"The misogyny and toxic masculinity that Jamie discovered in online communities fuel his radicalization toward violence. Most internet communities are not inherently dangerous, and yet it's fair to ask whether a specific online culture could have influenced the assassin who gunned down conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It is a culture, cultivated on social networks and messaging platforms, where killing seems performative and where human life has no intrinsic value."
"The left and the right will continue to point fingers at the other side as a way to explain the violence. Immediately after Kirk was killed, President Donald Trump immediately blamed the radical left for dangerous rhetoric, without addressing the political extremism Kirk espoused. Nor did Trump mention that attacks by right-wing extremists are more frequent and deadly. Minnesotans are well aware that the suspected killer in the assassination of former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman, after all, was an evangelical Christian with anti-abortion views."
"We gravitate toward partisan blamestorming because it gives us a framework to help us make sense of the unthinkable, especially if a shooter's full motivations remain unclear. Politics becomes our reality, which then reinforces our biases and shapes our calls to action. Throw in a frayed mental health system and the wide accessibility to guns, and it's not hard to see how our country can prod"
The Netflix series Adolescence won six Emmys, including one for 15-year-old Owen Cooper, the youngest male ever to receive best supporting actor. The four-part fictional series follows a schoolboy named Jamie who is accused of murdering a female classmate. Misogyny and toxic masculinity in online communities fuel Jamie's radicalization toward violence. A specific online culture cultivated on social networks and messaging platforms can make killing seem performative and devalue human life. Partisan finger-pointing follows political assassinations, with leaders blaming opposite extremes while neglecting perpetrators' politics. Right-wing extremist attacks are more frequent and deadly, and frayed mental-health systems plus wide gun accessibility worsen the threat.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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