Guys: One Thing

[shadowspar]

When it comes to what happened in Isla Vista, I doubt I can say anything that hasn't already been said. But there's one point I want to record for posterity because it's common to so many of the social problems we face, and I'll inevitably need to refer some folks to it.

Saying that this was an isolated incident, or blaming it solely on a single person's mindset, is how you dismiss the underlying problem. And as long as you keep treating these events as one-off random occurrences perpetuated by irrational people, you will continue ignoring that problem.

As soon as you recognize and acknowledge the pattern -- as soon as you see the commonalities between different incidents and the factors that underlie them -- you will have named the problem and taken the first step towards solving it.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

What really gets me? The killer in this instance (I flat refuse to use his name; he doesn't deserve the posthumous fame) said in so many words that he did it out of hatred for women.

[shadowspar]

ikr? "Whatever could have been his motivation?" idk, maybe this gigantor manifesto had something to do with it?

[tuzemi]

It's really sad how the geek/nerd world is doubling down on the "rape culture doesn't exist" concept in relation to this event. I almost wish we had a cultural shorthand book for all the ways our social ills are gaslighted away so we could use it as analogy fuel. Nerds don't get rape culture? Maybe they understand narcissistic parents, and one could say "OK, your refusal to listen to people describing how rape culture works is like other people refusing to believe you when you say your parents are nuts." Or white privilege, or jocks vs nerds, childfree-ness, atheists vs religion, or something.

It's just so frustrating to see the denials pile on from people who in other areas are more than willing to be data-driven, but as soon as a woman starts describing her lived experience they go all "what about the menz!" on her.

[shadowspar]

It's so true. It's like..."we're all about the data, until it doesn't coincide with our perceptions of our everyday experience". I understand that this is a hard thing to wrap your mind around -- that the world doesn't treat everyone with the same degree of fairness, when in relative terms your life has been lived pretty close to the top of the fairness heap -- but there it is, you know?

Speaking of nerds and misogyny, have you seen this piece yet, by chance? Good read if you haven't yet. =)

Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Misogyny, Entitlement, and Nerds - The Daily Beast

[tuzemi]

Oh yeah, I read that one, it's really good. I also read Amanda Marcotte's recent pieces (four myths at salon.com, and a more detailed "Friend Zone" piece at Pandagon). Slashdot discussed Chu's piece, and it was sad how many +5 Insightful's were given to the denial crowd.

More specific to IT culture (since a LOT of this misogyny discussion online is turning into thousands of pages of mansplaining delivered by brogrammers), this piece about dating life in Seattle is really interesting too. This line in particular articulates a feeling I had been unable to pin down about the Web 2.0+ IT culture:

With the advent of programming as a mainstream career, the nerdy, awkward programmer who liked Game of Thrones before it was a TV show has been supplanted by cocky, arrogant guys who, in another life, would go into finance.