https://www.reddit.com/r/short/comments/76m8g7/im_personally_offended/dofu1g1/
😂😂
Again: https://www.reddit.com/r/short/comments/8osx9z/im_confused_about_the_definition_of_systemic_do/e05ubxz/
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Study: Extremely Positive People Aren't as Good at Empathy
"People with extremely sunny attitudes find it difficult to empathize with people who are recounting a negative experience, according to a study recently published at PLOS ONE. Ironically, positive people also reported being better at empathizing than did people who labelled themselves as slightly less than bubbly." - http://archive.is/iX9fC
Emotions Are Not Like Light Switches
I see a lot of people trying to coerce others into being "happy" all the time, as if people can just choose what to feel and when.
To use an extreme example to make my point, if I treated somebody like shit for years, it'd be normal if they became bitter or depressed or angry over time. Go ahead and talk about how nobody wants to hang out with "negative" people like this, or how "it only hurts themselves to feel this way," whatever other hippie rhetoric.
Still, the least people can do is empathize with why somebody may be feeling this way. Action-reaction. Most of all, if it were as easy as flipping a switch, everyone would choose to feel great about everything all the time. Then again, I guess that's one of the main reasons people use drugs.
Note that I'm not against self-improvement, it's just that some things can't be as easily helped. If someone is feeling bad about their physique, that can be molded somewhat. Other things, not so much.
To use an extreme example to make my point, if I treated somebody like shit for years, it'd be normal if they became bitter or depressed or angry over time. Go ahead and talk about how nobody wants to hang out with "negative" people like this, or how "it only hurts themselves to feel this way," whatever other hippie rhetoric.
Still, the least people can do is empathize with why somebody may be feeling this way. Action-reaction. Most of all, if it were as easy as flipping a switch, everyone would choose to feel great about everything all the time. Then again, I guess that's one of the main reasons people use drugs.
Note that I'm not against self-improvement, it's just that some things can't be as easily helped. If someone is feeling bad about their physique, that can be molded somewhat. Other things, not so much.
"Roots of Napoleon complex may be justified: Study finds short men get short end of stick in life"
Another popular website, The Washington Post, published an article about the height wage gap, again using lame height puns and worst of all, the following quote:
I found this from supportfortheshort.org, and I agree with what the webmaster said:
This Washington Post article is extra hilarious, since it brings the good ol' Napoleon Complex into the equation. What's the complex for women or minorities when they try to overcome disadvantages? Never mind how this study says short man complex/syndrome is flat out bullshit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6501633.stm
More about these wage studies: http://heightismandothershit.blogspot.ca/2016/03/short-men-and-heavier-women-earn-less.html
"He also said it will be important to look at internally-driven issues, such as low self-esteem and depression."
I found this from supportfortheshort.org, and I agree with what the webmaster said:
"It's very strange; when other "groups" claim to experience lower success rates, the media - and others - ALWAYS seem to point to discrimination as the cause. When it's short-stature we're talking about, then "it's important to look at internally-driven issues, such as low self-esteem and depression".
This Washington Post article is extra hilarious, since it brings the good ol' Napoleon Complex into the equation. What's the complex for women or minorities when they try to overcome disadvantages? Never mind how this study says short man complex/syndrome is flat out bullshit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6501633.stm
More about these wage studies: http://heightismandothershit.blogspot.ca/2016/03/short-men-and-heavier-women-earn-less.html
"Short Men and Heavier Women Earn Less, Can Blame DNA"
It's disturbing how this is framed like some eugenics issue ("can blame DNA"). Not only do these articles often take a flippant tone, with lame height puns like "Short men do tend to get the, well, short end of the stick," but they always conveniently leave out the following:
"We show that height has a significant effect for the occupational sorting of employed workers but not for the self-employed. We interpret this result as evidence of employer discrimination in favor of taller workers." - SourceI just find it funny how most sites post the studies that don't look into the discrimination angle. As more mainstream sites like CNN and The Guardian post these articles (without focusing on the root cause), they will only make matters worse. It will further perpetuate this cycle, because people will think tall men are inherently superior.
