If I cannot thrive among them, then I will destroy them all.

[Irvine511]

"There is no greater threat to women than men" - Louis CK - YouTube



also, guns.

 

[PhilsFan]

MRAs do deserve lots of criticism, after reading a bit more about this situation, I quite agree with you. But our current culture remains quite misogynistic, MRAs aren't created in a vacuum, it's easy to pin it on the MRAs without looking at how our wider culture probably created them.

I think I was probably wrong to look to blame this on a possible mental illness, that in itself does a disservice to people with mental health issues. Plus there are plenty of people who do bad things for extreme reasons, with no mental health problems. As has been pointed out to me, a muslim kills people, it's a terrorism problem (the man who killed the soldier in London in last year, has a history of mental health problems), black man kills someone, it's problem with a thuggish culture, white (or white presenting since Elliot was half asian) it's obviously just mental health.

It's really an intersection of a number of things that created this guy, racism and misogyny still prevalent in our culture and an unknown degree of mental health issues, you can probably throw in easy access to guns in there for good measure to. Chicken and egg scenario, though the misogyny does seem fairly decisive.

MRAs are most certainly not created in a vacuum, you're absolutely right. But now that they've forged a community on these forums and on Reddit or wherever, they're creating one for themselves to settle into.

Here's what happened here: a young adult male went online, had his already disturbing views radicalized by a small but vocal community that has expressed strong hate for other groups, wrote a manifesto about violence and then acted upon that violence. Typically I read a story like that and I hear terrorist, but here I'm only hearing about Asperger's.

And I find the eagerness to blame all of this on mental health problems is really bad for people with mental illness. There are repercussions to this too. (https://twitter.com/mikaylatology/status/470257843631685632)

 

[Pearl]

The thing that strikes me about Rodger is that he never actually tried. In all of his huge manifesto, he never once talks about actually trying to get to know a girl, or show interest in one beyond superficial looks. There was one section where he mentions that a beautiful girl smiled at him, and he was so happy, but then later on in the day became depressed because he was sure that girl would never actually go out with him. Well, how the hell would she if you won't even try?

In his twisted world view, simply being an attractive white male should be enough to make women try to be his girlfriend, without him putting any effort in at all. He viewed women not as equals with free agency to make their own choices, but as mere accessories that he should have gained due to his perceived status. It's one thing to be all woe-is-me defeatist if you've actually tried to engage with women as equals and consistently struck out. At least then you're not objectifying women and treating them as inferior beings who should be so lucky as to be your girlfriend. But he was so far up the misogynistic MRA/PUA rabbit hole that he couldn't see that his so-called "tortuous" life was entirely his own doing.

FWIW, some of these guys I've met over the years were almost the same way. I can go on with many examples I've had with online dating and in real life. A lot of these guys are not as bad as Rodger, but their hatred and entitled attitude towards women is almost the same. Rodger is an extreme case, but there are a lot of men of various ages who don't seem to understand that women have a right to not be interested in them. It's mindboggling and even frightening.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I used to post on a bunch of video game forums and such when I was a bit younger, and was exposed to MRA teachings before I was even exposed to feminism in university. I couldn't even reveal my gender because casual, and at times violent misogyny was just the norm. It was so widespread that I didn't even question it. It still is, more than ever, every time I go back on one to check out some news or a thread I've been following. And these are fucking huge communities.

 

[Izzy.nyc]

"There is no greater threat to women than men" - Louis CK - YouTube



also, guns.

While you're at it, knives too

 

[Irvine511]

While you're at it, knives too

True. We are plagued by mass knifings.

 

[PhilsFan]

Nothing could be done as we all stood still while the assailant stabbed thirty of us.

 

[LemonMelon]

KNIFE CRIME is holding us back as a nation.

 

[Irvine511]

The only thing that has ever stopped a bad man with a knife is a good man with a knife.

 

[Izzy.nyc]

Or walker, Texas ranger.

 

[Galeongirl]

KNIFE CRIME is holding us back as a nation.

 

[maycocksean]

wow.

It's like a ghost town in here.

 

[Diemen]

wow.

It's like a ghost town in here.

I know.



It's kind of awesome.

 

[deep]

you won

 

[Diemen]

Ha.

 

[AEON]

wow.

It's like a ghost town in here.

Yeah - I've come in a few times to see what's going on...

...tumbleweeds....

I guess the Conservatives scared away all the Liberals...

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Feels more like the Tories ran away whilst the liberals stopped caring.

 

[cobl04]

But you could never kiss a Tory boy without wanting to cut off your tongue again.

 

[Galeongirl]

It's nice and quiet here for a change though.

 

[monkeyskin]

But if you listen closely, you can still hear the echoes.

 

[Galeongirl]

Great avatar!

 

[LemonMelon]

I don't have the stomach for this section.

All I ever wanted was a stack of pancakes and a V8.