solnit

How can any sentient adult write this sort of nonsense?

The alleged murderer of eight people, six of whom were Asian American women, reportedly said that he was trying to “eliminate temptation”. It’s as if he thought others were responsible for his inner life, as though the horrific act of taking others’ lives rather than learning some form of self-control was appropriate. This aspect of a crime that was also horrifically racist reflects a culture in which men and the society at large blame women for men’s behavior and the things men do to women. The idea of women as temptresses goes back to the Old Testament and is heavily stressed in white evangelical Christianity; the victims were workers and others present in massage parlors; the killer was reportedly on his way to shoot up Florida’s porn industry when he was apprehended.

We don’t blame women in this manner at all. We observe a man who has so blamed women and we are going to either lock him up for the rest of his life because we agree that he is mad or we’re going to shorten said life with the aid of Dr. Injection.

The entire episode of our calling this a crime, one that cries out for justice and resolution, is the very evidence we need to know that we, as a society, men as a sex, patriarchy as a system, do not in fact blame women for their temptations.

When men harm women, we obscure their role. Instead, we blame women for the injustice that happens to them

We all agree he’s a nutter my lovely, the only remaining question is whether he’s a culpable one or not.