Ted Bundy's Lens on Male Behavior: Why we should listen (revisiting a year old post)

Ted Bundy High School Yearbook

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The Netflix series “Mindhunter” Season one, episode 3 based on 2 FBI agents who helped establish the FBI’s elite Serial Crime Unit. One of the most interesting characters on this show is Dr. Wendy Carr, based on real life Boston College professor Ann W. Burgess, in the 1970’s and 80’s. The first get together of all 3 main characters is enlightening in today’s nightmare of billionaire, CEO controlled business and politics.

Agent: “What is your book about?”

Dr. Wendy Carr: “It’s about white -collar criminals, men not so different from your Edmund Kemper (serial killer).”

Agent: “How do you think the men you study are similar to Kemper?”

Dr. Carr: “Well, first of all, they are psychopaths. I study captains of industry: IBM, MGM, Ford, Exxon, you name it. And, sure, all these men have wives, kids, dogs, goldfish, but not because they stopped being psychopaths, but because they just had different leanings.”

Agent: “But you think they have the same underlying personality traits?”

Dr. Carr: “Well, Kemper shows a total lack of remorse. A lack of inner emotional structure, no ability to reflect on the experience of others.”

Holy crap! This is Donald Trump and everyone in his inner circle. This is why Bloomberg is arrogant enough to think he can buy his way into the democratic nomination. Those that climb to the top in business try very hard to convince us that they are successful in more than moneyed prowess, but in gaining our trust solely based on their success. Clearly, we need to examine why we put so much trust in them to our determent.

Referenced in this exchange is the book “The Mask of Sanity” which was instrumental in the study of psychopathic personality. We would do well to understand these striking similarities we are dealing with today.

“A person of this type chooses his victims for a reason. His victims are young attractive women. Women are possessions. Beings which are subservient, more often than not, to males. Women are merchandise. From the pornography, through Playboy, on up to the evening news. So there is no denying the sexual component. However, sex has significance only in the context of a much broader scheme of things, that is possession, control, violence.” Ted Bundy in his own words, on The Ted Bundy Tapes, Netflix 2019 Documentary.

From late 1986 to 1989 I lived in Tallahassee, Florida. My partner at the time was a masters student at FSU, so while not a student I was in the throws of events there. I lived a block away from the sorority where a female student was dropped on the front steps with the name of another fraternity that members of Pi Kappa Alpha emblazoned on the victims body. 1988 sorority rape case revisited

Read that article. Heart wrenching all the more after 30 years of white male privileged culture run amok.

This 1988 event was the 10 year anniversary at FSU of Ted Bundy murdering 2 sorority girls of Chi Omega and beating 3 others. New Documentary includes Bundy tapes

I remember the culture at FSU that allowed these events, 10 years apart, to happen. I remember in 1988 we heard of how this freshman girl was drunk and partially responsible for her own rape. Had she just not gotten so drunk, she wouldn’t have been led to a party that never existed to be repeatedly raped and ridiculed like a non-human. If women just “didn’t do” what men flaunt as their right and privilege (sowing your oats, boys will be boys, just partying).

I lived a block away from frat/sorority row and moved as soon as the one year lease was up, further away from this crazy privileged white row houses strewn with BMW’s and Mercedes, handed out like candy to the privileged elite of FSU frat/sorority row. Don’t get me wrong, partying is a part of college life that you cannot extricate, but partying should never include dehumanizing behavior of any sort or complete expulsion from the University of the frat/sorority and individuals should happen.

We are now at the 40th anniversary of the execution of Ted Bundy. So, while I’m revisiting this hell with no relish, I’d like to use it to see, this is about one thing. The protectionism of a white male privileged class…arrogance. Bundy’s own words above are very icy in revealing, not only his psychosis, but male behavior, specifically white male behavior. I have consistently heard, from loads of white men who isolate their ears from progressive voices, new technology (that tends to open discussions and difficult banter, like facebook, twitter, etc) that our world is changing for the worst. They long for being able to cat call, demean others and call it “just joking”. Their world, of people just letting them dominant the room, is changing and they don’t know what to do, so they do what has always been available to them…anger, defiant arrogance. 

