Women, as a group, share certain experiences in life. From what a woman’s body can do based on genetic makeup, to the challenges and landmarks of womanhood; as a group, women have similar concerns and needs. How does being a woman and sharing that simple biological fact fit into the conversation about firearms? It fits into the conversation because women are able to understand some things more easily when they see or hear another woman navigating the same experiences. Whether it’s holding a baby or holding a gun, there are some things that women are naturally going to find easier to understand when demonstrated by another woman.
Understanding
Too often women are seen as a “target audience” or “emerging market” in the firearms world, and this can lead to supplying them with tools and training in a dis-associated manner. This means that if we want to understand everything—from the size of gun a woman wants and how she plans to carry it, to what spring configuration in the slide of a semi-auto pistol the “average” woman can manipulate—we need to consult women.
Understanding this, we realize that even the most uninformed and inexperienced woman can offer input about a firearm or her ability to use it. And input from a woman is just something a man can’t provide. This is nothing against men; this is just an observation that we need to understand each other better. Both men and women.
A woman’s personal understanding of things that other women have also gone through or will go through, is a perspective unique to women. For example, men cannot experience childbirth and other hallmarks of feminine reality, even if they can understand what happens—it’s not the same as experiencing it. Similarly, women might not be able to understand just how a man can grab a 10- to 15-round rifle in one hand and sprint with it like it weighs nothing. Women just don’t have that same grip strength and upper body mass—and that's OK! What we can do is seek to understand what it would be like to be the 5-foot 2-inch 110-lb. woman who can’t rack the slide on a pistol, and help her work around that. This is where women, seeing other women of similar size and make-up might say, “OK, she’s doing this and she’s about my size. What is she doing that I’m not?” It’s an unspoken affirmation that women can indeed do something when they see another woman completing the same task.
Before you laugh and say this applies to all humans, it does! But for anything that you ask another person to do, it’s going to be a clear signal that something can be done if they see a person like them doing it. That’s how marketing works and why we vary the images and bodies used and ethnicities and every variation you can think of to visually tell the story that “you can do this.”
Distilling knowledge and Mentorship
How do you distill the large body of knowledge of firearms in a way that matters to women? With so many firearm platforms, gear categories, and end users what’s the best way to turn it all into something women will be interested in? The best answer is mentorship.
Mentorship is one of the best ways to pass on information and to tap into the knowledge base that exists in any niche activity or interest.
While it is not uncommon for women to work in influential roles in a firearms brand, it is less common for those women to have a solid working knowledge of a wide variety of firearms platforms, applications, and those small details of information that make working and creating in this space easier. When women are in positions of influence and have solid technical and hands-on skills, they are valuable not just to their brand, but to all the women out there who could benefit from their knowledge. This is where we see the need to encourage mentorship and passing knowledge on as not just something for the guys to do, but a goal for women to embrace as well.
When it comes to owning and using firearms, women usually are taught by a male in their lives—whether it’s a father, husband, friend or relative—it’s often men who share information about guns and how to use them. Women can honestly benefit from the experience of learning from and with other women in ways that offer direct comparisons and just make sharing what and how women use firearms more relatable. Sounds like girl-power gibberish? Well, let’s look at a few ways women are better able to teach each other.
Size and Strength Matter
Women are better able to explain to other women how they accomplish tasks that some women might find difficult, like racking a slide or reaching controls on firearms with smaller hands.
This is not to say that men can’t understand how much of a deficit some women have in terms of strength, but I am saying that a woman explaining to another woman how to rack a pistol and demonstrating “push/pull” is going to hit the woman who is learning differently. She’s not going to see the man with more strength and assume it’s impossible. She will see another female and likely focus on the exact technique, versus making assumptions about her own abilities.
The “Why” Matters
Another area women are better able to teach each other is embedded in the “why” in gun ownership.
Why do you own a firearm? For women, it’s usually less about hunting or recreation and more about personal protection. Women usually have fewer hunting or “just for fun” guns than male gun enthusiasts and they tend to be more to the point when purchasing guns:
- What do they need?
- Why do they need it?
- What fits them best?
Understanding Together
One of the best places to get input and mentorship in the above-mentioned areas is at a women-only event. You will often find women who are there both to mentor and to learn, and for someone with decades of experience in the firearms world, it’s rewarding to share your knowledge and expertise. For those looking to learn, it’s a great place to start, to build friendships, and lay down a good foundation in understanding and skills with someone helping you understand what works for them and how that might fit your journey.
Building more capable women is a benefit to not just the community of female gun owners, but to the entire country and future generations. So don’t just encourage your female friends to own guns and go to the range—encourage them to share their passion far and wide with every woman they know!
