Thread by @aaronhoyland

30 years ago, a man walked into École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. As an engineering student many years later, we were taught about the tragedy, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that my initial understanding was inadequate. 🧵

One man may have committed the act, but make no mistake: misogyny killed these women. Patriarchy killed these women. The belief that a woman could have the audacity to move beyond the confines of traditional gender roles killed these women.

This was not just one angry man. This was an inevitable byproduct of a system. Even now, there is an entire online radicalization pipeline ready to tell confused or angry boys and men that it’s the women’s fault. They’re the ones you should hate.

As men, we need to take ownership of what we’ve created. Not hurting women is not enough. How are we modelling healthy emotional expression? What are we showing the boys in our life? How are we ACTIVELY working to counteract the misogyny they’re exposed to?

I want to remember these women for what they were and what they might have been, but even more, I want to live in a world where we don’t raise boys to become men that hate women.

#16DaysOfActivism

I forgot to add, @JulieSLalonde wrote a great piece last week about, among other things, the importance of naming the problem. Highly recommended reading. chatelaine.com/opinion/say-mi…