Feminism and gun rights not mutually exclusive
To the editor:
The following is an open letter I wrote to Anita Sarkeesian:
As a student at Utah State University, I will not quietly accept what was has happened to you. I am not alone in my disgust toward the threats made against you recently over the speech you were scheduled to present to our student body this past week. The free discourse of ideas is sacred, and I consider any attempts to stifle it with violence as threats to the very foundations of democracy. While people may not always agree on specific issues, any exchange of ideas should be shared with mutual respect for the physical safety and individual opinions of all participants.
The opinions in the email sent to you contradict everything I was taught to believe, and the values of my community as well. Until recently, I had never heard of you or your work to change how women are portrayed in the video game industry. I was interested. Here, we share a common bond. Respect for the individuality and personal worth of women is a core value in Utah. Portraying women only as objects of sexual gratification is debasing and insulting. Each and every woman is a worthy soul, and equal before all. I want to hear your thoughts.
The sickening letter claims to come from a man who was personally damaged by feminism and who desires to take revenge for all men. This is not manhood. Threats of unjustified violence are an affront to everything that I value as a man, a student and a father. It is no wonder that individuals are pushed towards more extreme views within the feminist movement or any ideology. After reading such bile, I can hardly blame any woman for feeling marginalized and exploited and wanting to take a stand against it. Men need to show that they refuse to be part of the problem, just as much as we need women who courageously refuse to be victimized.
Please return to our campus in the future; we want you to feel safe here. In Utah, our tradition and practice with regards to firearms may be different than what you are used to. I understand that this was a deciding factor for the cancellation of your presentation.
A university campus should be safe and inviting for all who seek learning. It is based on this goal that the state has allowed people who obtain a concealed carry permit to carry their firearms on campus. This is not a new law nor is it experimental. It would be difficult for you to find a safer university campus or community anywhere. My hope is that you may perhaps reconsider your stance on concealed carry if I share with you why someone like myself would choose to exercise this practice.
I do not attribute the safety of our campus solely on the fact that people can carry guns, but I think it is a factor. The real success of our concealed carry law relies on our values and attitudes toward guns. Our traditions of education and personal responsibility make guns a part of normal adulthood. They are tools for the use and benefit of everyone, not talismans of unjust power or dominance. It is not fear or anger which drives our choice to carry, but a love of self-reliance, duty to family and a sense of equality among all members of our society. We carry to provide options only in a life or death situation because we believe in the right to choose, as so many of your colleagues in modern feminism do. By and large, people who carry with a permit do so exclusively to protect and defend.
Prohibiting people with concealed carry permits into a room only stops those who choose to abide by laws, while it has no effect on those who would choose to ignore the law and carry a weapon illegally. If we jump through the hoops to obtain a permit, it is because we value the law and the other freedoms encoded in those laws. This includes your freedom to share your ideas in peace and safety. The students and staff at USU, which include many gun-carrying permit holders, support you and your safety. Please reconsider, and come back to share with us. You will leave us all better for it.
Sincerely,
— Dallin Grow