Also notice how the CNN article ends it:
"Could the earnings differences be because of depression or a lack of confidence among shorter or heavier people, as some earlier studies have theorized?"Call it like it is. This is due to discrimination, because again, self-employed short men do as well as tall ones. Replace this topic with race or something, and they wouldn't dare question whether the victim's "confidence" is to blame.
We all know a confident short man has a Napoleon Complex anyway. If these studies instead found out short men earn more on average, people would attribute it to some chip on short men's shoulders, a need to "compensate" or prove something.
I always imagine these assholes rubbing one out as they giddily type these articles, like it confirms their preconceived notions that taller men are better. Too bad this one line pretty much proves the results are due to prejudice:
"Short women are in luck. There was no real household income difference between short and tall women."The author tries to portray this as a good thing, but unless she wants to claim the average 5'0 woman is intrinsically more capable than a 5'5 man, there's no reason why this should be about short men rather than short people in general. There's a reason why Dunkin' Donuts in the Philippines requires at least 5'4 men but only 5'2 women. Women are shorter on average, but what's the technical difference? If anything, a 5'2 man is still more physically able on average than a 5'2 woman, not that this should even matter in most mundane jobs.
There's no need to spin this into some convoluted shit about "depression" or "confidence." There's a reason why those traits would even be there in the first place, and personally, I can't "blame DNA."
Update: These "studies" made it to the front page of reddit. They never fail to avoid addressing heightism, instead always opting to go for the "evolushun" narrative, in a way they wouldn't dare do for racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, or even fat women. I expect nothing less from reddit, a majority user base which is proudly and openly heightist. Just like everywhere else, really, online or offline.
"TV Exposure Linked to Female Body Ideal"
Here's the study: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2016/02/femalebodyimageideals/
Wonder what would happen if we flipped the genders and made this about height.
Excerpts:
The more studies pop up, the more I'm convinced our preferences are culturally induced for the most part. I think a good example of this, would be our view on penis size compared to ancient Greeks and Romans. Can you believe the big dicked guys used to be the ones mocked? These ideals may start from either instinct or society, but it's the latter than strengthens and spreads it.
Wonder what would happen if we flipped the genders and made this about height.
Excerpts:
"For the first time experts have been able to eliminate external factors and specifically pinpoint television as having a direct link with female body ideals."
"Research involved assessing groups with different levels of access to Western media. This included people from an urban area, a village with television access, and a village with little television access."
"It was found that the highest Body Mass Index (BMI) preferences were found in the village with least media access, while those living in urban areas preferred thinner female bodies."This reminds me of all the studies where tribal people don't prefer tall men en-masse: http://heightismandothershit.blogspot.ca/2015/12/numerous-studies-on-height-preferences.html
"He said: “Our study shows that television is having a significant impact on what people think is the ideal woman’s body."
The more studies pop up, the more I'm convinced our preferences are culturally induced for the most part. I think a good example of this, would be our view on penis size compared to ancient Greeks and Romans. Can you believe the big dicked guys used to be the ones mocked? These ideals may start from either instinct or society, but it's the latter than strengthens and spreads it.
Should I Avoid Having Asian Kids to Avoid Racism?
Recently, there was a lunatic screaming outside my apartment window, "FUCKING GOOOOOK," "YELLOW MOTHERFUCKER," and my favorite, "YOU'LL STARVE IN WORLD WAR 3."
That last one was pretty funny, but this isn't really the main topic. My main point is: would people tell me it's a good idea to breed out Asians, so the kids wouldn't have to experience racism?
I hope not. Yet that's what short men are told. Even fellow short men think it's a good idea to exclude short males from the gene pool, lest they be discriminated against. That's like making everyone the same race to avoid racism. You've lost.
To sum everything up, here's an oldie but a goodie:
That last one was pretty funny, but this isn't really the main topic. My main point is: would people tell me it's a good idea to breed out Asians, so the kids wouldn't have to experience racism?
