The anti gun Male
The Anti-Gun Male
by Julia Gorin, Jewish World Review
http://www.jewishworldreview.com — LET’S be honest. He’s scared of the
thing. That’s understandable–so am I. But as a girl I have the luxury of
being able to admit it. I don’t have to masquerade squeamishness as grand
principle-in the interest of mankind, no less.
A man does. He has to say things like “One Taniqua Hall is one too many,” as
a New York radio talk show host did in referring to the 9-year old New York
girl who was accidentally shot last year by her 12-year old cousin playing
with his uncle’s gun. But the truth is he desperately needs Taniqua Hall,
just like he needs as many Columbines and Santees as can be mustered, until
they spell an end to the Second Amendment. And not for the benefit of the
masses, but for the benefit of his self-esteem.
He often accuses men with guns of “compensating for something.” The truth is
quite the reverse. After all, how is he supposed to feel knowing there are
men out there who aren’t intimidated by the big bad inanimate villain? How
is he to feel in the face of adolescent boys who have used the family gun
effectively in defending the family from an armed intruder? So if he can’t
touch a gun, he doesn’t want other men to be able to either. And to achieve
his ends, he’ll use the only weapon he knows how to manipulate: the law.
Of course, sexual and psychological insecurities don’t account for ALL men
against guns. Certainly there must be some whose motives are pure, who
perhaps do care so much as to tirelessly look for policy solutions to
teenage void and aggressiveness, and to parent and teacher negligence. But
for a potentially large underlying contributor, psycho-sexual inadequacy has
gone unexplored and unacknowledged. It’s one thing to not be comfortable
with a firearm and therefore opt to not keep or bear one. But it’s another
to impose the same handicap onto others.
People are suspicious of what they do not know-and not only does this man
not know how to use a gun, he doesn’t know the men who do, or the number of
people who have successfully used one to defend themselves from injury or
death. But he is better left in the dark; his life is hard enough knowing
there are men out there who don’t sit cross-legged. That they’re able to
handle a firearm instead of being handled by it would be too much to bear.
Such a man is also best kept huddled in urban centers, where he feels safer
than he might if thrown out on his own into a rural setting, in an isolated
house on a quiet street where he would feel naked and helpless. Lacking the
confidence that would permit him to be sequestered in sparseness, and
lacking a gun, he finds comfort in the cloister of crowds.
The very ownership of a gun for defense of home and family implies some
assertiveness and a certain self-reliance. But if our man kept a gun in the
house, and an intruder broke in and started attacking his wife in front of
him, he wouldn’t be able to later say, “He had a knife–there was nothing I
could do!” Passively watching in horror while already trying to make peace
with the violent act, scheduling a therapy session and forgiving the
perpetrator before the attack is even finished wouldn’t be the option it
otherwise is.
No. Better to emasculate all men. Because let’s face it: He’s a lover, not a
fighter. And he doesn’t want to get shot in case he has an affair with your
wife.
Of course, it wouldn’t be completely honest not to admit that owning a
firearm carries with it some risk to unintended targets. That’s the tradeoff
with a gun: The right to defend one’s life and way of life isn’t without
peril to oneself. And the last thing this man wants to do is risk his
life-if even to save it. For he is guided by a dread fear for his life, and
has more confidence in almost anyone else’s ability to protect him than his
own, preferring to place himself at the mercy of the villain or in the
sporadically competent hands of authorities (his line of defense consisting
of locks, alarm systems, reasoning with the attacker, calling the police or,
should fighting back occur to him, thrashing a heavy vase).
In short, he is a man begging for subjugation. He longs for its promise of
equality in helplessness. Because only when that strange, independent alpha
breed of male is helpless along with him will he feel adequate. Indeed, his
freedom lies in this other man’s containment.
JWR contributor Julia Gorin is a journalist and stand-up comic residing in
Manhattan. Send your comments by clicking here.
