Montreal Massacre anniversary today

[Rosa]

On this day in 1989, a gunman killed 14 female college students because he hated feminism. Remember this, when the patriarchalists decry feminists as murderers for supporting abortion access and legality.

 

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_ju ... opics/398/

[MamaJunebug]

How had I forgotten about that? My dear Rosa, I think this needs to be in Snark forum, if you agree, I'll move it.

[browngrl]

A horrifying event. I remember it well because one of my room mates at the time had a sister at that school. In a stroke of extreme good luck my room mate's sister was home sick the day the shooter went to her classroom. Here is a link for those who might not know the story:

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_ju ... opics/398/

[Rosa]

MamaJunebug, sure thing! I wasn't sure where it would be more appropriate, I was just reminded of it today and wanted to post for folks who are younger or don't listen to Canadian radio.

[Deleted03]

I don't know, this year I am more sad by the Shafia case. Afghan family accused of killing 3 daughters and first wife by drowning their car on the way back from Niagara Falls. For reference, the dad did not cry once when told of the death or during the trial except he cried when he saw a video of a man taking his second wife's hands in his. Yep I hope that bastard stays in jail for ever.

Social services were called to the home several times, but never deemed anything sufficient to take them, oldest daughter went to a shelter but got persuaded by her mom to come back after 2 weeks. I think this year needs to be dedicated to those women.

[luckylibrarian]

God...how horrifying.

[xDreamerx]

There's usually memorials on university and college campuses around the country, it might be something worth checking out if you ever have the time. I was only a toddler when it happened so I can't speak to personal experience, but it is horrifying. It's only recently, thanks to Women's Studies classes, that I learned the truth about the killer's reasoning. I thought he was just insane, but in reality it was a deliberate action against women he considered feminists. He separated the women from the men. He wrote about it in his letters and even asked some of them if they were feminists before killing them. One of my professors was in university at the time and she said that it was a very scary, uneasy time to a woman on campus. She said there were only about 5-10 women in each of her classes. It seems so strange to me as the ratio now is about 50/50. And to think that 100 years ago I wouldn't have permitted to even attend most universities because of my sex. We've made a lot of progress in terms of the education of women, at least in NA, but obviously the underlying misogyny still exists. It makes me feel extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had.

If you have the chance you should watch a movie called Polytechique. It's a dramatic account of the events.

[Rosa]

The Shafia case is horrifying, but it's unfortunately not that rare - it seems alien to us because of the polygamy and the family being Afghan, but there have been weeks when I have opened the newspaper every morning and found a case of a man killing his partner or ex partner, along with kids if there were any, here in the US.

The Montreal case was pure terrorism, like the shooting of abortion doctors; it had political aims, to scare women away from universities.

[Deleted03]

The Shafia case is horrifying, but it's unfortunately not that rare - it seems alien to us because of the polygamy and the family being Afghan, but there have been weeks when I have opened the newspaper every morning and found a case of a man killing his partner or ex partner, along with kids if there were any, here in the US.

The Montreal case was pure terrorism, like the shooting of abortion doctors; it had political aims, to scare women away from universities.

I don't think it's just another case of domestic violence, his behavior show that in his mind he owns his daughters and wives. This is gender violence and control of behavior to the extreme - enforced also by sons and wives...

I dunno I just never was too much into the Polytechnique memorials, even if most of my feminist friends were into it.

[Rosa]

It is gender violence, and the husband/father did feel like he owned his wife and kids - but I think it's getting more press because of the Afghan immigrant component than the hundreds of similar murders. And I think the gender issue is getting more attention than usual at the detriment of the "if she blew the whistle they'd all lose their immigration status", which is really odd because when white men commit similar murders (such as Bruce Pardo, who killed his recently-ex wife and 8 other family members in 2008) there's no real discussion of the cultural imperative to control your wife and kids. On the other hand, I have heard Muslim community leaders on the radio lately having to defend their religion and remind people that killing your wife isn't sanctioned by Islam.

The focus on gender violence in immigrant communities is important, but it's so elevated over the much more common gender violence in native-born communities, it seems like an opportunity for the media to pretend like gender violence comes from outside North America.

[Deleted03]

I think it brought light to the dilemmas faced by the DPJ or the inability by services for women to take into consideration immigrant women's needs and special situations.

I mean seriously Canada is one of the countries with lowest recognition of all the girls that get sent off to "home" country to get married against their will before they're adults. There was a report maybe 5 years ago, but that's it. I think it's time to also understand that immigrants' integration in Canada may be a little more complicated than what is offered to help right now.

On the family violence there was the trial of the guy who killed both his kids not too long ago, so I don't think it's only focusing on immigrants. We are part of the country too, and tools to reach women may not be adapted to immigrants' situations.