I hope not. Yet that's what short men are told. Even fellow short men think it's a good idea to exclude short males from the gene pool, lest they be discriminated against. That's like making everyone the same race to avoid racism. You've lost.
To sum everything up, here's an oldie but a goodie:
"It's giving in to that toxic mentality... Think about if it was interracial marriage in the 1960s, and a white woman told her black husband they should just get a white sperm donor so that the children wouldn't have to deal with racism. It's giving into that toxic mentality and basically saying "who you are is less important than appeasing the assholes who think this shit matters."
"Sexist Humor No Laughing Matter, Psychologist Says"
- Summary:
- "Jokes about blondes and women drivers are not just harmless fun and games; instead, exposure to sexist humor can lead to toleration of hostile feelings and discrimination against women, according to new research. “Specifically, we propose that sexist humor acts as a ‘releaser’ of prejudice,” says one of the researchers." - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071106083038.htm
The New York Times Randomly Mentioned Canadian PM's Height (6'2")
"In the months since his election, Mr. Trudeau, 44, the 6-foot-2 self-described feminist, who has been a television actor, snowboarding instructor and amateur boxer, has assumed the role of world leader with a heart." - Source
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
Bullies Have Higher Self-Esteem, Social Success Study Finds
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bullies-have-higher-self-esteem-social-success-study-finds-1.3173387
I don't know about this trend of evo pysch explanations, but I'm only posting this because short men are stereotyped as bullies. Evil short boss, cop, villain, etc. Most short men I see are meek and cowardly, because they've been beaten down by society.
You need to have some sense of power to pick on someone, even those weaker than yourself. I've seen many short men who are afraid kids and women can beat them up, let alone other men. Short men literally think they have no power, except perhaps over babies and the disabled.
Obviously there are outliers for every group, but it's strange how short men get "short man syndrome" while tall men get "gentle giant." Do short men have more self-esteem on average? Rhetorical question.
I don't know about this trend of evo pysch explanations, but I'm only posting this because short men are stereotyped as bullies. Evil short boss, cop, villain, etc. Most short men I see are meek and cowardly, because they've been beaten down by society.
You need to have some sense of power to pick on someone, even those weaker than yourself. I've seen many short men who are afraid kids and women can beat them up, let alone other men. Short men literally think they have no power, except perhaps over babies and the disabled.
Obviously there are outliers for every group, but it's strange how short men get "short man syndrome" while tall men get "gentle giant." Do short men have more self-esteem on average? Rhetorical question.
Why Is Depression a Sickness?
The brain can get sick too?
Let's say I bully some kid for years and his brain ends up looking like this due to depression. Did I effectively give this person an illness, like coughing on someone while I have the flu?
Full articles on depression and the brain's makeup here. Read them, especially if you disagree with what I'm insinuating.
Examples of Heightism as an Institutional Form of Prejudice
Sources were copy/pasted from here.
Height restrictions in Ivy League Schools
FDA rules that healthy short kids have a disease called "idiopathic short stature"
Boys committing suicide due to height bullying
Wage gap due to height discrimination greater than gender
Short people less likely to win elections
From: Malcolm Gladwell:
In the U.S. population, about 14.5 percent of all men are six feet or over. Among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that number is 58 percent. Even more strikingly, in the general American population, 3.9 percent of adult men are 6’2″ or taller. Among my CEO sample, 30 percent were 6’2″ or taller. . Of the tens of millions of American men below 5’6″, a grand total of ten–in my sample–have reached the level of CEO, which says that being short is probably as much, or more, of a handicap to corporate success as being a woman or an African-American.
....that means 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are men under 5'6", while 4% are women and 7% are African-American. (African-American women make up less than 2%.)
...when corrected for variables like age and gender and weight, an inch of height is worth $789 a year in salary. That means that a person who is six feet tall, but who is otherwise identical to someone who is five foot five, will make on average $5,525 more per year.
