Signing up for hate: The reality for women on reality TV is bleak

Reality television thrives on conflict but for women that barely stays confined to the screen It spills into a digital afterlife where audiences feel entitled to judge abuse and even threaten The line between performer and person blurs and what remains is that most women and sometimes men are treated like public propertyAccording to UN Women nearly 73 per cent of women globally have experienced some form of online violence While men do face trolling studies by Pew Research Center indicate that women are far more likely to encounter sexualised abuse threats and attacks on their character and appearanceSome hate messages Pandit receivedFor actor Ridhima Pandit this online violation was stark After over a decade in the industry she describes herself as someone who has worked ldquo10 to 12 years without ever being in a controversyrdquo But her latest appearance in a reality show called The 50 altered that ldquoWhat I recently faced was something that was thrown at me for the very first timerdquo she says adding that the hatred felt ldquosenseless up until I started to feel threatenedrdquoThe trigger was an onscreen argument with a younger male contestant which is an ordinary occurrence on any reality TV show But the fallout was not ordinary ldquoThe minute a girl has an argument with a guy misogyny steps inrdquo she says ldquoThe only way they can get back at you is by telling you that yoursquore the weaker gender keep your mouth shutrdquo What followed was a coordinated wave of abuse allegedly incited by the contestant himself ldquoWithin three seconds the trolling began with no end in sight Brand new accounts were being made abuses were being sentrdquo The attacks escalated to rape and death threats not just directed at her but at those associated with her ldquoThey have abused my mother whorsquos no more in this worldrdquo she saysReality TV shows like Bigg Boss often find the contestants embroiled in a storm of hate and trolling PICINSTAGRAMBigbossnewz2025Despite being advised to ignore it Pandit chose to push back filing a cyberpolice complaint and sending a legal notice ldquoI said I will not ignore it Why should I take itrdquo she says framing her response as both personal and precedentsetting Her experience underscores a larger contradiction that while male reality TV contestants are trolled women are targeted The economy of reality TV thrives on drama but when it becomes ugly therersquos nobody to support nor protect those very entertainersSome real deetsPiciStock thinspWomen make up around 50 per cent of contestants on reality shows globally according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film thinspA study analysing over 90000 social media posts around shows like Love Island found that 26 per cent of tweets on female contestants were abusive compared to 14 per cent for menlsquoThe Internet makes you behave badlyrsquoNaomi Dutta creative director of reality shows says that cultural bias against women is often carried outside of reality TVNaomi DuttaIf contestants become characters on reality television it is often in the edit room that those characters are shaped But according to Naomi Datta that process is less about manipulation and more about making sense of chaos ldquoWe roll the cameras for hours in a reality show and that finally gives you a few minutes of usable contentrdquo she explains ldquoSo reality shows are of course shaped on the edit but with the content that existsrdquo Datta is quick to push back on the idea that edits deliberately stereotype women ldquoWe would never do thatrdquo she says adding that the goal is not to frame contestants as ldquoemotionalrdquo or ldquodramaticrdquo but to build engaging storylines ldquoYou donrsquot set out to create unpleasant women or men You set out to create interesting charactersrdquo In a format driven by attention she notes ldquoreality TV cannot be about boring charactersrdquoYet she acknowledges that what happens after the show airs is shaped by forces far beyond the edit ldquoA woman whorsquos aggressive will be called combative and unpleasant And a man whorsquos aggressive is alpha and masculinerdquo she says pointing to a broader cultural bias that extends well beyond reality television Crucially she adds ldquoInternet opinion mostly is menrdquo which further skews how female contestants are perceived and judgedSocial media she argues intensifies this dynamic While it plays a key role in bouncing up a showrsquos reach it also creates a space where anonymity erodes accountability ldquoThe Internet makes you behave badlyrdquo she says ldquoIt eliminates every filter and brings out the worst in people People are not logical on the internet Theyrsquoll just keep going into this vicious cyclerdquolsquoNo balance in gendered trollingrsquoDr Sheela Dang who has worked as a psychologist for reality shows says that unlike men womenrsquos trolling usually turns explicit onlineDr SheelaFor psychologist Dr Sheela Dang the mental fallout of reality television begins with a dilemma Contestants know what they are signing up for but not what follows ldquoPeople are already prepared so itrsquos not that you are not awarerdquo she says ldquoWhat comes after that is taken very personallyrdquo she notes especially when trolling escalates into persistent unwanted messages and abuseDang is unequivocal about the gender imbalance ldquoTherersquos no balance for surerdquo she says pointing out that while men are trolled the visibility and intensity of attacks on women are significantly higher ldquoWomen are mostly receiving comments related to how she presents herself how shersquos looking talking sittingrdquo she explains This scrutiny extends into moral policing The trolling frequently turns sexual and abusive with ldquovery direct unwanted words or gesturesrdquo spilling into private messages as wellFor men the experience is different but not absent While they face bodyshaming and ridicule Dang notes that social conditioning often forces them to internalise it ldquoMen are not allowed to react or cryrdquo she says which can make their distress less visible Ultimately she warns that this disconnect between expectation and reality can deeply impact mental health especially when public judgement becomes relentless and personal7337Women globally have experienced online violencelsquoItrsquos not in our controlrsquoZorawar Sangha director and writer of reality TV shows says that trolling is not gendered and happens to both male and female contestantsZorawar SanghaUnlike larger massmarket reality formats Zorawar Sangharsquos experience lies with niche shows where storytelling is more personalitydriven This he suggests means that conflict is not necessarily engineered along gender lines ldquoItrsquos not a female contestant problemrdquo he says ldquoIf this happens it happens mdash whether itrsquos female contestants or male contestantsrdquo While he acknowledges that some formats across the industry may push for drama he frames it as a broader ldquomindsetrdquo rather than a targeted effort to put women down Where his stance sharpens however is on responsibility once the show airsldquoTechnically thatrsquos not in our purview or in our controlrdquo he says of the trolling contestants often face Participants he points out enter the show with awareness of its nature ldquoThey chose to come here Nobody put a gun to their head At the end of the day the responsibility lies in every individualrdquo he says Legal frameworks including contracts and waivers further distance production teams from the aftermath of public reactionAt the same time he doesnrsquot deny the human element ldquoYou do feel bad when somebody gets trolledrdquo he admits But he draws a clear line between empathy and accountability ldquoBecause we didnrsquot script behaviour these are choices those people made and that distinction is very clearrdquo he says calling for ldquogreater empathyrdquo towards contestants