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[NY Times] A Common Trait Among Mass Killers: Hatred Toward Women

Morrigan

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,373
We all knew this, really, but it feels like this is the first in-depth article that I've seen (at least in a while), about how misogyny is such a common, widespread thread between mass shooters. And this article mostly focuses on America; while it also cites the Toronto incel van attack, it surprisingly doesn't even mention Marc Lépine or Anders Breivik.
The man who shot nine people to death last weekend in Dayton, Ohio, seethed at female classmates and threatened them with violence.
The man who massacred 49 people in an Orlando nightclub in 2016 beat his wife while she was pregnant, she told authorities.
The man who killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., in 2017 had been convicted of domestic violence. His ex-wife said he once told her that he could bury her body where no one would ever find it.
The motivations of men who commit mass shootings are often muddled, complex or unknown. But one common thread that connects many of them — other than access to powerful firearms — is a history of hating women, assaulting wives, girlfriends and female family members, or sharing misogynistic views online, researchers say.

As the nation grapples with last weekend's mass shootings and debates new red-flag laws and tighter background checks, some gun control advocates say the role of misogyny in these attacks should be considered in efforts to prevent them.

The fact that mass shootings are almost exclusively perpetrated by men is "missing from the national conversation," said Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Monday. "Why does it have to be, why is it men, dominantly, always?"
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The one so-called "leftist" Dayton, OH shooter was also misogynistic:
[...] authorities are still trying to determine what drove Connor Betts, 24, to murder nine people in Dayton, including his own sister.
Investigators are looking closely at his history of antagonism and threats toward women, and whether they may have played a role in the attacks.
Since the killings, people who knew Mr. Betts described a man who was offbeat and awkward; others recalled his dark rages and obsession with guns.

Those rages were frequently directed at female acquaintances. In high school, Mr. Betts made a list threatening violence or sexual violence against its targets, most of whom were girls, classmates have said. His threats were frightening enough that some girls altered their behavior: Try not to attract his attention, but don't antagonize him, either.
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A lot of mass shooters have a history of domestic violence. The NRA opposed attempts to plug loopholes that would restrict gun ownership for domestic abusers.
"Most mass shootings are rooted in domestic violence," Ms. Watts said. "Most mass shooters have a history of domestic or family violence in their background. It's an important red flag."
Federal law prohibits people convicted of certain domestic violence crimes, and some abusers who are subject to protective orders, from buying or owning guns. But there are many loopholes, and women in relationships who are not married to, do not live with, or have children with their abusers receive no protection. Federal law also does not provide a mechanism for actually removing guns from abusers, and only some states have enacted such procedures.

Judges can consider an individual's history of domestic abuse, for example, under red-flag laws adopted in at least 17 states. Such laws allow courts to issue a special type of protective order under which the police can take guns, temporarily, from people deemed dangerous.

The National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun lobby, has opposed efforts to expand the situations in which individuals accused of abuse can lose the right to own guns, saying that doing so would deny people due process and punish people for behavior that is not violent.
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And of course, the influence of incels and the real harm they cause (reminder that incels aren't just "lonely virgin losers", but dangerous, violent misogynists):
In recent years, a number of these men have identified as so-called incels, short for involuntary celibates, an online subculture of men who express rage at women for denying them sex, and who frequently fantasize about violence and celebrate mass shooters in their online discussion groups.

Special reverence is reserved on these websites for Elliot O. Rodger, who killed six people in 2014 in Isla Vista, Calif., a day after posting a video titled "Elliot Rodger's Retribution." In it, he describes himself as being tortured by sexual deprivation and promises to punish women for rejecting him. Men on these sites often refer to him by his initials and joke about "going ER" — or a murderous rampage against "normies," or non-incels.

Several mass killers have cited Mr. Rodger as an inspiration.
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More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/us/mass-shootings-misogyny-dayton.html
 
DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
Relevant (article from 2016):
"When we talk about online radicalization, we always talk about Muslims. But the radicalization of white men online is at astronomical levels," explained writer Siyanda Mohutsiwa in a remarkable series of tweets Wednesday morning. "These online groups found young white men at their most vulnerable & convinced them liberals were colluding to destroy white Western manhood."
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BDS

BDS

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,845
I believe the FBI or someone else looked into this and said that the number one most important trait found predominantly in mass shooters, other than being male, is a history of domestic abuse or misogyny towards women.
 
jaekeem

jaekeem

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,743
Makes sense

You have to really hate the world and yourself to do something so sick

99% of men that hateful online are rampant misogynists
 
Jarmel

Jarmel

The Jackrabbit Always Wins
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,343
New York
Now that I think about it, I can't even remember the last time I heard a mass shooter or serial killer being female.
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
Its almost as if the constant perpetuation of toxic masculinity is extremely damaging to our society.
 
airjoca

airjoca

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
805
Portugal
User banned (permanent): misogyny, history of similar behaviour
Saw the NYTs post on Facebook about this, with lots of women patting themselves on the back for not being murderers.

Found it a bit awkward, specially because behind many male mass murderers that hate women, there's a mom that didn't love her child.
 
Absent

Absent

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,045
Federal law prohibits people convicted of certain domestic violence crimes, and some abusers who are subject to protective orders, from buying or owning guns. But there are many loopholes, and women in relationships who are not married to, do not live with, or have children with their abusers receive no protection. Federal law also does not provide a mechanism for actually removing guns from abusers, and only some states have enacted such procedures.

