On May 23, 2014 the University of California Santa Barbara community, along with the rest of the country, suffered a great tragedy. Elliot Rodger, a 22-year old-student at the University killed seven people, including himself, in an attempt at retribution for the “injustice” in his own life., which he said was an inability to have meaningful interactions with women.
Among the deceased were Rodger’s two roommates Cheng Yuan Hong George Chen, their friend Weihan Wang, Christopher Michaels-Martinez, and two members of UCSB’s chapter of Delta Delta Delta, Veronika Weiss and Katie Cooper. Rodger committed these murder while driving through the college town in his BMW, and he could have killed many more had he been granted access to the Alpha Phi sorority house. Fortunately, he did not gain entry.
Rodger’s motivation for these murders is chilling, as seen in his YouTube videos and in his 107,000 word manifesto, entitled “My Twisted World,” which served as both an autobiography and a blueprint for his crime. He emailed this document to several people and posted one final video online the day of the shooting.
Rodger’s ranting through print and video is mostly a misogynist tirade toward all women in society. He blamed women for most of his social problems, claiming that they were uninterested in him. He focused on his lack of experiences with women physically. He had never been kissed and remained a virgin at the age of 22. It's possible that this was the case because he only mentioned the physical qualities of the women he desired, referencing them as “tall,” “hot” and “blonde” several times, while failing to describe any other qualities a woman can possess. He declared himself to be “the supreme gentleman” in his final video and vowed to punish all women for ignoring him in favor of his “obnoxious” peers.
These tragic losses have been met with mourning by the community of Santa Barbara and the families of the deceased, but they have also been met new questions about mental health and safety on college campuses along with outcry on social media.
About one in four adults suffers from some kind of mental disorder. These diseases are more prevalent than society wishes to acknowledge, but one in four adults are not about to plan a massacre of other people like Rodger did. As these mass shootings become more and more frequent, many groups are looking to change the way we identify and treat mental illness, and educate people on them, particularly law enforcement, about warning signs and proper care.
Elliot Rodger was visited by the police several weeks before the attack after his mother had seen one of his threatening videos, and if they would have searched his apartment, he knew he would have been arrested. But the police interviewed him and believed that there was nothing wrong. If law enforcement was trained to identify and properly handle situations with those with mental disorders to prevent tragedies before they occur, Elliot Rodger ‘s plan would have been foiled before he could go through with it.
He left enough clues on the internet that it could have been prevented if social media was taken into account in recognizing a mental illness. As people begin to have an entire facet of their lives and personality existing online, it has been proposed to incorporate social media postings to recognize a person as mentally ill or a threat to themselves or others. These proposals, in tandem with more stringent gun-control laws, are being asked for by the families of the deceased and others affected by this event.
This tragedy also has forced colleges and their students to reflect on safety measures. Within the Greek Community, safety measures in place at chapter houses should be reconsidered. Santa Barbara’s Alpha Phis thankfully did not open the door for Rodger, who was banging on the door aggressively, but they easily could have. A simple doorbell ring and politely asking who someone is looking for may not be enough to keep members safe.
Perhaps the most passionate reaction to Elliot Rodger’s crimes, however, has been on the internet. Thousands took to Twitter with the hashtag “#YesAllWomen” to share stories of misogyny, harassment and the double-standards that exist among men and women in society today. The messages came mostly from women who've experienced their own injustices first-hand. They identified Rodger for what he was -- a terrorist. His goal was to destroy and terrorize women everywhere, and he succeeded. So they asked the next reasonable question. Who's stopping the next Rodger?
Subliminally teaching that women are sex objects through objectification and internalized, almost undetectable, sexism needs to stop. Though the obvious sexism of the past has faded, the mentality that women's worth lies in their appearance is still alive and strong, which shows in the case of Elliot Rodger.
He subscribed to several pick-up artist channels on YouTube, looking to smoothly get girls in order to have sex with them. This idea that women need to be convinced through particular methods in order to be open to sex and their worth lying in sex exemplifies what #YesAllWomen looks to bring to light and change. Women are asking for crimes against women to be labeled a hate crime, just like it would be for any other minority group and for society to understand that women are completely equal and should be thought of as such.
Elliot Rodger focused his violence on women because of his own hatred of females, but this is not an isolated incident, and the #YesAllWomen understands that and is asking for a change in society’s thought process about gender equality.