[Deleted03]

I never felt connected to this annual memory, I don't know if it's because I just wasn't there, or what. And I was in the feminist circles so I saw my friends do things... He never got what he wanted, women are more than 50% at universities. most feminists have ignored men's transitions to gender equal societies (like in most other countries) and only talk about "masculinists" to deride them not even trying to see if there are any issues that could be useful to analyze in a feminist lens. For me this memorial always represented this blindness in many quebecor feminists to the issue that even if it was ok in the 70's and 80's to focus on women, we now have to move on and address GENDER issues rather than just WOMEN issues.

[Rosa]

Maybe it's because I started university soon after - 1992. And there was a shooting at my school (though smaller, and for different reasons - a Chinese student lost his funding in competition, and was going to have to go back to China, and did the shooting.)

I think my view is skewed by being in the US - we hear about Muslim gender violence from all over the damn world. and can't get the press to cover the local instances except as run-of-the-mill crimes. Like, of course you have to prosecute but it's not like there's a *pattern* to address, it's just something men do when they lose their jobs/get divorced/lose child custody/get depressed.

[crazyforkate]

Every year, we commemorate those women, who died at the hands of a madman who, somewhere along the line, had decided that women- feminist women- were to blame for all his troubles. Unbelievably tragic.

Dec. 6 is also the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, another Canadian tragedy which my grandmother survived. Sad day for Canadians all around.

[MamaJunebug]

I've moved this to QFOS because of its topic and timeliness. Couldn't figure out how to change the subject line to include "moved" but anyway, it's here.

[fakepigtails73]

I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was 16, back from school and watching it all unfold on local TV (we had no French-language all news channel at the time). One of my friend phoned and told me that they were very worried as her cousin studied at Polytechnique and didn't came back home from her exam. She called me the next day and told me that alas, she was among the dead... :cry:

RIP Geneviève Bergeron...Killed by a sick mysogynist a-hole.

The police officer from the Montreal Police who was responsible for dealing with the media was at the school, without at first knowing if his daughter that studied there was alive or dead. He was giving the media a briefing when a colleague took him to the side. They both ran inside the school. Yup, his daughter was among the victims. :cry:

RIP Maryse Leclair...

I was in a band 5 yrs later and my drummer hired this girl to take our picture. She was very strange, and had a BIG smack problem (she nodded while trying to take our pics). Her name was Nadya Gharbi. My drummer told me after she gave us our prints that she was Marc Lépine's (the Polytechnique killer) sister (his name when he was born was Ghamil Gharbi). She died of an overdose a few yrs later; was it a suicide or an accidental OD? I don't know.

Lastly, a detail that was never released in the media: the killer wore a baseball cap with the logo of a local underground metal band (and I was dating that band's guitar player at the time). I know this because a friend of ours who studied there and was told by the killer to get out of the class. He was flabberghasted to see that logo on his cap. Being a guy saved his butt that day). :oops:

There were so many male students who ended up with PTSD and survivor's guilt because they ended up unable to help while their female colleagues were being massacred 1 by 1. In 1990 one of these men ended up committing suicide because of the guilt; his parents did likewise 5 yrs later.

The sniper had in his pocket a vosciferous letter with a list of 30 women prominent in Quebec society that he would have loved to kill.

If hell exists I hope that he is in there being tormented for eternity. I abhor his name. :evil:

Eveeryone in Montréal (at least those that lived i that area in 1989) knows someone directly impacted by that tragedy.

[Effie]

Oh... Where is the sick bastard now? In jail? For how long?

[apple1]

One of my professors was in university at the time and she said that it was a very scary, uneasy time to a woman on campus. She said there were only about 5-10 women in each of her classes. It seems so strange to me as the ratio now is about 50/50.

Are you referring to a particular (male-dominated) field? Because as an overall figure, this seems very odd to me. I graduated from a secular US university in 1975. Overall, there the ratio was about 45 male to 55 female. My own major (a healthcare profession) was 90% female. (There were certain majors that were predominantly male, like engineering and architecture, however). But overall, we women have been present in large percentages in US universities for years.

[Deleted03]

Are you referring to a particular (male-dominated) field? Because as an overall figure, this seems very odd to me. I graduated from a secular US university in 1975. Overall, there the ratio was about 45 male to 55 female. My own major (a healthcare profession) was 90% female. (There were certain majors that were predominantly male, like engineering and architecture, however). But overall, we women have been present in large percentages in US universities for years.

polytechnique is an engineering school

[apple1]

polytechnique is an engineering school

That would explain it, I'm sure.

[fakepigtails73]

Oh... Where is the sick bastard now? In jail? For how long?

He did the world a favour: he saved the last bullet and shot himself through his throat in a classroom. :clap:

A suicide that I'm happy with.