Friday October 24, 2014, there was a school shooting in Washington state. A boy, believed to be upset over a girl, walked into a cafeteria and shot five kids, then himself. In response, Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency said this:
Not a coincidence it’s always men and boys committing mass shootings. The pattern is connected to ideas of toxic masculinity in our culture.
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) October 24, 2014
Anita’s reinforcement of a negative stereotype – that males are “always” the aggressors in these situations – is offensive. I am the mother of two boys. Anita’s actions here only serve to hurt my boys, and men in general. Not only that, but her statement is false. I perused the roster at Murderpedia, and found 15 examples of female mass shooters.
- Michele Anderson
- Susan Eubanks
- Ethel Mae Franken
- Mary Ann Holder
- G. R. McAnich
- Elsie Nollen
- Sandi Nieves
- Frances Newton
- Christine Paolilla
- Roxanne Severcool
- Sylvia Seegrist
- Kathryn Schoch
- Jennifer San Marco
- Tonya Thomas
- Angela Vazquez
And last, but certainly not least, the O.G. of mass school shootings – Brenda Spencer. Brenda’s story is chilling. I urge you to go read it. When asked why she shot at an elementary school yard full of kids, she said simply, “I hate Mondays.” These are just the names I found in a quick 15 minute search of one website. This list could be extended much longer if you were to accept mass murder, including the female weapon of choice – an automobile. Meanwhile, you know what Anita is NOT using her Feminist Frequency account to do? Anita has not attempted to speak out on behalf of the girl on twitter that most people believe to be the shooter’s ex girlfriend. This poor girl, who is likely still alive as she went to a different school & is not one of the names being circulated as a victim, is getting all kinds of hate and vitriol from twitter trolls. Everything from “you’re a slut” to:
@YedIin @Shilenegeorgiaa she should take his murder charge imo — Josh Cooke (@JoshCooke_22) October 25, 2014
Yes, you read that right. Some fool on twitter is advocating for the ex-girlfriend to stand trial for murders committed by a boy. This girl is being savaged online right now, on twitter, instagram, and likely everywhere else people have found her social media. Yet Anita has not spoken out against it. This poor girl is the real victim here, moreso than anything else. Yet what is Anita’s response to the inevitable push-back from her inane comments?
Our culture is deeply sick when simply asking questions about how toxic forms of masculinity may harm men leads to hours of hate on Twitter.
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) October 25, 2014
That’s right. It’s all about her. She said something stupid, got some blow-back for it, and our culture is so sick because of it. Yes, Anita. Our culture is sickening. But not for the reasons you think. It’s sick to think that we live in a world where the first reaction to a school shooting is to blame all males. It’s sick to think that we live in a world where feminists hold up Beyonce & her wall of butts as an example of a great feminist, but do nothing to support a young teenage girl who is most certainly going through hell right now. It’s sickening that the first reaction of a school shooting for far too many people is to politicize it. It’s sickening that people like Piers Morgan, Shannon Watts, and their ilk automatically default to blaming the NRA and people like Dana Loesch for events like this. It’s sickening the amount of hatred and vitriol spewed at anyone who dares to push back in support of the Second Amendment. It’s sickening that organizations like Project ChildSafe not only get their funding cut, but get no love from the press & groups like Everytown & Moms Demand.
But most of all, it’s sickening that we live in a world where life has so little value. Babies are disposable, disease is an acceptable excuse to off yourself with so-called dignity, assisted suicide is becoming more popular, and a teenager doesn’t blink when shooting his cousin in the face. That, Ms. Sarkeesian, is what is truly sickening about our current culture. And until we begin to see the value in life, nothing will change.
So please, Ms. Sarkeesian, keep your male-hating #Matriarchy to yourself. Don’t make life harder for my boys than it already is.