London - Gunman Elliot Rodger’s twisted hatred of women was fuelled by a website frequented by “men who are starved of sex”.
He was lauded as a “hero” after he posted a message on PUAHate.com, a forum where men complained about their failures with women.
Users described themselves as “incels” – short for involuntary celibates – and some outlined fantasies about violence towards women.
Rodger wrote: “If you could release a virus that could kill every single man on Earth, except for yourself because you would have the antidote, would you do it?
“You will be the only man left, with all the females. You would be able to have your pick of any beautiful woman, as well as having dealt vengeance on the men who took them from you. Imagine how satisfying that would be?”
PUAHate.com describes itself as the ‘Anti-Pickup-Artist Movement’, a term used to describe a trend for learning how to seduce women. Visitors to the website complained about spending money on bogus advice on how to attract women.
In his online manifesto, Rodger said many of its members “share my hatred of women” but added: “Unlike me they would be too cowardly to act on it.”
He said he found the forum in 2013 and said it was “full of men who are starved of sex, just like me”. Rodger added: “Reading the posts on that website only confirmed many of the theories I had about how wicked and degenerate women really are … It just shows how bleak and cruel the world is due to the evilness of women.”
The student said he had showed the site to his parents in a bid to give them “some sort of dose of reality”, and said some of the comments posted were “quite insightful”, but said his parents had not looked at the forum.
The PUAHate forum appeared to have been shut down yesterday, as had its Twitter page.
But users on other forums said Rodger had used the site.
One poster even appeared to excuse Rodger’s actions, writing: “A lot of lonely beta males will identify with him … Society gave beta males a bargain – they work hard with the expectation of a wife and family.
“That bargain no longer exists so we can’t be surprised when one loses his mind and starts shooting. At the very least, prostitution should be legalised as a release valve.”
Others condemned Rodger as a racist internet troll and a “narcissistic brat”. - Daily Mail