Height restrictions in Ivy League Schools
Sperm Bank height requirements
FDA rules that healthy short kids have a disease called "idiopathic short stature"
Boys committing suicide due to height bullying
http://thesocialcomplex.tumblr.com/post/98522110949/14-year-old-bullied-to-death-for-being-short
http://thesocialcomplex.tumblr.com/post/98520339484/the-truth
http://thesocialcomplex.tumblr.com/post/98520339484/the-truth
Wage gap due to height discrimination greater than gender
http://www.livescience.com/5552-taller-people-earn-money.html ("Height was found to be more important than gender in determining
income.")
Shorter candidates less likely to be hired or promoted
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/article/viewFile/246/218
("One business expert has suggested that an additional four inches in
height “makes much more difference in terms of success in a business
career than any paper qualifications you have” and that
it would be better to be “5 ft. 10 and a graduate of N.Y.U.’s business
school than 5 ft. 6 and a Harvard Business School graduate.” Another
commentator concluded that “being short is probably as
much, or more, of a handicap to corporate success as being a woman or an
African American.”") and http://www.jonathanrauch.com/jrauch_articles/height_discrimination_short_guys_finish_last/
Short people less likely to win elections
Dunning-Kruger Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Basically, this is why many morons are loud, smug, and arrogant. They're so incompetent that they can't see themselves for what they are.
Nothing new there, but this is what the behavior's called.
Basically, this is why many morons are loud, smug, and arrogant. They're so incompetent that they can't see themselves for what they are.
Nothing new there, but this is what the behavior's called.
To Be a Hero, You Have to Be a Deviant
“To be a hero, you have to learn to be a deviant, because you’re always going against the conformity of the group.”
Read the full article: The Systemic Crushing of Young Nonconformists and Anti-Authoritarians.
Read the full article: The Systemic Crushing of Young Nonconformists and Anti-Authoritarians.
"Women who are told men desire women with larger bodies are happier with their weight"
Everything here is copy/pasted from this thead.
Original post: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2tkeqm/women_who_are_told_men_desire_women_with_larger/
"I found many of the comments interesting because they're different to the standard responses that short men get when talking about being found unattractive."
"It really is ridiculous that short men are expected to somehow have no problems with being seen as inferior and unattractive, being attacked by the media and people in general."
"I guess I'm trying to say, that /r/science thread made me realize just how strange the backlash against short men (justifiably) complaining is, and how they're expected to have no emotional response to the way they're treated."
"What always amazes me in these sorts of conversations is how people take it as an important issue. But if you change the word "weight" to "height", it's suddenly a trivial issue and it's not about society anymore but about immature white boys who want to wet their penises."
Original post: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2tkeqm/women_who_are_told_men_desire_women_with_larger/
"I found many of the comments interesting because they're different to the standard responses that short men get when talking about being found unattractive."
"Sometimes we have to had it oficiallized because it seems so obvious to the sheer nature of humanity. Men too, have body image issued tied to what they think women prefer as well.""The standard response short men receive is some variation of "man up," "stop whining," etc. I found this comment very relevant:"
"I don't understand why it would not be the same for any human. If you are constantly told your body type is wrong, your self-esteem will go down.""Human beings are social animals. We are significantly affected by the way others treat us and rank us. If the message we are constantly told is that we're inferior, we're undesirable, and have all sorts of negative traits, it's going to affect us. And the opposite is true - receiving constant positive messages will affect us too."
"It really is ridiculous that short men are expected to somehow have no problems with being seen as inferior and unattractive, being attacked by the media and people in general."
"I guess I'm trying to say, that /r/science thread made me realize just how strange the backlash against short men (justifiably) complaining is, and how they're expected to have no emotional response to the way they're treated."
"What always amazes me in these sorts of conversations is how people take it as an important issue. But if you change the word "weight" to "height", it's suddenly a trivial issue and it's not about society anymore but about immature white boys who want to wet their penises."
