For the past two and a half years, I've been learning the stories of middle-aged women who were convicted for January 6th, trying to understand who they are, how they radicalized, and the ways their beliefs have changed since January 2021. 🧵1/7

@NCookBouton This entire thread is heartbreaking

@pixiemenace That was not how I had expected to feel when I first started this project, but that is where I've landed. It can be heartbreaking. That does not mean that I excuse bad deeds. It means I have empathy for the stories I've heard of lifelong trauma.

@Ponderosa1415 @pixiemenace I don’t think they are victims. I’m trying to understand how so many women have turned to conspiracies to explain their lives. I’m sorry to hear about your trauma and glad you were able to choose healthier path.

@NCookBouton @pixiemenace I’m certain your reporting is coming from a good place but this reminds me so much of all the articles about ultra MAGA folks who are bummed they lost their jobs. We bend over backwards to understand the traumas of white people who are actively trying to tear down our country.

@Ponderosa1415 @NCookBouton @pixiemenace Agree 💯

@Ponderosa1415 @NCookBouton @pixiemenace I think that’s misreading things. The author went looking for a commonality among MANY of them, not a catch-all explanation. Abuse can manifest itself in horrible ways, but people can also come though it like you did & not become “starseeds”; it doesn’t mean it’s not significant

@Ponderosa1415 @NCookBouton @pixiemenace The victims as if only one side can have them. My hypothesis is conservative women had an environmen less suited to MH. I was raised traumatized & conservative & resonate w/ parts of their coping, my turning point was college friends who modeled what they learned in therapy

@Ponderosa1415 @NCookBouton @pixiemenace I don't think she trying to make them victims, but rather trying to understand how this specific group was radicalized.

@Ponderosa1415 @NCookBouton @pixiemenace Women’s healthcare provider for two decades chiming in. This is a great beginning of a study but there are plenty of women, myself included, that suffer from c-ptsd and ptsd. Using this as any rationalization for their choices and behavior? Not good. People HAVE CHOICES.