In Memoriam

[mousme]

Killed by a gunman on December 6th, 1989, at the École Polytechnique de Montréal:

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte

Comments

*raises hand*

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Might it not be more accurate and appropriate to say "Killed by a misogynistic antifeminist madman wielding a gun..."?

Just sayin'... cause this wording kinda completely bypasses the whole root cause of the massacre.

Re: *raises hand* Nah, it's just a term.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

It's just a term that's gotten into the lexicon from the media. They do that all the time, when criminals commit attrocities against people. We've all heard how the World Trade Center was destroyed by "boxknifemen", haven't we?

Seriously though, you're right -- when people choose to act like animals, the weapon they happen to use to demonstrate their inhumanity is often superfluous.

Re: *raises hand* Nah, it's just a term.

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

I dunno that I'd call it acting like an animal; as far as I know animals don't really flip out and start murdering females of their own species.

But yeah; as a feminist gun owner I kind of found the "gunman" wording a little inaccurate on both levels.

Re: *raises hand* Nah, it's just a term.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

Good point. People cannot really be animals. It's not our nature. If someone decides not to be human, there's pretty much only the monster route to take.

[sfllaw.livejournal.com]

Thank you for taking the time to remember.

Re: *raises hand*

[mousme.livejournal.com]

It does, and I wondered about putting something more explicit in, then decided not to. Everyone who knows about this knows the man's motivations, and those who don't should damn well look them up.

My main problem is giving the guy himself more attention than he deserves. I decided to err on the side of caution, so that the names would be the main focus.

Re: *raises hand*

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I've seen other people doing this today using "were killed because they were women". And again, I'm not sure that this is accurate; in the end, I think they died because a sick, evil individual went on a rampage and they happened to fit the delusional profile he'd formed of his persecutors.

So I'm not really against giving the guy some attention, by pointing out what a evil little fuckup he was and highlighting the wrongness of his beliefs and actions...

Re: *raises hand*

[rmstmartin.livejournal.com]

And thank you for doing so. Too many of these suicidal idiots decide that the only way they'll stop being a nobody is by killing a bunch of innocent bystanders and then committing suicide-by-police, making a name for themselves in the process. "If I can't be famous, then I'll be infamous!"

Remember the victims; reduce the murderer to a nondescript impersonal noun like "gunman."