This is a round-up of articles concerning the terrible and horrifying massacre by Elliot Rodgers.
What Is It About Men That They’re Committing These Horrible Massacres?
I don’t ever talk about this because it’s Super Hard by Jess Fink
More Thoughts on what Happened by Kate
#YesAllWomen: I will not be Silent by Teresa P.
Not All Men Arguments Miss The Point
The Four Levels of Discrimination written by John Scalzi
Not All Men, but Still Too Many Men by Chuck Wendig
How Discussing Women’s Issues gets derailed by Phil Plait
Virginity, Experience, Shame: this is where the MRA movement comes from by David Uzumeri
I am highlighting the above articles because what happened that day was a hate crime against women, where a guy planned to murder women because he felt entitled to sex, entitled to their bodies. Our society often teaches this to young men especially, and it’s a systematic problem just as much as it is on an individual level. The above articles all make the case clear. Go read them all before making comments.
What happened that day shouldn’t have happened. Who else must die before we finally start to unravel and take down the toxicity our society teaches people? We need to teach consent and respect toward one another. We need to reevaluate how masculinity is taught: how losing one’s virginity should not be the mark of manhood; how women are not objects to be consumed; how men need to be able to express their emotions and should not be taught that showing emotion is weakness; how important it is to have empathy toward others empathized rather than have empathy denigrated (or portrayed as weakness); how men do not have to be strong at all times and never show weakness; how femininity is not inferior and not weak.
The system within our society is flawed and causing harm to women (significantly more so since sadly violence against women is far too common in our society) and men, and that needs to be fixed, but it’s going to be hard, and we all need to work together on this.
Reshaping Reality 
I skimmed through most of the articles. As I look back over my 69 years of life, I can recall maybe a few incidents when I was treated like an object. catcalls from a car when I was walking in DSM at age 21; an attempted rape by a mentally disturbed young man when I was 20 (I talked him out of it by telling the truth; I was having my period); a guy in college who grabbed me and threw me to the ground and pinned me with his body insisting I was some woman he knew, obviously not well, – this happened in broad daylight and his buddy told him to let me go; a first blind date with a guy who thought he had the right to bat my rear as we were walking across a parking lot (needless to say I never dated him again); the fact that I always wore a shapeless trench coat when I lived in Chicago and had to travel the public transit late at night after visiting my sister (I considered that to be good common sense and was never accosted.) There are minority of men whose attitudes toward women are, for whatever reason, distorted at the least and beastly at the worst. I suppose there are women like that too. Although it is true that women are (usually, I suppose I must qualify) able to control their anger and hostility and not kill. Yes, there is the men-go-war factor; and the men and women stereotypes that play havoc with individuals’ (both male and female) self esteem. A person should always speak out against murder;rage; computer sites that encourage these attitudes; pornography sites that encourage exploitation of both men, women, children; teachings that encourage and abet these attitudes. The fact that the first people this man killed were his two male roommates does not mitigate his anti-female attitude. May God have mercy on the souls of such poor examples of manhood and may society, and ourselves as part of society, help teach them the truth and heal their minds.
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