Trigger Warning: Mention of Gender Dysphoria

Prachi Nigam, a teenager from Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh has made news for scoring 98.5% in her 10th standard board examinations, making her the state topper for her year. She has been featured in various posters rounding up high school students’ success stories, which are created and circulated by local coaching classes and tutorials. While these posters are usually met with an array of congratulatory reactions every year, this time around, Prachi was trolled for her appearance. Nameless online bullies remarked and mocked the teenager for sporting prominent facial hair, instead of focusing on her academic achievement. Talk about missing the point!

Trolls miss the social context of students like Prachi

“She should focus on grooming herself as well,” proclaimed a tweet featuring a video of Prachi sharing her aspirations of becoming an engineer.

Comments like these make it evident that we ask young girls to not just match their fellows in academics, but to also take out extra time to look normatively “presentable”. This comes at the cost of young people’s health, whether it is their mental well-being or dealing with hormonal fluctuations, which is common among teenagers like Prachi.

“Iss bhai ko shubhkamnaye deni chahiye ya behen ko, koi batayega kya?”

(translates to: Can someone tell me if I should congratulate this brother or sister?”)

Time and time again, online bullying becomes focused on having the last word, and they forget that the person who bears the burden of your so-called humor, also deals with its consequences, which are harsher than one can imagine.

“Ye ladki kam ladka zyada lag rahi hai”

(translates to: She looks more like a guy than a girl”)

Given her identity and location, Prachi’s social world is coloured by gender-oppressive norms. From the Uttar Pradesh government banning girls from attending coaching classes post 8pm as a way to ensure their “safety” (only to revoke it a month later), to the growing numbers of young girls dropping out of high school due to having to take on laborious roles at home or elsewhere, over educational opportunities, Prachi’s achievements cannot be fully appreciated without taking into consideration the context of her lived experience.

Also read: The Hit and Miss/Educations of a Queer Indian

The pedestalization of academic merit throws light on casteism and classism

Messages of support poured in as well, battling the hateful comments on Prachi’s behalf. The comments deemed her successful in her academic pursuits, but also seemed to cultivate an image of Prachi that perhaps doesn’t exist yet.

Putting academics on a higher pedestal over physical appearances, many of the supportive comments seem to have agenda of their own:

Reactions ranged from defending her, to putting down not just the haters but certain professions like that of a driver, while others used the opportunity to promote their own professional brands.

Repeat after me: Defending others is not the time to put forward our own agendas!

While we try to understand the medical reasoning behind the mustache, does Prachi even need a reason to look the way she does? Why should a teenager, or any person in general need a reason to defend their features? Is it necessary for a person to always present themselves in a normative way to be accepted for who they are?

Top Google searches for Prachi’s name lead with “Prachi Nigam Gender” and “Prachi Nigam Mustache”. The comments hating on Prachi were evidently focused on calling her masculine, and thus less attractive (to the male gaze, of course) making us wonder not just what beauty standards we promote but what is acceptable for which gender, and who gets to decide that!

It pushes young girls to question if their success would amount to anything if they do not present as femme enough! Given the social context, it could also discourage parents from allowing their young girls to pursue academics or speak on a public platform about their achievements. Teens that are entering the world, need to be given space to be themselves, to explore who they can be, including through academics and physical expression. It becomes our duty to create a safe space to nurture and celebrate them, and not mock a 15-year-old girl who just scored 98.5! In her board exams!!