While it is regrettable that her appointment was met with resistance and an onslaught of attacks on her person, questions around her competency and innuendos regarding the reasons behind her appointment swirled on social media; it is clear that women can be reduced to misogynistic narratives simply because of their gender. In her words, Ms Zaba recalls that: as the end of independent journalism. They labelled my elevation as state capture ... Sexual innuendo and connotations were thrown at me. They went as low as attacking my children, making some serious allegations about their paternal parentage. ... My 27 years of experience and professionalism were thrown out the window. The fact that I acted as editor on several occasions, sometimes for months at a go, did not matter. They attacked my integrity.” “I was attacked on social media for more than a month. Trolls on Twitter said my rise would result in the collapse of the Zimbabwe Independent. They described my appointment Women in male dominated professions have to endure gender bias and stereotypes that are embedded in “soft wars” that are meant to undermine their ability to conduct their work properly. Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent PIC CREDIT: Faith Zaba via Facebook The media is regarded as a prism of society and these misguided efforts to underrate and discredit the accomplishments of one of their own could make some well-meaning employers elsewhere think twice before appointing deserving women to top positions for fear of backlash. The fact that women, who succeed in male domains are disliked, women who work harder and are more qualified are viewed with suspicion, women who promote themselves are less hireable, women who negotiate for higher pay are penalised, and women who express themselves more are given lower status shows that the time to promote a culture where these biases are checked and addressed is way overdue. We need to learn to celebrate achievements of both men and women equally where they are due. Normalising presenting such accolades offline impacts online stereotypes and biases. The fact that journalism is deemed unsafe for women is based on elevated misogyny that has seen women journalists being impacted by hate speech, threats of violence and harassment, both online and offline. It has meant that there is an intergenerational chilling effect and impact on women’s political participation. Witnessing or experiencing gender-based online harassment and abuse can discourage political and other ambitions of adolescent girls and young women journalists and lower their participation in civic and political debate, both online and offline. Self-censorship becomes prominent as fear of backlash after voicing opinions means women sometimes hold back when online. The sense of “identifiability” experienced online makes users more toxic. 27