Articles on Depression and Chemical Imbalance
Here are some articles on the relation between depression and the brain's chemical imbalances:
There was also a comment from the last article that I liked:
"As a long term participant in psychodynamic art therapy, I am convinced that the drive towards proving mental illness as a biological ‘defect’ is due to both individual and collective denial. We surely know that dysfunctional families and societies lead to splitting and often then to mental illness, but in order to address these issues we must first acknowledge them and take responsibility for them. No-one wants to admit how much as a society, we let people down. This isn’t just about not wishing to accept blame or being able to continue with projection and scapegoating. We fail to advocate health in the family because healthy families produce confident, questioning and ultimately free-acting people. People, who as Bruce puts it can ‘detect bullshit’ aren’t easily manipulated or drawn fully into the rat race of capitalist ‘democratic’ society. It’s far better to carry on marginalising all those who can neither understand the rules nor obey them and if we can blame them for being defective? Well that just makes it a whole lot easier and it keeps the drug companies in business too."
- Blaming The Brain: The Chemical Imbalance Fraud
- The Questionable Value of Antidepressants
- Serotonin and Other Molecules Involved In Depression
- How the “Brain Defect” Theory of Depression Stigmatizes Depression Sufferers
There was also a comment from the last article that I liked:
"As a long term participant in psychodynamic art therapy, I am convinced that the drive towards proving mental illness as a biological ‘defect’ is due to both individual and collective denial. We surely know that dysfunctional families and societies lead to splitting and often then to mental illness, but in order to address these issues we must first acknowledge them and take responsibility for them. No-one wants to admit how much as a society, we let people down. This isn’t just about not wishing to accept blame or being able to continue with projection and scapegoating. We fail to advocate health in the family because healthy families produce confident, questioning and ultimately free-acting people. People, who as Bruce puts it can ‘detect bullshit’ aren’t easily manipulated or drawn fully into the rat race of capitalist ‘democratic’ society. It’s far better to carry on marginalising all those who can neither understand the rules nor obey them and if we can blame them for being defective? Well that just makes it a whole lot easier and it keeps the drug companies in business too."
"It's not about height, it's because most short guys are insecure about it."
People love to pretend that it's a short guy's personality which holds him back in life, like this: "Get the fuck over it man, seriously. You get treated poorly because
you're annoyingly whiny. Your insecurities about being short cause you
to blame every issue you have as being because of your height. Great
people don't sit around and complain about the hand they were dealt,
they move on and make the best of it."
I found some good comments about this here.
I found some good comments about this here.
- "Change short to gay. Now see if that statement sticks."
- "Seriously, I have never met a whiny short guy in real life. If anything, it seems we try to go out of our way expressing anything close to feelings about our height."
- "Okay, for the sake of argument, let's assume that short guys more insecure than taller guys on average. Why? Why would shorter guys be more insecure? Are short girls equally insecure? Somehow, they never seem to ask these questions. They throw out the confidence line as if that's all there is to it."
- "This is such a key point to be made. Society treats shortness in males as a defect, so it shouldn't be a surprise that short men tend to be insecure about it. I wish others would at least acknowledge this. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything we can to overcome it or let it make us miserable people, but at least give us the respect to recognize that these self-esteem issues aren't coming from nowhere."
- "Shorter guys can't win really. It's like people just expect you to let them make comments about your height, god forbid you try and defend yourself, or you've got a napoleon complex and a chip on your shoulder."
Whether a short guy is insecure or not, he's not allowed to even discuss these issues, lest he be negatively labeled. When a short guy treats others poorly, people don't say it's okay if/when the target is insecure, they say the short guy is an asshole. But when it's the other way around, a short man isn't allowed to defend himself or else he's insecure or has a complex.
It's also funny how when women are insecure about their bodies, we're told to back off lest we make their mental state worse. But with men, it seems like the message is that it's okay to to keep pushing a guy if he is insecure. Thus it's basically never okay for men to be insecure (but also be sure to not always act like a tough guy, or else it's toxic masculinity).
This is all essentially the just world fallacy. If you’re
treated poorly, then the fault somehow lies with you, and the person who's actually prejudiced gets away scot-free.
