Guns for Girls

[WDW]

I'm out. Apparently everything said these days is to be torn apart by the PC monster. Peace. Probably best to just shut this one down.

[Tamara]

Just curious what females on this forum and those associated with other members carried or shot.

Then that's what you should have asked.

1) We have a thread where people can ask what their SOs are carrying without other people getting but hurt over it
2) We have a thread to talk about how off-putting cis males are with their privilege and sexism

Piss off.

[Nephrology]

I'm out. Apparently everything said these days is to be torn apart by the PC monster. Peace. Probably best to just shut this one down.

I don't think there is a PC monster in this thread. I think Tam and Kathy are doing a very decent job trying to explain a position that is under-represented in the gun community. Some people are doing a very good job trying to listen, and others are not. I hope the thread stays open and that we continue to have a civil discussion that does honor to the high standard of discourse I have come to expect from this website.

[Chance]

Kathy, your comments about assumptions of forum membership are spot on, and I do this all the time. Now that I’ve had some time to think about why I do this, I’d like to share my insights. I have no idea if this can be generalized to anyone else, but here is why I personally find myself doing this. And I’m not talking right at Kathy, I’m just thinking out loud.

I’ve been on the world wide web since the world wide web was a thing (I was 10 in 1994). Going through school in a small-ish town, my friends, all of whom were in my demographic, were also on the Internet. This created my following assumption: people on the Internet are white males, who share my interests, most of my life experiences, and are my age (whatever those happen to be to be at that specific moment).

Has this assumption ever been correct? Of course not – it’s always been wildly incorrect. However, that was my formative assumption, and to this day, when I see text on the Internet, my mental picture is that it came from a white male, my age, with my interests, who shares most of my life experiences.

I’ve always known that my assumption was just that, an assumption, and prone to not being accurate. However, unless something glaringly apparent modifies that assumption, I naturally adhere to it. Glenn can probably name whatever phenomenon this is.

This baseline assumption plays out in different ways. Tamara has a photo of herself, and it’s apparent she’s female. This isn’t a paradigm-shattering revelation, I just make a mental note of it. DocGKR has “doc” in his handle, which suggests he’s in the medical profession. I check his profile, and make another mental note. These are two examples of evident qualifiers.

On the other hand, GardoneVT has a silhouette for a profile photo. I had no idea he was black, until he stated it explicitly in a post. Again, not some paradigm-shattering revelation, just something I make a note of. Sensei has a profile photo that is not him, and there was nothing to indicate his background. I finally read enough of his posts to make it apparent he was a medical professional, at which point, I checked his profile. Another mental note.

I could name other examples regarding age, shared life experiences, et cetera. I actually like to learn a little about who I'm talking to, and I regularly check people's bios. Some people have an extensive bio, others say nothing, but no one has a full physical description, or life story, and I'm not suggesting that they should.

I’m not really sure what effect this has on the way I interact with people, as I’ve never given it much prior thought. I definitely know that it shifts my perception of someone’s insight when they discuss a certain subject.

Anyways, conclude mental wandering.

[TDA]

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (This is the spot where you should delete your post instead of going on to "but...") but... I can't be the only one who has been seeing the "what gun should I get my wife/daughter/girlfriend" thread and then the "perhaps the lady should try some stuff and make up her own mind" response on gunboards for... 15 years? There's no cookie for saying that anymore. Normally at this point I spin off into a thing about the 3913LS being a pinnacle of pistol design, which it was, and ego investment, blah blah blah not productive. "Women who shoot, where are you at on handgun selection and how did you get there? What sucked?" I'd really like to know.

[pax]

Everyday at work I have to deal with female shooters who are marginal, because they have been taught incorrectly from the beginning. None of those women are less capable than anyone else, they just have years of poor training to overcome. As do the men. I think its instructive though, that with the same training, the men manage to do better. Once you teach the women how they need to do things, they shoot right up there with the men. I guess my point is that poor training is still poor training, but since it comes from a man's perspective, men manage better with it. And, until we have more high level female shooters out there, the training that the rest get will lag behind compared to what is available to men. Of course, some men do know how to teach women, as do some women. Just not that many.

SLG, you're singing my song.

Kathy

[Warren Wilson]

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (This is the spot where you should delete your post instead of going on to "but...") but... I can't be the only one who has been seeing the "what gun should I get my wife/daughter/girlfriend" thread and then the "perhaps the lady should try some stuff and make up her own mind" response on gunboards for... 15 years? There's no cookie for saying that anymore. Normally at this point I spin off into a thing about the 3913LS being a pinnacle of pistol design, which it was, and ego investment, blah blah blah not productive. "Women who shoot, where are you at on handgun selection and how did you get there? What sucked?" I'd really like to know.

I can't decide if I'm the fool here or not with my first post. My wife's not the forum type, but I asked her opinion on the topic. She started with a 6906 which she could not manipulate well. She's a tough-as-nails farm kid, but the gun just didn't work for her. She dabbled with other guns over the years and finally settled on M&P40 and M&P40c for carry. She runs with a Walther PPS 9mm. She has considered something smaller for regular on-body carry, but hasn't found just the right thing yet. She practices her mode of carry with both pistols from the holster (Pistol Wear-Belly Band) at the range.

[walker2713]

M&P9C in her nightstand.....Ruger LCP380 in her purse

[Wheeler]

iPhone 6 and a bad attitude.

[GJM]

I suspect the brisk recoil is why she enjoys it.

Tangent: I don't find the M1's recoil any more unpleasant than any other auto loading shotgun I've shot. With proper push-pull, it doesn't really bother me.

I thought she liked it because it used to be mine.

Here is my wife's list: 42, 43, 26, 19, 17, 34, 27, 23, 22, 20, 29. I guess it could just be summed up as "Glock."