2014 Isla Vista killings

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On May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California, near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, '''Elliot Rodger''', a 22-year old student went on a misogyny-fueled killing spree, murdering 6 people, wounding thirteen more and finally committing suicide when confronted by the police. Before the murders, Rodger had posted a series of YouTube videos and a 140-page manifesto detailing his wishes of violent retribution against women and society for their perceived slights against him (consisting mainly of not engaging in a sexual relationship with him). He also had a history of making posts in the same spirit on various Internet forums, most notably on PUAHate, a website bashing [[pick-up artist]]s but populated mainly by self-identified "incels" ("involuntarily celibate") and other malcontents that was taken down as soon as the connection started to gain publicity.
 
On May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California, near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, '''Elliot Rodger''', a 22-year old student went on a misogyny-fueled killing spree, murdering 6 people, wounding thirteen more and finally committing suicide when confronted by the police. Before the murders, Rodger had posted a series of YouTube videos and a 140-page manifesto detailing his wishes of violent retribution against women and society for their perceived slights against him (consisting mainly of not engaging in a sexual relationship with him). He also had a history of making posts in the same spirit on various Internet forums, most notably on PUAHate, a website bashing [[pick-up artist]]s but populated mainly by self-identified "incels" ("involuntarily celibate") and other malcontents that was taken down as soon as the connection started to gain publicity.
  
Parts of the media and various feminists pointed out the misogyny angle, some referring to Rodger as an MRA. Various MRA sites and personalities switched into full defensive mode, dismissing any possible connection between Rodger's ideas and their rhetoric, and going on the offense, decrying the "politicization" of the murders by feminists. Many, sadly also outside the MRM, went as far as to claim that the murders were not caused by misogyny, blaming mental illness instead (something that would need medical assessment first). A particularly odious form is the claim that because Rodger killed more men than women (his 3 roommates and a random person on the street) or any men at all, this couldn't have been motivated by misogyny. In addition to playing "[[no true Scotsman|no true misogynist]]", this also [[cherry picking|conveniently ignores]] a pile of evidence - the contents of his videos and his manifesto and his unsuccessful attempt to enter a sorority house, which he followed immediately by shooting three women outside (only one survived). If this had been successful, the body count would be very different.
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Parts of the media and various feminists pointed out the misogyny angle, some referring to Rodger as an MRA. Various MRA sites and personalities switched into full defensive mode, dismissing any possible connection between Rodger's ideas and their rhetoric, and going on the offense, decrying the "politicization" of the murders by feminists. Many, sadly also outside the MRM, went as far as to claim that the murders were not caused by misogyny, blaming mental illness instead — something that would need medical assessment first. A particularly odious form is the claim that because Rodger killed more men than women (his 3 roommates and a random person on the street) or any men at all, this couldn't have been motivated by misogyny. In addition to playing "[[no true Scotsman|no true misogynist]]", this also [[cherry picking|conveniently ignores]] a pile of evidence — the contents of his videos and his manifesto and his unsuccessful attempt to enter a sorority house, which he followed immediately by shooting three women outside (only one survived). If this had been successful, the body count would be very different.
  
 
==Responses==
 
==Responses==

Revision as of 10:24, 3 June 2014

On May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California, near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, Elliot Rodger, a 22-year old student went on a misogyny-fueled killing spree, murdering 6 people, wounding thirteen more and finally committing suicide when confronted by the police. Before the murders, Rodger had posted a series of YouTube videos and a 140-page manifesto detailing his wishes of violent retribution against women and society for their perceived slights against him (consisting mainly of not engaging in a sexual relationship with him). He also had a history of making posts in the same spirit on various Internet forums, most notably on PUAHate, a website bashing pick-up artists but populated mainly by self-identified "incels" ("involuntarily celibate") and other malcontents that was taken down as soon as the connection started to gain publicity.

Parts of the media and various feminists pointed out the misogyny angle, some referring to Rodger as an MRA. Various MRA sites and personalities switched into full defensive mode, dismissing any possible connection between Rodger's ideas and their rhetoric, and going on the offense, decrying the "politicization" of the murders by feminists. Many, sadly also outside the MRM, went as far as to claim that the murders were not caused by misogyny, blaming mental illness instead — something that would need medical assessment first. A particularly odious form is the claim that because Rodger killed more men than women (his 3 roommates and a random person on the street) or any men at all, this couldn't have been motivated by misogyny. In addition to playing "no true misogynist", this also conveniently ignores a pile of evidence — the contents of his videos and his manifesto and his unsuccessful attempt to enter a sorority house, which he followed immediately by shooting three women outside (only one survived). If this had been successful, the body count would be very different.

Responses

YesAllWomen

The killings provoked many feminist responses, the most widespread of which was the hashtag #YesAllWomen, inspired by the irritating "not all men" argument used to derail critiques of negative male behavior towards women. In effect, "Not all men" is the defensive whine from both the manosphere and normal, loving men everywhere who want acknowledgement that they, specifically, do not and have not harassed women, treated them badly, or much less raped them. #yesallwomen was a simple statement in response. "Maybe not all men, but all women have at some point been sexually harassed, objectified, or violated by men." Within 24 hours of the killings, Twitter was full of women posting about their experiences of abuse at the hands of men[1] and the precautions they have to take against them.[2]

References

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