[girvo]

And his videos were specifcally saying he hated everyone.

He was a severely mentally ill sick person who is now dead and took innocent people with him. Seriously, misogyny doesn't have all that much to do with it, from my perspective. Yes, he was a misogynist, but the unsaid implication I've seen all over the web is that "All misogynists are just like this guy!", which doesn't follow, as far as I'm concerned.

I just write misogynists off as sad people that I won't associate with, not violent murderers waiting for a chance to "show the world".

[king_jester]

> Yes, he was a misogynist, but the unsaid implication I've seen all over the web is that "All misogynists are just like this guy!", which doesn't follow, as far as I'm concerned.

Not all misogynists will act out in physical violence, but misogyny provides fuel for those that do and it also provides excuses for those actions when they occur. Ultimately misogyny encourages violence against women, period.

> I just write misogynists off as sad people that I won't associate with, not violent murderers waiting for a chance to "show the world".

Which is a privilege you have since you are not the target of misogyny. Women who suffer direct harassment and violence because of misogyny don't get the chance to be so nonchalant about that behavior and cultural influence.

[girvo]

I'll gladly agree with you.

But that is not this case. This was severe mental illness, not misogyny. More to the point, to those who said "he killed men because he couldn't kill the sorority" miss the fact that he stabbed two men to death first.

This case was someone who was very very sick, and decided to lash out at the world, and innocent people paid the price. Those who attempt to paint it as "MRA's are dangerous" (which they are, there is a brand new petition on WhiteHouse.gov saying exactly that) or anything other than it actually is confuse the hell out of me.

[adventured]

You're not supposed to talk about the four men he killed, including the three he stabbed to death. It ruins the script.

[gordonguthrie]

...and what script is that?

[MartinCron]

Part of the fear that many people have is that you can't always tell the difference between a garden-variety "just angry at chicks" guy and a "one bad day away from taking out a sorority guy" until it is too late.

[girvo]

Yeah, I'll grant that. Serial killers throughout history often hid their broken-ness for years while getting away with it all... but this isn't a common occurrence. This isn't something that should factor into a persons risk-assessment while going about their daily life. This is a sad, messed up situation, but the reason it's so news-worthy is because this doesn't happen that often (thank <insert deity>)

[gordonguthrie]

It's not misogny because 'serial killers' - that is a group who are overwhelmingly men, overwhelming same, overwhelmingky kill women and overwhelmingly use sadistic sexual violence and mutilation.

> Its newsworthy because it doesn't happen that often. You are kidding me right? Sexual violence is continuous.

[girvo]

Oh for christ's sake, this is obviously pointless. You win. I give. Uncle. Whatever.

Also, you're wrong. And if you think misogyny (or whatever cause du jour we're using today) creates serial killers, and not mental illness then you're more than welcome to believe that. Plenty of psychologists say you're entirely incorrect[0], and I'll defer to them on this, but this "discussion" is utterly pointless, as you cherry pick whichever sentence you feel like pulling apart and ignoring the rest of it -- which are facts for the most part, not my opinion.

[0] http://time.com/114354/elliot-rodger-ucsb-misogyny/

Ps. You know, I'm not even arguing that cultural misogyny isn't a problem. I think it is, and am a big believer that we have a problem in our tech industry that we need to fix. What I'm arguing is that you're currently no better than those who blame video games for shootings, ignoring the real cause, which is broken, sick people.

EDIT:

Oh and you're wrong. Victims are not "overwhelmingly" women, nor is it "overwhelmingly" because of sadistic motives. See [1]:

  Characteristics of U.S. Serial Killer Victims
  
  Sex     N%
  Male   
  3,854   44.54%
  
  Female
  4,799   55.46%

[1] http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Serial%20Killer%20Information...

[gordonguthrie]

You're right I was generalising from Scotland/the UK. The definition of Serial Killer being 2 or more unrelating killings. In Scotland there is somewhere between 1 and 3 multiple murders a year, not all of which are serial killings by the strict definition.

http://www.scccj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0124207_h...

In the serial killing figures you show the numbers are overwhelming dominated by the US where the high availability of guns make multiple murders more common - and the number of sexual serial killers much less as a proportion.

In Europe, I stand by my statement that serial killers are overwhelmingly, etc, etc...

[MartinCron]

This kind of mass murder isn't a common occurrence. But sexual violence against women absolutely is a common occurrence. The way women feel terrorized about this is a real thing. It brings up both unpleasant memories and legitimate fears.

This is scary shit. It is OK to be scared by it.