The essay written and emailed to Elliot Rodger's therapist and parents reads like a sycophantic Who's Who entry, detailing the family's lineage and success: "Peter is of British descent, hailing from the prestigious Rodger family; a family that was once part of the wealthy upper classes before they lost all of their fortune during the Great Depression..." It goes on to describe a halcyon childhood that even the Pevensie children might read with a touch of cynicism: "I enjoyed life with innocent bliss. I can remember playing in the fields and going on long walks with Ah Mah to pick berries." They are not the works of a great autobiography in which a countryside childhood gives way to a miserable puberty over which the writer triumphs. Nor, however, are they the rantings of a mad man.
The boy who enjoyed a life of "innocent bliss" before embarking on a miserable school life and a mass shooting has been described in various media as mentally ill or "severely mentally disturbed". His Aspergers diagnosis has also been regularly highlighted in the reporting of his "killing spree" in which 7 people were killed. As well as Elliot's essay he left behind a video in which he gave his reasons for the shooting and his suicide.
"It's not fair. You girls have never been attracted to me. I don't know why you girls have never been attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It's an injustice, a crime, because I don't know what you don't see in me. I'm the perfect guy, and yet you throw yourselves at all these obnoxious men, instead of me, the supreme gentleman."
"It's not fair. You girls have never been attracted to me. I don't know why you girls have never been attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It's an injustice, a crime, because I don't know what you don't see in me. I'm the perfect guy, and yet you throw yourselves at all these obnoxious men, instead of me, the supreme gentleman."
| Elliot promises the women, or womankind that they will be punished for this rejection of him, a descendant of such a prestigious family. His Aspergers might have made it hard for him to acknowledge that the slightly snobbish importance he attached to his family might not be enough to attract women. | This is misogyny and it is allowed to happen. It's easily fed. |
However the use of the word "supreme", a favourite word to describe the purity of the extreme right wing white, is chilling. He goes on in his video: "On the day of retribution, I will enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB, and I will slaughter every single spoiled stuck up blonde slut I see inside there. All those girls that I've desired so much, they would have all rejected me and looked down upon me as an inferior man if I ever made a sexual advance towards them. While they throw themselves at these obnoxious brutes. I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you. You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one. The true Alpha Male."
Perhaps Elliot was disturbed. But his attitude and shock at rejection is not new or unusual. As the statistics on similar crimes posted on PolicyMic demonstrate, Elliot fits the bill. He is white, male and his main victims were women who he had come to hate with a passion. This is misogyny and it is allowed to happen. It's easily fed.
Back in 2012 a Huffington Post article concerned with the whiteness of suicide by mass murder - with particular regard to Adam Lanza - noted that "Yes, of course, this is mental illness speaking: but it is mental illness speaking with a voice that has a race and a gender".
It is probably safer for everyone to concentrate on the misogynistic aspects of this recent crime rather than draw so much attention to Elliot's Aspergers and disturbedness. We should focus on why Elliot, why many men, believe they are owed instead of that they need to earn.
Squeamish Kate
Perhaps Elliot was disturbed. But his attitude and shock at rejection is not new or unusual. As the statistics on similar crimes posted on PolicyMic demonstrate, Elliot fits the bill. He is white, male and his main victims were women who he had come to hate with a passion. This is misogyny and it is allowed to happen. It's easily fed.
Back in 2012 a Huffington Post article concerned with the whiteness of suicide by mass murder - with particular regard to Adam Lanza - noted that "Yes, of course, this is mental illness speaking: but it is mental illness speaking with a voice that has a race and a gender".
It is probably safer for everyone to concentrate on the misogynistic aspects of this recent crime rather than draw so much attention to Elliot's Aspergers and disturbedness. We should focus on why Elliot, why many men, believe they are owed instead of that they need to earn.
Squeamish Kate
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