The Santa Barbara killings

Martina · 05-27-2014, 05:14 AM

I have been reading about the killings pretty closely. I have a distant connection to one of the victims (I never met him, but it made it all more real.) I think the recent experience here with Jet made me more attuned to it too. It's been a while since I have been verbally attacked for being a feminist -- and threatened and called misogynist names. While I know he is mentally ill, the form his abuse took wasn't random. It was hatred based on gender. Anyway, the Santa Barbara killings, the news coverage, and online discussions of them have been disturbing and thought-provoking.

I have to say that I appreciated the article in the Daily Beast called Let's Get Real: Santa Barbara was a Terrorist Attack.

I have also been both empowered and saddened by the #yesallwomen twitter feed.

Also disturbing was hearing someone on NPR say it was unavoidable. I think he meant as things are now. He was probably thinking specifically of gun laws and the criteria for 5150'ing people. But it was complacent in a way that gave me pause. People in the mainstream press are only now talking about misogyny, and that is because of #yesallwomen and the protest at UCSB. The New York Times published an article today.

And then I saw two of the youtube videos made by the shooter. I felt nauseated afterward. Actually sick to my stomach.

The worst thing was looking up incel -- involuntary celibacy -- which was referred to in an article about him, and seeing some twisted posts on a forum. I stopped reading pretty fast. But there is a community of folks who think like this young man did, probably few of whom are as seriously disturbed as he clearly was, but whose writings certainly helped him develop the fucked up ideology he used to fuel his rage. The language was very close to the language he used.

Then people have emphasized the fact that the shooter may have had aspergers, as if that explains anything. That came up with the Newtown shooter too. He was also white and male and young. That is far more predictive of being a mass killer than aspergers.

Some people were buying into his story and saying please don't bully or reject people with aspergers. And then there was the discussion of his growing up in a privileged household and how that may have made him more superficial and entitled. Stupid stuff. I am sure aspergers was a major cause of his being isolated. And privilege may have fed his sense of entitlement. But people with aspergers are not a social problem. They are much less likely to commit violent crimes than members of the general population -- and far more likely to be victimized. Also, rich people as a group are not any more likely to kill than anyone else. But every day, women are being beaten, raped and killed because we are women. Probably every single adult woman in the U.S. has been sexually harassed. Why did it take so long for people to discuss the blatant misogyny in every sickening line the killer uttered?

Anyway, is anyone else following this? What have been your reactions?

05-27-2014, 05:14 AM	#1
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,367 Times in 4,171 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	The Santa Barbara killings I have been reading about the killings pretty closely. I have a distant connection to one of the victims (I never met him, but it made it all more real.) I think the recent experience here with Jet made me more attuned to it too. It's been a while since I have been verbally attacked for being a feminist -- and threatened and called misogynist names. While I know he is mentally ill, the form his abuse took wasn't random. It was hatred based on gender. Anyway, the Santa Barbara killings, the news coverage, and online discussions of them have been disturbing and thought-provoking. I have to say that I appreciated the article in the Daily Beast called Let's Get Real: Santa Barbara was a Terrorist Attack. I have also been both empowered and saddened by the #yesallwomen twitter feed. Also disturbing was hearing someone on NPR say it was unavoidable. I think he meant as things are now. He was probably thinking specifically of gun laws and the criteria for 5150'ing people. But it was complacent in a way that gave me pause. People in the mainstream press are only now talking about misogyny, and that is because of #yesallwomen and the protest at UCSB. The New York Times published an article today. And then I saw two of the youtube videos made by the shooter. I felt nauseated afterward. Actually sick to my stomach. The worst thing was looking up incel -- involuntary celibacy -- which was referred to in an article about him, and seeing some twisted posts on a forum. I stopped reading pretty fast. But there is a community of folks who think like this young man did, probably few of whom are as seriously disturbed as he clearly was, but whose writings certainly helped him develop the fucked up ideology he used to fuel his rage. The language was very close to the language he used. Then people have emphasized the fact that the shooter may have had aspergers, as if that explains anything. That came up with the Newtown shooter too. He was also white and male and young. That is far more predictive of being a mass killer than aspergers. Some people were buying into his story and saying please don't bully or reject people with aspergers. And then there was the discussion of his growing up in a privileged household and how that may have made him more superficial and entitled. Stupid stuff. I am sure aspergers was a major cause of his being isolated. And privilege may have fed his sense of entitlement. But people with aspergers are not a social problem. They are much less likely to commit violent crimes than members of the general population -- and far more likely to be victimized. Also, rich people as a group are not any more likely to kill than anyone else. But every day, women are being beaten, raped and killed because we are women. Probably every single adult woman in the U.S. has been sexually harassed. Why did it take so long for people to discuss the blatant misogyny in every sickening line the killer uttered? Anyway, is anyone else following this? What have been your reactions?