Shooting Girl-ery

October 03, 2006 7:46 am by Suzanne Reisman in

Is it sad that I am not surprised that an angry man walked into a school and shot all the girls and only the girls? From the New York Times:

A dairy truck driver, apparently nursing a 20-year-old grudge, walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse here Monday morning and systematically tried to execute the girls there, killing four and wounding seven before killing himself, the police said… “He wanted to find female victims,” said Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. “This was a target of opportunity.”


The whole story is not yet known, and yet we’ve seen its plot played out before. It is my whole hearted belief that our culture fosters tragedies like this by emphasizing that it is critical for men to be manly and not suffer slights from girls or women, which are the ultimate insult. The degradation of any "feminine" emotions as valueless doesn’t help (i.e. - only girls and babies cry).

Are women perfect? Of course not. Do some women hate men as much as some men hate women? Absolutely. I am hard pressed, however, to think of a time when a woman took out her anger at men by randomly killing a bunch of people. Yet how many times do we hear about men or boys going on shooting sprees to avenge a wrong that has been done to them?

Even if boys and men are more physical due to biology, we make the situation worse by encouraging them to act on their aggression. Women, who are plenty aggressive, are encouraged to suppress it or express anger in non-physical ways. No one wins.

We need a better system in which all people are taught effective ways of coping with the disappointments that inevitably come with life. Maybe five innocent girls would be alive today.

Suzanne also blogs at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

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When women kill too

Lisa Stone October 3, 2006 - 10:20am

Hi Suzanne,

What a horrible month, with school-age girls stalked by gunmen from Colorado to Pennsylvania. It's true that women are far less likely to kill than men, and when women do murder, statistics show that self-defense is often a factor; For example, this article on domestic violence cites a 1992 Boston Globe report that as many as 90 percent of women incarcerated for killing men were abused by them.

However, I think it's important to note that violent killing sprees against other humans are not the exclusive bailiwick of the male gender. When you said above that you couldn't recall "when a woman took out her anger" by randomly killing a bunch of people, I immediately thought of these examples:

  • Brenda Ann Spencer shot up a San Diego school in 1979. Why? "I don't like Mondays" among other reasons
  • Female suicide bombers are now commonplace. Here's a National Geographic story that attempts to investigate why: Female Suicide Bombers: Dying to Kill
  • I realize these acts aren't the random sprees you invoked above, but the problem is insidious and real in our society: Violence by women against children and domestic partners, (physical and sexual), is traditionally underreported by victims and underinvestigated by authorities and media alike.

    • That said, I agree wholeheartedly with you that "we need a better system in which all people are taught effective ways of coping with the disappointments that inevitably come with life."

    Lisa Stone
    BlogHer Co-founder
    Surfette

     

    My husband and I were discussing this last night

    CityMama October 3, 2006 - 2:52pm

    We could not think of a time when a woman went on a senseless killing spree. Of course, women have done, but why does it seem like it's mostly the men that lose it and turn violent, taking out their aggression on innocent people...children...girls.

    The fact that girls were targeted in these latest killings just makes me so sad. That's doesn't mean I'd feel less bad if it were young boys that were targeted, but to specifically target girls, sexually assault them (or plan to), and then shoot them in the head just sickens me.

    On Nightline last night, an expert mentioned that the Amish shooting was probably a copycat crime and that these types of violent crimes tend to trigger other similar crimes...which of course make me think it will happen again.

    Suicide was too good an end for these murderers. Too bad they will never have to suffer the consequences for their heinous actions.

    Stefania Pomponi Butler
    Contributing Editor, Arts & Entertainment, BlogHer

    I blog:
    CityMama
    Kimchi Mamas
    Family F

     

    If it were up to me

    Pam October 3, 2006 - 11:32pm

    I posted a very short entry about the spate of shootings recently and a friend sent me a song by Cheryl Wheeler. The lyrics are here.

    What she said.

    Nerd's Eye View

     

    Nightline

    A Elliot October 6, 2006 - 9:43pm

    It makes me really sad and extremely angry. I saw the same thing on Nightline.
    A.Elliot

     

    "We need a better system in

    BritGirl October 7, 2006 - 8:46pm

    "We need a better system in which all people are taught effective ways of coping with the disappointments that inevitably come with life. Maybe five innocent girls would be alive today".

    I disagree.

    Why is it that now, when an individual commits a henious crime, we wring our hands, look for their "reasons" and blame the system? What happened to people taking responsibility for their actions?? Most people in this world, as long as they are alive have disappointments. Some are pretty huge, some not. Some people - gasp - right now are actually wondering where their next meal is comming from. Do they pick up a gun, a few solid rounds of ammo and go and shoot people, children? Tying them up first?

    People, we don't need a better system to help people deal with disappointments. Disappointment is never a reason to go and kill anyone. We need people to accept their responsibilities as citizens.

     

    Responsibility and Amelioration

    rachelyra October 18, 2006 - 8:14am

    People, we don't need a better system to help people deal with disappointments. Disappointment is never a reason to go and kill anyone. We need people to accept their responsibilities as citizens.

    Why are they mutually exclusive? We can look at an act and call it heinous and then think, as a society 'Gee, a certain percentage of people respond to normal life pressures in a heinous way. Maybe we should have some mechanisms in place to help these emotionally stunted individuals not go on killing sprees.'

    Because, ultimately, who cares whose responsibility an act was, or whether it was warranted - step one is trying to make sure it doesn't happen again, or worse.

     
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