via Youm 7 and Adobe Stock 

Picture this — you’re idly scrolling through your social media when you come across a post that rips an entertainer to shreds for visibly doing something that society doesn’t quite ‘agree with’. A few more posts down and you see another post praising that same entertainer for their ‘brave new choice’.  As you scroll down some more, you see more and more posts, more negative than positive, discussing that same topic and you can’t help but wonder why.

via Emirat Al Youm 

More specifically, you wonder why people feel the need to have an opinion at all about something that’s clearly personal. If this rings a bell, we’ll tell you why—beloved Egyptian singer Sherine Abdelwahab got a divorce and a buzzcut this week and, yes, it’s all that anyone can talk about!

So, let’s talk a little bit about these reactions and why they do more harm than good.

We’re not going to beat around the bush with this one. The reactions to Sherine’s divorce (and subsequent style choices) weren’t exactly…great. If anything, they were actually horrific to see because people online gave their attention to the wrong things.

See, here’s what people took away from all of this: the buzzcut and how it makes Sherine look ‘ugly’. Others decided to hammer down on just why the buzzcut represents a ‘decline in her mental health’, taking a very un-progressive reaction to the whole thing, much like the general public did to Britney Spears shaving her head in 2007.

via Facebook

via Facebook

“But”, someone reading this might want to say, “these are just people’s opinions and they’re entitled to have them—what about free speech?”

To that, we have to say that we agree…to a certain limit. Sure, freedom of speech is a right but, when it comes to saying comments like these, the line blurs between ‘freedom of speech' and a ‘license to bully’.

The same can be said, of course, about the reactions that her divorce got, with people either comparing how lovey-dovey the couple was a few years ago with their situation now or crassly berating Sherine for not ending things sooner.

via Sherine's Instagram 

Now, here’s the thing—the whole ‘criticizing Sherine for not ending a bad relationship sooner’ thing isn’t just bad because it's hurtful and insensitive.

It’s actually incredibly toxic rhetoric because, well, it’s the same rhetoric used against women in abusive relationships. So, while, sure, Sherine might not see those comments or get all that affected by them, other people (including those who are trapped in abusive relationships) will see them. They could even get so affected by them that they blame themselves for something that’s clearly not their fault.

via Damir Khabirov

Another thing we feel the need to point out is that not every little thing is something that warrants our opinions. Some things are literally none of our business and that remains the case, even when the person at the centre of it all is a celebrity. A celebrity is still human, after all.