March 15, 2002

Don't Blame Women for Male Terrorism

To the Editor:

Michael Kimmel's "Gender, Class, and Terrorism" (The Review, February 8) points out some possible psychological motivations for a smattering of mass murderers in the last century. As I read the piece, however, I began to wonder: Is Kimmel suggesting that I should feel sympathy for Timothy McVeigh, Adolf Hitler, and Mohammed Atta? If, indeed, their problems stemmed from inadequate confidence in their own masculinity, that would be their failure -- not that of women.