'The girl who led to massacre'
Posted by: Matt O'Connell
Andrew Kehoe, the man responsible for the Bath School massacre in 1927, left a final cryptic message in reference to what was apparently the motive for his crime, that is, a property tax that he blamed for the foreclosure of his farm: "CRIMINALS ARE MADE, NOT BORN." This wasn't the beginning of victim-blaming by any means, but an article that came to my attention today in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings brought it to mind. Entitled 'The girl who led to massacre,' it is a piece that appears in Metro, a free daily newspaper in the UK. It begins with the following line: 'This is the face of the teenage student who may have sparked the biggest gun massacre in US history.' The picture is that of one Emily Jane Hilscher, the first victim. It is speculated that she may have been an ex-girlfriend of the gunman. And apparently the whole thing is her fault.
Apparently, everything has to be a woman's fault. It is notable that the sensationalistic article was apparently written before the killer's name even became known; it is based purely on early speculation as to motive. As of this writing I gather that she was apparently not ever in a relationship with the killer and may have been stalked by him beforehand. Either way, it doesn't matter: we're talking about a victim here. She was shot and killed. I didn't think anything could be more straightforward until I saw that write-up, which renders the phrase 'the worst possible light' an obsolete description in its sheer darkness and insanity. There's so much faith in humanity to be lost these days — it continues to surprise me that we ever had so much to lose in the first place — every angle of this situation is outrage upon outrage, horror upon horror. Responses range from silent prayer to shows of solidarity to rage against immigrants to calls for more stringent gun control laws to affirmations of the right to bear arms to the futile search for some connection to international terrorism in order to spice up the whole business.
Violence is the worst in humanity and the response, in some ways, almost matches it. It's one thing to be interested in the motive, but this sort of fetishistic fixation on the victim is sick in a way I can't quite describe. Not much is even actually said about her in the article, just some pictures (in one she is 'pouting and looking relaxed') and the nudge-nudge insinuation that she 'sparked' something. This is not the sort of memorial piece that will inevitably appear for the students lost in the tragedy; instead, it is a ghoulish, voyeuristic, and hurried slice of victim-blaming that represents the kneejerk reaction of the worst in society, those who would perhaps consider such violence a touch below justified because a woman is involved. The speculative, misogynistic undercurrent — just look at her. Anything to make sure some uppity bitch gets at least part of the blame, right? The girl's fault. If we can pin it on some Muslims as well it's all the better. I'm waiting for the fact that the guy was from South Korea to catch on somewhere and for people to start saying that there may be a connection to the DPRK. Bush was right about the Axis of Evil! Something like that still wouldn't touch what appeared in Metro, though, and no one will mention the thousands of deaths in Iraq as we mourn the deaths of these students here at home. The pinnacle of disgusting always seems to be just out of reach for the media, so they are ever reaching higher in order to come a little closer with each tragic new day.
Apparently, everything has to be a woman's fault. It is notable that the sensationalistic article was apparently written before the killer's name even became known; it is based purely on early speculation as to motive. As of this writing I gather that she was apparently not ever in a relationship with the killer and may have been stalked by him beforehand. Either way, it doesn't matter: we're talking about a victim here. She was shot and killed. I didn't think anything could be more straightforward until I saw that write-up, which renders the phrase 'the worst possible light' an obsolete description in its sheer darkness and insanity. There's so much faith in humanity to be lost these days — it continues to surprise me that we ever had so much to lose in the first place — every angle of this situation is outrage upon outrage, horror upon horror. Responses range from silent prayer to shows of solidarity to rage against immigrants to calls for more stringent gun control laws to affirmations of the right to bear arms to the futile search for some connection to international terrorism in order to spice up the whole business.
Violence is the worst in humanity and the response, in some ways, almost matches it. It's one thing to be interested in the motive, but this sort of fetishistic fixation on the victim is sick in a way I can't quite describe. Not much is even actually said about her in the article, just some pictures (in one she is 'pouting and looking relaxed') and the nudge-nudge insinuation that she 'sparked' something. This is not the sort of memorial piece that will inevitably appear for the students lost in the tragedy; instead, it is a ghoulish, voyeuristic, and hurried slice of victim-blaming that represents the kneejerk reaction of the worst in society, those who would perhaps consider such violence a touch below justified because a woman is involved. The speculative, misogynistic undercurrent — just look at her. Anything to make sure some uppity bitch gets at least part of the blame, right? The girl's fault. If we can pin it on some Muslims as well it's all the better. I'm waiting for the fact that the guy was from South Korea to catch on somewhere and for people to start saying that there may be a connection to the DPRK. Bush was right about the Axis of Evil! Something like that still wouldn't touch what appeared in Metro, though, and no one will mention the thousands of deaths in Iraq as we mourn the deaths of these students here at home. The pinnacle of disgusting always seems to be just out of reach for the media, so they are ever reaching higher in order to come a little closer with each tragic new day.
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