You branded yourself as
“sophisticated” and “magnificent,”
and all the men by your side,
shouting “men’s rights! men’s rights!”
labelled you as a hero after you died.
Because you spent so much money,
didn’t you, on trying to get a girl.
Your sunglasses were $300,
your car a BMW,
your bank account drained from
how-to books on
“getting out of the friend zone”
and being a “nice guy”
but still,
girls chose to walk alone
rather than stand by you.

You were so sick of not getting
what you rightfully deserved.
SLUT,
you wanted to say,
you did not let me sleep with you.
SLUT, why are you walking with him?
SLUT,
I spent thousands trying to impress you,
so where’s my reward?
SLUT,
I am taking what you refuse to give me.
SLUT, this is my retribution.
SLUT,
I’ll take this gun away from your head
if you just give me a chance.
SLUT,
I’m a nice guy
I’m a nice guy
I’m a NICE GUY-
keep telling me “no”
if you want to die.

Tell me,
Elliot Rodger,
did you get what you wanted?
Did you die the “true alpha male”
you hoped to be?
You wanted to take a girl on a date,
but instead you put
six of them in their graves.
Tell me, how many like you are still alive?
Tell me, how long will they praise you?
Tell me, how many times were you
validated by others who told you to take
what no woman would give you alive?

These are not things you
thought up yourself.
This is not simply an effect of
mental illness.
These are things we forget to teach.
This is an effect of misogyny in our society.
To this day, we see
women as objects,
not human beings.
A woman’s life only has worth
if she says “yes”
to all men’s advances.
And her voice will be
taken, brutally shot out of her,
if she dare use it to say “no.”
How many bodies must
lie dead and cold before we see
that this is not an isolated incident?
This is misogyny.
This is our society.
This is what we teach.