Proof that misogyny kills -

[TBF]

I am going to post this article in here, as I don't think this is just a feminist or anti-gun article. Rather, it speaks to an entirely sick society in which the economic system (capitalism) only reinforces misogyny and violence.


Elliot Rodger's California shooting spree: further proof that misogyny kills
Attributing the deaths of six people and wounding of several others in Isla Vista to 'a madman' ignores a stark truth about our society
Jessica Valenti, theguardian.com, Saturday 24 May 2014 21.44 EDT

We should know this by now, but it bears repeating: misogyny kills.

On Friday night, a man – identified by police as Elliot Rodgers – allegedly seeking "retribution" against women whom he said sexually rejected him went on a killing spree in Isla Vista, California, killing six people and sending seven more to the hospital with serious gunshot injuries. Three of the bodies were reportedly removed from Rodger's apartment.

Before the mass murder he allegedly committed, 22-year-old Rodger – also said to have been killed Friday night – made several YouTube videos complaining that he was a virgin and that beautiful women wouldn't pay attention to him. In one, he calmly outlined how he would "slaughter every single spoiled, stuck-up, blond slut I see".

According to his family, Rodger was seeking psychiatric treatment. But to dismiss this as a case of a lone "madman" would be a mistake.

It not only stigmatizes the mentally ill – who are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it – but glosses over the role that misogyny and gun culture play (and just how foreseeable violence like this is) in a sexist society ...

Much more here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/24/elliot-rodgers-california-shooting-mental-health-misogyny

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. Great article ...

Wish you had posted it to the GD.

[Starry Messenger]

2. Capitalism is propped up by sexism and racism.

Great article by Valenti. She'll probably get a lot of threats and hate mail over it.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a lone misogynist – they are created by our culture, and by communities that tells them that their hatred is both commonplace and justified.

So when we say that these things are unstoppable, what we are really saying is that we're unwilling to do the work to stop them. Violence against women does not have to be inevitable, but it is almost always foreseeable: what matters is what we do about it.

[TBF]

3. I think she will definitely get push-back

and it's notable that it did not come from a journalist in this country.

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. She has no choices.

if she flirts, or encourages them, it was her fault.

If she breaks up with them, and makes them angry, it was her fault.

if she doesn't flirt, and doesn't encourage, it was her fault. And she deserves to die.

What a fucked up world we live in.

[JDPriestly]

5. Apparently this young man did not just attack women.

Seems he may also have attacked his roommates. So it wasn't just about women.

[cactusfractal]

6. Yes. It is. Read his manifesto.

He specifically mentions killing his roommates first on the Day Of Retribution so he can have a place to lure more victims to their deaths. So that's about convenience and the execution of his plans more than anything. He also goes on about the torture and murder of the boyfriends of the unattainable blonde females he never ever even worked up the nerve to ask out, and the decapitation of these victims in order to throw the bag of heads in the street as a kickoff to his planned gun massacre.

It was absolutely just about women. It's just that those males who DID have contact with women were doomed to die because they did what he could never manage to do. Some "god".

[TBF]

7. For this particular kid it seemed

to be mostly about women. Granted the overall violence is not just about women - it is about a sick society in which profit is king & people will do whatever they have to in order to gain wealth. It is the whole point of the economic system - individual accumulation of capital. The misogynist patriarchy is helpful to keeping the money in very few hands but it isn't the only factor. Untreated mental illness is an issue, the ability to easily obtain very dangerous weapons is a factor. But I think overwhelmingly the culture of violence and individualism we've created in this country are the bigger factors. And I think as a society it's time to own that and figure out how to change our ways.

[nomorenomore08]

8. Like I've said, it was a perfect storm of malign factors.

And yes, both a product and a reflection of a deeply sick society.