The Progressive Man Who Takes On The Male Troll

I am very sorry but I can't remember the name of the person I am about to talk about. The man in this delightful video was talking in Hindi about men on social media responding to his white-knuckle sport-loving woman friend.

- Nisha Susan

We first see his absolutely fearless friend crossing what looks like a ravine on a tight rope. I could only watch it through a gap in the fingers covering my eyes.

Next, we see men in the comment section making lewd remarks about her body. The man who made the video goes through some of the comments, sounding absolutely exasperated and explains how, despite himself, he was surprised at the depths of the crudeness. There is no defending men, he concludes.

Now, I don't know if this person makes a lot of content like this, but he joined a short list of reasons why I still go on Instagram—baby elephant videos, Lebanese comedians and dance tutorials. This man would be in my newest, short category. Men's commentary about men's sexist behavior.

Depending on the accounts you already follow, the languages your favorite accounts are in, your other interests, you can find one of these fellas. Perhaps you have sensed already, I don't know what to call them. In Real Life, we used to call them progressive men. Some of these men are certainly that, building on familiar progressive credentials like being English teachers in university. To quote writer (and teacher) Vijeta Kumar, "It occurs to me now that I've never had to meet an English teacher outside the classroom to make them human."