Guest Post: An Open Letter to the Firearms Industry
Some of us like pink things. Some of us do not. Most of us like things that are beautiful. Just slapping a coat of pink paint on it doesn’t necessarily qualify as beautiful. There is something childish and Barbie-esque about pink plastic, and we are grown women who packed our Barbies away long ago. A lot of us like engraved revolvers, shotguns with handsome wooden stocks, vintage rifles or stainless steel 1911s. We are drawn to the beauty of firearms and sometimes the history, but our taste in guns is as varied as our taste in shoes.
We appreciate all of the information that you want to give us, but we need to figure out what we like on our own. Don’t try to force us into getting .38 special revolvers or pocket pistols, because you think that’s what’s best for us. We might not know what gun we want right away, but if there’s one thing we can all do, it’s shop. So let us sort it out.
Just because we ask a lot of questions doesn’t mean we don’t have any idea what’s going on. We’re trying to learn and be thorough. Our process might be a little different than yours, but trust that we will learn to shoot. And we will learn to shoot well, if we so choose.
Please don’t underestimate us. Don’t talk down to us. And don’t ever tell my husband what kind of gun he should get me.
Most of us do not shoot guns for the sole purpose of looking sexy to dudes. (Though sometimes, it is a pleasant side effect). We shoot guns because we are curious and thoughtful and intelligent and we want to protect our homes and families and ourselves. Photos of scantily clad ladies posing with guns are a little played out. We would like to see more “real” women in advertising and media. We would like to be able to relate to the people who are trying to sell us guns.
We live with the sneaking suspicion that our bodies are not our own. They are for babies, for men, for mass media consumption. We try to modify them, beautify them, tone them, tighten them, shrink them, rid them of hair and slather them with make-up. But it is hard to feel entirely comfortable in that body when it seems as though it can be poked, prodded, invaded at any time. Part of gun ownership is putting an end to that. It’s saying that we value our bodies enough to defend them–that they are worth defending. We believe that we are more than vessels for carrying children or feeding babies or pleasing men.
We are assertive. We are informed. And we will not go down without a fight.
Sincerely,
Female Gun Owners
If you liked this post, check out http://rebeccaguns.wordpress.com/, Rebecca’s blog documenting her journey from gun-fearing art school kid to gun-loving, holster-making DIY woman.
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