IF GUNS WERE A WOMEN'S ISSUE
I have come to understand that two things are embraced in the US patriotism and guns. I think about the gung-ho heroic stories of the Wild West and how these narratives have shaped the country. It is a compelling period in American History when prospectors, outlaws and men of law dominated the landscape. The 19th century gold boom really portrays what American’s pride in their culture — exploration, innovation and expansion. With guns ablazing men pitted against each other and dispensed frontier justice. The image of the cowboy is a very iconic American image and probably captures the essence of what ‘American’ is. Just as the American flag and our military uniform, the cowboy represents patriotism. But it also situates white, European male as patriotic and the center of the American narrative. This is problematic as we attempt to weave the unheard voices of women and racial makeup into America’s past, not only to illuminate a more deeper and complex history, but also to help us move past this notion of American patriotism as white and male.
Patriotism and guns seem to go hand in hand. Indeed, a call for more gun control brings the Second Amendment to the forefront, with numerous interpretations around the real meaning behind ‘the right to arms’ or ‘a well regulated militia’. Yet, I have come to believe that gun ownership is not really about the Second Amendment. It is about the image of patriotism that belongs to the white male in the United States. The American patriot continues to perpetuate a socially-constructed image of white male as having to be aggressive (and love guns) to be masculine. This image of patriotism as a white male is perpetuated in the voices of our history textbooks, through images of Uncle Sam, and in propaganda movies like Max. Indeed the word ‘patriot’ is itself suggestive of patriarch or ‘of one’s father’.
And Uncle Sam is the national personification of the American government. A white old scowling father figure with greying hair and beard. As he points his finger at me I am reminded that 80% of our Congress is made up of white males, even though that demographic only accounts for 30% of our entire population. So a minority has power of the majority. With little diverse representation, it is easy to continue to maintain power through fear-based mongering. Between the chant for more immigration laws (including possibly expelling all immigrants) and the new push to restrict women’s access to reproductive freedom, the demographic of white male is looking awfully fearful. In an attempt to keep their perfectly manicured homogenous landscape maintained, these politicians paint for us a country where immigrants are rapists, drug dealers and murderers and women are somehow too irresponsible and incapable of looking after their own reproductive needs. There can be no collectiveness as long as there is fear, so fear must be promoted in order to keep the status quo.
And how is this fear promoted? Well, today I read about how strict gun control laws in Chicago still cannot stop gun violence in that city. We know how gun-control opponents love to cite Chicago. Look at Chicago, they say! More gun control is not the answer, they say! Yet, the guns in that violence do not come from the city but from outside the city, where gun control laws are ‘soft’. And understand how this conversation becomes one that belongs to another demographic? All of a sudden we begin talking about the African-American population and criminal behavior. It’s a diversion from the real problem.
We are told that the white male is not to be feared, because he is the self (the normal). Right? Yet look at the majority of those who have committed these mass shootings. What demographic do they belong to? That’s not possible, we’re told. These particular white men are not ‘normal’, they commit these crimes because they have mental health issues. So, we begin investigating this notion that white men who commit mass murder are mentally unstable. It becomes a diversion from the real issue.
We are told that there is no reason to fear white males with guns. You see, this is after all the vision the founding father’s had. But just remember that the constitution was written for white men, not women, certainly not African American or any other race. There are no other voices in that founding document. Now because mass shootings happen so regularly (we’ve had 45 in the last 10 months) and are committed by white males, someone like former Florida Governor Jeb Bush dismisses it as “stuff” that “happens”. I cannot see the matter of abortion ever being written off as “stuff happens” or perhaps a Muslim terrorist attack as being expressed as “stuff” happening. Perhaps that’s because abortion is not a white male issue.
Consider for a moment that even though white men make up third of the US population, they still manage to be the largest population when it comes to gun ownership (about 60% according to a Pew Research Center’s survey). That means that out of the 300 million guns in the US, white males own 180 million of them. The fight against gun control is about the holding on to those guns for fear of losing power to the other masses (including women, African Americans and immigrants). Because, ask yourself why those in power would willingly give up their power? Not voluntarily, and that’s why they need their guns.
I am not suggesting that all white males have bought into this image. Nor am I trying to make a simplistic argument for a very serious issue. The white male American patriot is very scared, and lashing out the only way he knows how, by using guns. Indeed this notion of patriotism, guns and white male is complex and deeply rooted into the narratives and images we have come to believe is ‘normative’ America. I’m also not to certain how to go about changing these social-constructs. But, what I do know is that 70% of the population has another voice that must be heard. This collective voice can muffle out the noise of those who have spoken for far too long.
“There can be no collectiveness as long as there is fear, so fear must be promoted in order to keep the status quo.”