By Maria Padhila
A rampaging murderer in Isla Vista, Calif., took the lives of two women and four men and terrorized countless others. This is the most important thing to remember, and I won’t forget that.
I also don’t plan to mention the murderer’s name in this, nor to quote his words or writing, because in his narcissistic grandiosity, he craved attention, and it’s just my little way of saying: “Nah.” I choose to present writers here that are more interesting.
There’s much being written about this that I don’t need to repeat or refute. One valuable outcome is that the spotlight has been shone on two destructive trends: so-called “Men’s Rights Activism” (MRA) and “Pickup Artists” (PUA). The murderer’s real-life and online presence was entangled with activities and people in both; his writings and posts are larded with their rhetoric, concepts and terms of art. Bringing you some awareness about these groups and concepts is a way I think I could be useful to you right now.
A few months back, polyamory writer Franklin Veaux did a sharp, pointed Twitter hashtag that gets to the heart of these groups’ messages: fake “pickup lines” from so-called men’s rights activists. (I don’t mean disrespect by repeating these here; it’s really the quickest way for you to be introduced to where these people are coming from, these were posted two months ago, and I also like the musical “The Producers,” for instance. I believe what separates us from the animals and the sociopaths is not only the ability to grieve, but the ability to laugh — genuinely.)