how his daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan, would have been better off with only her mother, Aishwarya Rai’s genes.

It’s not like something worse hasn’t ever been written on social media. It’s not like celebrities and their children getting trolled is an anomaly. Actually, it’s triggering because it is normal. The fact that there is this other hyper-abundant, shady side of social media where people are far too comfortable dissecting how minor looks, and thousands like and re-share it in unison.

One may (stupidly) argue that these are celebrity children and that is why the Internet had opinions. Someone else would say the trolls were not just attacking the kid, but also the parent. Either way, how is it okay? How is making questionable comments on people’s appearances ever okay? It’s not about the celebrity or the kid, we do it in our daily lives too.

“She’s too fat, he’s too feminine, she doesn’t look her age, he’s too thin” are not unfamiliar sentences. So, blaming the Internet alone may not be entirely fair, here. After all, social media only magnifies the noise that already exists. It’s an extension of our society. Take our own households, for example. Hasn’t a 9-year-old ever been forced by her parents to over-apply besan because her complexion wasn’t fair enough? Or, hasn’t a boy, passionate about dancing, been told he had to behave like a boy?

You see, even in our own surroundings, we judge our loved ones because they look and behave a certain way, and their way doesn’t match the ideal, deeply flawed model of perfectionism. With celebrities, the noise amplifies because they are constantly under surveillance.

Anybody can go online today and let out their ugliest opinions behind an anonymous persona. While social media could be a great place to be, it is also a space for incels. That isn’t new. But it is also a reflection of the society we currently inhabit. The one that, for the longest time, has been lost and blinded by inappropriate guidelines on how one should be and what one should look like.

So, often, when I am tired of the Internet, I am not solely perturbed by the Internet creeps that are literally everywhere. But the fact they also portray a reality that I know exists. A reality that breeds insecurities, self-image issues, and deep-rooted hate for oneself. With social media, it just reaches me more quickly.