Diseasing Normal Behaviors
"Research (that I documented in Commonsense Rebellion)
shows that those labeled with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) do worst in environments that are boring, repetitive, and
externally controlled; and that ADHD-labeled children are
indistinguishable from “normals” when they have chosen their learning
activities and are interested in them. Thus, the standard classroom
could not be more imperfectly designed to meet the learning needs of young people who are labeled with ADHD.
Those with extended schooling have lived for many years in a world where all pay attention to much that is unstimulating. In this world, one routinely complies with the demands of authorities. Thus for many M.D.s and Ph.D.s, people who rebel against this attentional and behavioral compliance appear to be from another world—a diagnosable one.
The reality is that with enough helplessness, hopelessness, passivity, boredom, fear, isolation, and dehumanization, we rebel and refuse to comply. Some of us rebel by becoming inattentive. Others become aggressive. In large numbers we eat, drink, and gamble too much. Still others become addicted to drugs—illicit and prescription. Millions work slavishly at dissatisfying jobs, become depressed and passive aggressive, while no small number of us can’t cut it and become homeless and appear crazy. Feeling misunderstood and uncared about, millions of us ultimately rebel against societal demands, however, given our wherewithal, our rebellions are often passive and disorganized, and routinely futile and self-destructive."
Quoted from Why the Dramatic Rise of Mental Illness? Diseasing Normal Behaviors, Drug Adverse Effects, and a Peculiar Rebellion
Those with extended schooling have lived for many years in a world where all pay attention to much that is unstimulating. In this world, one routinely complies with the demands of authorities. Thus for many M.D.s and Ph.D.s, people who rebel against this attentional and behavioral compliance appear to be from another world—a diagnosable one.
The reality is that with enough helplessness, hopelessness, passivity, boredom, fear, isolation, and dehumanization, we rebel and refuse to comply. Some of us rebel by becoming inattentive. Others become aggressive. In large numbers we eat, drink, and gamble too much. Still others become addicted to drugs—illicit and prescription. Millions work slavishly at dissatisfying jobs, become depressed and passive aggressive, while no small number of us can’t cut it and become homeless and appear crazy. Feeling misunderstood and uncared about, millions of us ultimately rebel against societal demands, however, given our wherewithal, our rebellions are often passive and disorganized, and routinely futile and self-destructive."
Quoted from Why the Dramatic Rise of Mental Illness? Diseasing Normal Behaviors, Drug Adverse Effects, and a Peculiar Rebellion
Automatically Labeling Killers As "Psycho" (More Elliot Rodgers)
Ever since Elliot Rodgers became notorious, I've see lots people throw the "psychopath" label around, so here are a couple of comments I found correcting that.
"Just a point of pedantic contention: Elliot Rodgers was not a psychopath. If he were, he wouldn't have anxiety about his lack of success with women. Really, he would probably - excuse the pun - be a lady killer. I have an issue with the characterization of spree killers as pyschopaths because its dismissive: he didn't just kill people for the fun of it, he was angry with his environment. He was certainly a narcissist from what I saw, but a psychopath? Nope, way too emotional."
"Just a point of pedantic contention: Elliot Rodgers was not a psychopath. If he were, he wouldn't have anxiety about his lack of success with women. Really, he would probably - excuse the pun - be a lady killer. I have an issue with the characterization of spree killers as pyschopaths because its dismissive: he didn't just kill people for the fun of it, he was angry with his environment. He was certainly a narcissist from what I saw, but a psychopath? Nope, way too emotional."
"I'm not
too sure how "psycho" has been popularized, but the net effect is
undeniable, and it's somewhat similar to the charge of "terrorist": a
"bad" person, someone who does something evil because they are evil
themselves.
For the majority of people, it ends there, and it's really a progressive replacement for "this man is (possessed by) the devil". But even for slightly smarter people, as you point it, it's extremely misleading. Psychopathy is a lower-than-normal concern for other people's feelings, and by dismissing people like Elliot Rodgers as psychopaths, these people are essentially saying that there was no cause to these rampages, "it's just the way they are, and as, as a matter of fact, are totally not like me!". It's as convenient as trying to pretend we would have acted differently in the Milgram experiments, but it's not the truth. Normal humans are capable of very surprising things, and Rogers was simply a particularly emotionally fragile person, who in mental agony and had the means to get a gun and enact his vengeance fantasy. But that could be any one of us, torture a man long enough then give him a gun an point to the source of his agony, and see what happens.
