A Cocktail for Murder: Narcissism and Misogyny

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

So apparently Rodgers was diagnosed for Aspergers and the media wasn’t making it up. However, I still stand by my following points:

• Aspergers is a form of Autism, which has no correlation with violence.

• Because of said correlation, the Aspergers is not to blame for his crime.

• The media using his Aspergers as a scapegoat for his murders is sickening. Rather they should focus on the real issue at hand: misogyny.  By blaming killers for their mental illness (if they have one), it gives a negative perspective to those who suffer from the disease(s), and are trying to live normal lives.

Yet the Aspergers could explain why he had very few to no friends. One of the symptoms of this mental illness is awkward social interaction.  This obviously led to his loneliness and depression, but where did the narcissism and misogyny come from? According to his manifesto, his father influenced him with the concept of ‘if you’re attractive, women will come to you’. This was sparked in Rodgers mind when his father got a girlfriend no sooner he divorced his wife. Rodgers held his father in a higher regard for being such a handsome man to immediately attract women.  He also believed that once a young man hit puberty, opportunities of sex and pleasure would appear before him.

Rodgers was also brought up with the rich life: Hollywood red carpet premieres, the latest fashions, trendy hair styles, the newest gaming consoles, and many other luxuries.  He became dependent on this particular lifestyle for the best experiences of life and to mold him into a handsome man who could easily attract women, just like his father.  

He was determined to look the best, have the best of things, and be the best; thus resulting in narcissism. Narcissism includes a lack of empathy for anyone and an extreme sense of self importance. Those afflicted with narcissism are angered when they aren’t given any form of gratification (ex.: social status, sex, having a partner, having something, etc.). They also tend to hold offensive ideas of women, believing they are gold diggers, temptresses of sex who don’t deliver, and pranksters who like to get men under their thumb. This illness combined with his already negative view of women, caused Rodgers to evolve into a narcissistic misogynist; believing that he was entitled to women and intercourse.

Rodgers is an example of what men should not be, nor root for. He was a man who not only disrespected women, but brought to light the horrific misogyny in this world. I hope there will be a day when misogyny is tossed like an old shoe into a flaming garbage pile, never to surface humanity again. 

Elliot Rodger: The Misogynistic Murderer

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

There are times when I honestly give up on society and humanity because of how some people are. Some people can be so idiotic you don’t know how they function. Others sympathize with killers because they are ‘mentally ill’ when in truth they are nothing more than misogynistic loners.

Today, six victims were killed in a drive by shooting in Isla Vista, in Santa Barbara, a California college town. The murderer has been identified as Elliot Rodger, a twenty two year old who wanted retribution for no woman having relations with him.

Just before the killing spree, Rodger posted a video on Youtube. In the segment, Rodger claimed that college was a time for sex and pleasure, none of which any female would give him. None of them were ever attracted to him and he has felt loneliness since puberty. He also declared himself a God and the superior gentleman, thus flexing his masculinity. His beliefs of women owing him sex and that he was entitled to intercourse can be seen as misogynistic.  Rodger also had other videos on his Youtube account, discussing about why girls don’t want to be with him, his reaction to other couples, and many other videos. He even wrote a manifesto ‘My Twisted World’ chronicling his life and his many rejections up until the time of the murder.

As opposed to coping with his loneliness and understanding that women aren't alive to bow down to men or be their toys, he decided to go on a murdering rampage. He first killed three of his apartment tenants, gunned down some young ladies outside the campus’ sorority, stabbed a man in a deli, had a shoot out with some police officers and injured thirteen, and then proceeded to take his own life after wrecking his vehicle.

Some news sites have written Rodger off as having a ‘mental illness’, even though the boy has not properly been diagnosed or treated for being mentally ill. While he has been supposedly seeing multiple therapists, his mentality does not excuse the crime for which he has committed. His misogynistic beliefs and enforcement of male dominance, do not pardon him from the crimes either. Rather, they show that misogyny is still running amok in this world, leading men to murder, harass, and rape women for no reason at all. It also depicts that as a society, we would rather label a murderer’s intent as a mental illness as opposed to misogyny.

This is what makes me lose hope in humanity. That there are men out there like Rodger who are not only getting played off as a tragic victim to a mental illness, but also being treated as a hero to other men who share his views. That is another factor that makes me lose faith in this world: misogynistic, chauvinistic, and ruthless men who believe that they are God’s gift to the world, that women only exist for their pleasure, and the actions they commit because of these beliefs.

Women are entitled to their own bodies and have the right to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and choose who they want to be with.  Yet there are some men who believe otherwise. We women have come so far as inspirational icons, leaders, discoverers, artists, rebels, protesters, and many other aspiring positions. We are tigers with burning eyes and lipstick, we are heel clad warriors with Einstein like intelligence, we are delicate cherry blossoms with thorny wit, and we are beautiful. We are no sex toys to any man and if they don’t like that we say ‘no’ to their sexual advances, then tough bananas. We are no inferior gender, we are just as strong, if not stronger, and if this world can’t see that, then there’s clearly something wrong with it.

Misogyny is real and it’s men like Elliot Rodger who enforce it. Regretfully there are other men in this world who enforce Rodger’s beliefs and exercise them on a daily basis. I believe it’s time for the world to wake up and see that this is a serious issue. Don’t you agree?

May those who lost their lives in this horrific tragedy by Rodgers’ hands rest in peace. As for Rodger, well, there’s a special place in Hell for men like him, and I hope the Devil gives him his due.