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Why the world gives a shit about Elliot Rodger

Just two days ago a man shot his girlfriend and himself at Cape Town International Airport.

In the background, Oscar Pistorius is having psychiatric assessment as his last ditch effort.

And now the internet just can’t get enough of Elliot Rodger’s spree to punish women.

Yet, all of these perpetrators are being treated like isolated, rare cases of the disturbed, fragile man.

How about we cut the bullshit and bring in some context?

I’m one of those people who prefer to watch a story unfold before giving an opinion. When Elliot Rodger hit the scene, I was as horrified as the next person, but not quite for the same reason that everybody else is.

I find myself more perplexed at the collective online voice than the horrendousness of his crime.

See, if you make a point to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, you’ll know that his hate crime is pretty common, and his “mental disorder” is not exceptional. It’s a hell of a lot more accurate to make a definitive commentary on an individual after analysing the commentary of the collective.

So let me explain to you why the entire world stopped to listen to the mundane story of this garden variety shooter:

I’ve been wading through tedious opinions of armchair psychologists and avid journalists, and this is all we know for sure:

1. He was male
2. He hated women for rejecting him
3. He went out to kill women

And of course, all of this is followed by scores of articles on his mental disorder – I use the term ‘mental disorder’ very loosely here.

Yes, he was dysfunctional; yes, he was emotionally maladjusted. But can we assign his behaviour entirely to his psychological state? Absolutely not.

Because Elliot Rodger does not exist distinct from the world in which he was born; and in this world, male violence in the wake of female rejection is not uncommon.

This is an example of a man who had psychological issues which were steeped in a common, global ideology on gender – specifically on women’s bodies.

Analysing the situation based on him as a lone individual, without taking into context the prevalence of this crime, is the most irresponsible kind of diagnostic and journalistic commentary.

To clarify this point, in the debate of misogyny and “mental disorders”, here are some simple, easy to understand facts:
-          74 percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner (spouse, common-law spouse, ex-spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend). Of these, 96 percent were women killed by their intimate partners. (American Psychological Association)

-          Globally, 38% of all women who were murdered were murdered by their intimate partners, and 42% of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner had experienced injuries as a result. (World Health Organisation)

-          South Africa has one of the highest female homicide rates;  every 6 hours a woman is killed by her intimate/former partner. (Medical Research Council, 2004)

-          Women who reported being a victim of violence were most commonly victimised by an acquaintance (Ministry of Justice)

-          The World Health Organization has declared that gender-based violence accounts for more death and disability among women aged 15-44 years than cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and war combined.

The numbers speak. So if we’re going to use the “he was just a disturbed man” line, then we should use that explanation across the board.

As it stands, in a large percentage of murders, men  kill women they know due to some sort of relationship strain, or personal dissatisfaction. So based on the stats, either a frighteningly large portion of the male population is “crazy” and “disturbed”, OR there seems to be some pervading, violent thread of commonality in gender ideology and entitlement to the female body.

Bottom line is that with numbers this high, you can’t choose your ideal reason to suit the individual in question.

It’s clear that Rodger’s behaviour was not an isolated incident born of insanity. In fact, using the “crazy” defence is a spectacular cop out – it completely absolves the role that our collective consciousness played in creating the way he viewed women.

Moreover, it’s a scapegoat that’s an affront to people who do suffer from mental illness.

After the attack, a new Tumblr – When Women Refuse – was created to document gut-wrenching published accounts of violence against women when they reject or refuse male advances.

From a model who was raped and had acid thrown on her face to a woman who had her nose cut off for refusing to have sex – the articles are piling up and they’re not easy to read.

Which brings me to my next point. Based on this staggering number of women intentionally killed and harmed by men who have felt rejected, why is Elliot Rodger's story gaining so much traction?

Because the internet LOVES a self-indulgent antagonist – particularly if he partakes in online literary masturbation.

His 140 page online manifesto is making the rounds like a long-awaited screenplay and everyone is fascinated by the crazy man-killer. Over and above that, his status and his race are also highly contributing factors to the popularity of his little plight.

He’s yet another young, heterosexual, ‘white’ (he's half-white, half-Asian) male who decided to shoot a bunch of people because of his personal angst.

He also happened to be kind of a racist.



The PUAHate website that Rodger associated himself with was taken down to avoid scrutiny. But other Pick Up Artistry sites, and Men’s Rights Activists, have voiced their support for Rodger and ask that men seek help in scoring hot chicks so as not to suffer this “injustice”.

These communities are so viciously misogynistic that the Southern Poverty Law Center (an organization that tracks hate groups) has been monitoring them for years.

There is so much stereotypical controversy going on here that the Internet is just pissing itself with excitement. And suddenly, what was essentially a horrific, prevalent crime becomes a sickening legend of sorts.

At this point, the artist Molly Crabapple said it best: "White terrorism is always blamed on guns, mental health – never poisonous ideology."

It cannot be clearer that Elliot Rodger is not a sad special boy with sad special problems.

He’s part of a much bigger issue social issue, and instead of exonerating the public, perhaps it’s time to rethink its pivotal role in this trending circle-jerk of a story.

Follow Malini Mohana on Twitter.

Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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