After all, don't we excuse women who kill their husbands in their sleep with the "battered woman syndrome"? Why be so specific? A lot of people who suffers mental torture can break down and kill, and they aren't all psychopaths."
This is neither sympathy nor hatred for some guy I have never met. I simply believe Elliot snapped because he was a bundle of traits that society stigmatizes, and his family issues were more fuel for the fire. It's easier to pretend like he was born this way, born insane, but if Elliot wasn't half-Asian, small in stature, and a virgin, the chances of him ending up like this would have been slimmer. If those traits were the ones idealized rather than stigmatized, he probably would have been more narcissistic, but too busy drowning in positive attention to even concoct his plans (he spoke of loneliness).
If you think having a nice car or some other expensive possession somehow makes one blind and deaf to society's opinions, then I disagree, despite the proverbial starving kids in Africa who would love Elliot's privileges (sue me). His desire for some blonde model is no different than a girl's desire for a tall guy with a six-pack. All generic visages of beauty, yet when Elliot yearns for this like he has been conditioned to, he is shamed. Why is it not "just a preference" when he did it?
The sad truth is that nobody cares about males. I've seen many people label emotionally hurt men as "the next Elliot Rodgers." I've seen many more say, "Elliot was just a psycho. Let's leave it at that." That says something about the people who inhabit this world. They're so educated that they refuse to look further into these issues. They refuse to believe, that perhaps, society creates its own monsters. Too hard to sleep at night?
For the majority of people, it ends there, and it's really a progressive replacement for "this man is (possessed by) the devil". But even for slightly smarter people, as you point it, it's extremely misleading. Psychopathy is a lower-than-normal concern for other people's feelings, and by dismissing people like Elliot Rodgers as psychopaths, these people are essentially saying that there was no cause to these rampages, "it's just the way they are, and as, as a matter of fact, are totally not like me!". It's as convenient as trying to pretend we would have acted differently in the Milgram experiments, but it's not the truth. Normal humans are capable of very surprising things, and Rogers was simply a particularly emotionally fragile person, who in mental agony and had the means to get a gun and enact his vengeance fantasy. But that could be any one of us, torture a man long enough then give him a gun an point to the source of his agony, and see what happens.
After all, don't we excuse women who kill their husbands in their sleep with the "battered woman syndrome"? Why be so specific? A lot of people who suffers mental torture can break down and kill, and they aren't all psychopaths."
This is neither sympathy nor hatred for some guy I have never met. I simply believe Elliot snapped because he was a bundle of traits that society stigmatizes, and his family issues were more fuel for the fire. It's easier to pretend like he was born this way, born insane, but if Elliot wasn't half-Asian, small in stature, and a virgin, the chances of him ending up like this would have been slimmer. If those traits were the ones idealized rather than stigmatized, he probably would have been more narcissistic, but too busy drowning in positive attention to even concoct his plans (he spoke of loneliness).
If you think having a nice car or some other expensive possession somehow makes one blind and deaf to society's opinions, then I disagree, despite the proverbial starving kids in Africa who would love Elliot's privileges (sue me). His desire for some blonde model is no different than a girl's desire for a tall guy with a six-pack. All generic visages of beauty, yet when Elliot yearns for this like he has been conditioned to, he is shamed. Why is it not "just a preference" when he did it?
The sad truth is that nobody cares about males. I've seen many people label emotionally hurt men as "the next Elliot Rodgers." I've seen many more say, "Elliot was just a psycho. Let's leave it at that." That says something about the people who inhabit this world. They're so educated that they refuse to look further into these issues. They refuse to believe, that perhaps, society creates its own monsters. Too hard to sleep at night?
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