Not every white male becomes a Ted Bundy by a long shot, but you can see why he is an example of how privileged male ideology, as he states above, is allowed to walk away so easily from accountability. Watching this documentary on Bundy as he arrogantly looks at the cameras, confidently defends himself oblivious of reality, is so surreal when you realize much of this is on display by our own President, who lies with impunity, arrogantly telling the press his lies are truths and they should learn from his wisdom of fantasy land ideology. I’m sorry…he is dangerous. Bundy was a stanch Republican, a converted Mormon, a stand up citizen who campaigned for Nixon, hopnopped with Republican elites of the 60’s and early 70’s. Much of the reason he wasn’t found earlier, even when his then girlfriend came forward with her suspicions, was his good looks, his wholesome conservatism.

I can’t say I haven’t been a part of this male culture, that petri dish of male behavior. That would be a lie. Obviously, it’s a hard pill for many to swallow. I can say I have changed and that makes some men around me uncomfortable. Many men have changed in their acceptance of “fitting in, letting it fly, joining in on the cat calling”. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with admiring women, but we need to understand when admiring becomes something else. When male privilege is used as a weapon. How to recognize and stop it.

The best example of how things have changed is the reaction to Tom Brokaw’s words on Meet the Press. I think it’s great he spoke his mind, so we can learn, for two reasons. First, he represents a large swath of white male privilege that has maneuvered in a world they knew, understood, and succeeded. Let us not forget several women came forward accusing Brokaw of inappropriate behavior less than a year ago.

We have changed the world and everyone's prospective whether conservative men like it or not. We know where Brokaw stands, and it’s stark reality. He’s clearly out of touch, but he’s being honest about his views. He was taken aback by the reaction. Learning moment that he will most likely ignore.

Second, and very important, this is a testament to HOW news anchors, for the most part, worked. We are shocked because we had no idea of Brokaw’s views. We thought we did, by his seemingly unbiased reporting, or at least what we saw. This is what we have lost in the field of journalism. I’m not focusing one way or another about the level of HIS journalism, I’m pointing out the level of his attempt to be as unbiased a journalist as possible, and of an era we have to learn from, take the good and discard the bad. It’s clear, today, these types of men are having a hard time maneuvering, and that’s a good thing. Brokaw’s world had minimal Rush Limbaugh’s, Ann Coulter’s, Alex Jones’s, Breitbart’s, Fox News, etc..with such biased impact. It’s clear what they are fighting for is unfettered anonymity, in a world that has a magnifying glass on them.

We will loose if journalism begins to die, which I don’t believe it will. Journalism is transforming into something that never existed before (predominantly by the internet), controlled by the people instead of big conglomerates that dictate content. There’s no way right now to determine how this will end up. On one hand it’s extremely exciting to see such great writing and reporting by individuals, BUT these individuals need to put food on the table. The loss of news outlets will be devastating. Time will have to tell us how all this will work out.

SO…you’re asking what the hell does Tom Brokaw have to do with Ted Bundy? Everything! The past environment created a place where white male privilege could create the two extremes to flourish and grow. No one seemed to notice Ted Bundy, no one seem to notice a young freshman being led to a frat house, drunk and raped repeatedly at FSU. This world of navigation is being altered for men.

The future environment can no longer exist by ignoring what is right before our eyes about the past. This is why we are here. This was the outrage of Brett Kavanaugh, this was the words of Tom Brokaw honestly thinking his words were commonplace and acceptable. This is a long history of women being unseen, and less than. We won’t even get into the race war dynamics here.

We are living in one of the most important times, the most volatile of times, the most opportunistic times. We cannot go back! Our government, our streets are being flooded with fearful angry people who cannot stand for things to change. They cannot stop it, but they can ruin it. We have major work to do. We cannot wait any longer.