Reflecting on the tragic events in my old neighbourhood yesterday. We owe it to the families and loved ones to not make this about one disturbed individual but to look at the systems that helped create the conditions for this to happen. #TorontoStrong /1
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The ideology of these groups likely causes many to recoil in horror - the idea of calling for violence to punish the women they want to be with, the men they want to be, and the world that denies them what they see as their basic entitlement - women's bodies. /4
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But if there's one thing that my work has taught me, it is that judgment placed on individuals in our society is often a way to avoid societal culpability. At the times when we recoil, demonize, and judge, we are often avoiding the truth of how we are all implicated. /5
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This is uncomfortable, and it is very important. The question is not only in how someone could commit such an unspeakable and unthinkable act, but also in what happened before the act was committed to lead someone to that point. /6
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I see a culture of patriarchy that breeds toxic masculinity and misogyny - teaching boys that women are their prizes to win, to own, and the conquest of whom reflects on their value as men. Teaching girls that this is okay, and to seek out those men who seek to conquer women. /7
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I see a culture of social isolation - in which we are all judged as individuals despite being, by definition, social beings. In which men and boys are denied the opportunity and spaces to share and be vulnerable, and feel a sense of community, with positive role models. /8
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I see a failure of our
#mentalhealth system, often unable to provide people what they really need - whether crisis support, ongoing therapy, or preventative wellness care. /9#cdnhealthShow this thread -
As we take time to heal and reflect, I hope we can have the courage to apply a compassionate lens to a situation in which a young man committed heinous and unspeakable acts, but not ones that occured in a vaccuum.
#TorontoStrong /10Show this thread -
We can all work to root out misogyny, toxic masculinity and social isolation. We can teach young men their value is not in sexual conquest. We can allow men to feel vulnerable and provide space to do so. We can advocate for mental health care.
#sdoh#cdnhealth#TorontoAttack /11Show this thread -
Pointing fingers, recoiling in horror, and demonizing an individual is our understandable gut reaction, but that alone will not get us closer to the world we want to live in, where no such events occur. Let's channel this energy towards the change we need.
#TorontoStrong /12Show this thread
End of conversation
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