ABSTRACT
In the hands of a woman, the gun itself does not change. It remains a tool that can only accomplish two actions, to threaten or to discharge. It can’t be used to cook an egg. But one’s image of this new composite, the woman-withfirearm, does change because this hybrid challenges our assumptions about the “gender” of the firearm and the proper situation of the person. Many people associate guns with penises for obvious reasons; they point, they ejaculate, they penetrate, they can be shocking when exposed, and they usually can be found adorning men. A woman carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, therefore, illustrates some elementary lessons. This wooden and metal object is not a penis, which means a firearm should not be carelessly interpreted as a natural or metaphorical extension of someone’s masculinity. We cannot assume that touching a gun or even firing it will transform any woman (or any person) into either a patriotic hero or a testosterone-maddened brute.
