Gun Groups Don’t Degrade Women

The leftist blog Mother Jones recently lashed out at gun groups, specifically the National Rifle Association (NRA), by accusing it of objectifying women and treating them like sex objects.MJ senior editor Mark Follman authored a hit piece titled “How the NRA Degrades and Objectifies Women” to purport the decades’ old lie that Second Amendment advocates, like conservatives, are sexist. (Such a big boy thought!) Follman finds fault in an article published in the latest issue of <em “mso-bidi-font-style:=”” normal”=””>America’s 1st Freedom because it pointed out that Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder Shannon Watts, heroine of firearm disarmament, is dishonest in her quest to promote “gun safety.” He writes:


 The premise of the lengthy article attacking Watts, authored by conservative legal scholar and gun rights lobbyist Dave Kopel, is that she is a fraud—an operative fronting a political group, rather than the homemaker turned grassroots activist she says she is. The art spread for the piece depicts Watts as a paper doll figure in high heels, with a 1950s-style kitchen apron and domestic accessories including a feather duster, iron, sponge, and spatula.

Additionally, he’s offended by the personification of guns because literacy devices that positively promote guns supposedly inspire violence: 

The NRA also rolled out two videos this summer fantasizing about attractive young women as, literally, assault rifles. A video titled “Beauty Shots,” from NRA News commentator Colion Noir, “personifies one of his favorite firearms in female form.” His voiceover describes an alluring, adventurous woman as she poses in workout gear, swims in a pool, and gazes intently into the camera; at the climax of the video Noir declares, “She is: Daniel Defense M4-A1.” To some the video was simply a head-scratcher, but it also drew rebuke, not least for debuting just three days after a heavily armed college student committed mass murder in Santa Barbara, driven by his rage at attractive young women.

Much like their fellow leftists in similar outlets, Follman and his Mother Jones minions might want to tone down their whining as they’ve dedicated numerous articles and tweets to defaming pro-gun activists, especially female gun activists and enthusiasts.In a May 2014 article, “Spitting, Stalking, Rape Threats: How Gun Extremists Target Women,” Follman writes that male gun owners are big ol’ meanies who bully women. He wrote about an alleged altercation between male gun owners and a Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense member. (Dana Loesch later pointed out that this incident was a hoax due to MDA’s propensity to lie about responsible gun owners.)

Another article from January 2013–“10 Pro-Gun Myths, Fact Check”–perpetuated the usual anti-gun talking point that women are too weak to handle firearms:

Myth #7: Guns make women safer.

  • Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
  • A woman’s chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun.
  • One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were 4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates.

Additionally, MJ has railed against gun gals like former Alaska governor Sarah PalinGovernor Susana Martinez (R-NM), and radio commentator/conservative pundit Dana Loesch with blatantly demeaning words by questioning their intelligence and by questioning their femininity. (The Left believes in women’s empowerment? Quite the contrary.)

If guns degrade women, what explains the recent surge in gun purchases by women? The evil male-dominated patriarchy and its oppressive tentacles?  NO! Women are smart enough to realize that reliance on birth control, paternalistic government, and victimhood a la radical feminism harm us.

What’s empowering to the Pajama Boys at Mother Jones? Is it seeing young helpless females blowing ineffective rape whistles that don’t deter attack? Is it seeing young women urinate on themselves or encouraging young women to vomit to ward off attack? Is it seeing more women and men disarmed? (This is quite obvious.) If these are their solutions for warding off attack, MJ‘s relentless promotion of victimhood is quite degrading to all of us.

The statism espoused by Mother Jones, Moms Demand Action, and the Left–not the Second Amendment–is degrading to women. Its penchant for using inflammatory and dangerous language is degrading to polite, intellectual discourse in this country. That’s why we’ve got to hold these outlets accountable.

I recently completed my Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) qualifying course here in Virginia and am working towards obtaining my concealed carry permit shortly. Like so many other females out there, I believe that guns are the great equalizer. Learning proper and safe gun use has been an enlightening, empowering experience for me. It reassures me that I, not the government nor the female establishment, am in control of my own life. Am I degrading myself for learning how to defend myself? No. I’d only be degrading myself by allowing the wrath of big government to take hold of me.

Gun rights don’t degrade women; gargantuan government policies do.
This blog post was originally published on Counter Cultured’s “Lady’s Nook” column.

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