Judges can consider an individual's history of domestic abuse, for example, under red-flag laws adopted in at least 17 states. Such laws allow courts to issue a special type of protective order under which the police can take guns, temporarily, from people deemed dangerous.
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Devin P. Kelley, who opened fire on parishioners at a Sunday service in Sutherland Springs, on Nov. 5, 2017, had been convicted of domestic violence by an Air Force general court-martial, for repeatedly beating his first wife and breaking the skull of his infant stepson. That conviction should have kept him from buying or owning guns, but the Air Force failed to enter the court-martial into a federal database.

In attacking the church, Mr. Kelley appeared to be targeting the family of his second wife.
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In a case that highlights the so-called boyfriend loophole, in 2016, a man who had been convicted of stalking a girlfriend and had been arrested on a charge of battery against a household member shot Cheryl Mascareñas, whom he had briefly dated, and her three children, killing the children. Because the man had not been married to or had children with the woman he was convicted of stalking, his conviction did not prevent him from having or purchasing guns.
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There was the massacre in 1991, when a man walked into Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Tex., and fatally shot 22 people in what at the time was the worst mass shooting in modern United States history. The gunman had recently written a letter to his neighbors calling women in the area "vipers," and eyewitnesses said he had passed over men in the cafeteria to shoot women at point blank range.
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Psychiatrists, however, say that the attention on mental health generated by mass shootings, and the common argument that mental illness is the explanation for these massacres, cannot explain the link between misogyny and mass shootings. Misogyny — or other types of hatred — is not necessarily a diagnosable mental illness.
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Jesus.
 
skillzilla81

skillzilla81

Self-requested temporary ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,043
airjoca said:
Saw the NYTs post on Facebook about this, with lots of women patting themselves on the back for not being murderers.

Found it a bit awkward, specially because behind many male mass murderers that hate women, there's a mom that didn't love her child.
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Wow. What a take.

What. A. Take.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,585
airjoca said:
Saw the NYTs post on Facebook about this, with lots of women patting themselves on the back for not being murderers.

Found it a bit awkward, specially because behind many male mass murderers that hate women, there's a mom that didn't love her child.
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I'm impressed by how you somehow managed to shift the blame away from the shooters
 
Threadkular

Threadkular

Member
Dec 29, 2017
2,419
airjoca said:
Saw the NYTs post on Facebook about this, with lots of women patting themselves on the back for not being murderers.

Found it a bit awkward, specially because behind many male mass murderers that hate women, there's a mom that didn't love her child.
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I actually think I'm pretty good at extending empathy, even potentially to mass shooters, but to turn this back around on mothers is really odd. I mean even if making that empathy leap that the shooter came from a difficult family, why not look at to both parents?
 
Kiraly

Kiraly

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Oct 30, 2017
2,848
Celibacy-rates-of-young-men-by-year-in-America-WaPo.jpg


It's only going to get a lot worse.
 
thediamondage

thediamondage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,277
Be nice if it there was an easier way for young women to report "this dude is creepy as fuck and gives off a murderer vibe" and that could be followed up in a simple way that isn't abused to ensure that person isn't stockpiling weapons, ammo, bomb material, etc.

Sadly
(1) i think a lot of women are afraid if they do this the blowback to them could be severe (family, friends, the abuser)
(2) it would probably be severely abused by racists and authorities to target muslims, black men, etc.

I'd love it if we figure out a way as a society to rebuild things into more a "village" mentality, where no one is alone and everyone around you is "family". You keep an eye on each other, you work out problems, you always have someone to talk to, etc. Way too many people nowadays live by themselves and have no real RL relationships.
 
OP
OP
Morrigan

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,373
Tanerian said:
Legalize Prostitution.
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This is a horrific take. Sex workers don't deserve abuse from violent misogynists and it would do nothing to solve the problem anyway. Why would you say something like that in response to this problem?

Edit: sex work is legal in some places and guess what, misogynistic abuse and mass shootings still happen...
 
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Deleted member 984

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Oct 25, 2017
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I wonder how much of this stems from those that have perceptions on what women should be or how a relationship should be. They are always the creepiest guys I have met in the past.
 
III-V

III-V

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,827
I knew about this, but it's good to see it get press. Great reminder men displaying these behaviors are in need of serious help, and are possibly dangerous. Should be a red flag.
 
Saucycarpdog

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,356
I remember an article after the parkland shooting talking about the pattern of a lot of these school shooters treatment of female classmates. It's pretty disturbing how many of them focused their rage and mental problems on girls.
 

The Llama

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,026
DiipuSurotu said:
Damn what happened in 2008 and at that drop before 1998?
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My guess is the rise from 2008 to present is the effect of a combination of increased accessibility to porn, social media, and (from 2013 to present) dating apps. Single young men get exposed to attractive women non-stop via social media and porn while simultaneously getting overlooked and/or generally being unsuccessful dating (which is exacerbated by dating apps). Rather than work on self-improvement and figure out why women don't view them as attractive potential partners, they end up wrongly blaming women - rather than themselves - for their struggles.

No idea about the differences in the years prior to 2008 but my guess is it's mostly just noise and there weren't any strong trends one way or the other.
 
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