Unbearable Witness: Toward a Politics of Listening

Abstract

On Wednesday, 6 December 1989, around 5 P.M., Marc Lepine (né Gamil Roderigue Gharbi) dressed in hunting garb entered a classroom in the École Polytechnique. Disturbing a presentation by Eric Chavarie, he waved a .22caliber rifle and ordered the men and women into opposite corners of the classroom. Thinking it was a joke arranged to relieve the tedium of the last hour of the term, no one moved. A single gunshot persuaded them otherwise. Next, Lepine ordered the men to leave. Alone with the women, he stated, "I am here to fight against feminism that is why I am here." Nathalie Provost, a 23year-old mechanical engineering student, argued, "Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life." Lepine responded, "You're women, you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists." He then opened fire, killing six women-and closing the discussion. After leaving the classroom, Lepine stalked through the halls of the school saying, "I want the women." Lepine killed himself at approximately 5:35 p.m., his gun still loaded and the police not yet in sight. The total death count: fourteen women and Marc Lepine.