Good Example Of Essay On A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries A Gun By Linda M. Hasselstrom

Linda Hasselstrom presents his arguments on owning a pistol despite her peace-loving character. Her essay is anchored on two themes. First, women are vulnerable to violence. Second, owning a gun is the only possible thing that makes her capable of self-defense. She analyses the limited effectivity of other methods of self defense and weighs it against the absolute power that a gun can provide. These claims and their corresponding evidence leads her to encourage women to own a gun that will help them protect themselves during unfortunate incidents.
She clearly proclaims that she is a peace-loving person and initially protested the idea of possessing a gun. Through this statement, Hasselstrom stresses the concept that she had greatly examined different methods of self defense before considering gun possession. First thing that he thought is to own a CB radio that would allow her to call for help during unkind circumstances. However, she points out that CB radios only receive signal in unobstructed areas and wouldn’t be of help in her residence that is located in the hills with too much obstruction. More so, it would require time before she can get the help that she requested and many things can happen in just a matter of seconds. Obviously, time would give the attacker more advantage.
Hasselstrom explore another self defense that requires combat in the form of kung fu. While she recognizes that this martial art gave her the ability to assess danger and stay alert, it did not remove her vulnerability. Kungfu requires one to be close to her attacker in order to defend herself. This “closeness” even accentuates her vulnerable state and she reasons that a 120-pound woman is no match to a 220-pound attacker. Furthermore, she mentions that there are many women who are very good in kung fu and other martial arts, but they still ended up beaten, raped or robbed.
Her analysis of the drawbacks of safe habits, CB radio and kung fu proves that the only realistic and effective means of protecting herself is to own a gun. She writes, ““The pistol just changed the balance of power”. (Hasselstrom p.357) This statement is true. It means that men by nature are more powerful in force than women, especially during situations when outnumber a woman and well-built. Their sex, number and size have given the men power, but her gun have interchanged this natural balance. It made her more powerful than the men who trespassed her property. The men’s number, their size and their sexuality inspire fear in her, however the pistol responded and invoked fear among the drunk men. She revises the slogan of a gun manufacturer saying that “God created men and women, but Sam Colt made them equal.” (Hasselstrom p.357) Although she is saddened by the thought that owning a weapon is the only way for women to gain equal power, Hasselstrom strongly suggests that a pistol gives a woman the power that would compensate her biological vulnerability.
Everyday, the threat of danger and violent attacks surround women at work, in highways and even in their homes. The conventional ideal holds that “it is more appropriate for "good" women to be rescued by men than for women to arm themselves against violent attack.” (Hyatt and Blair p.117) But this ideology asks that women should remain passive and be contented with their inability to protect themselves. Hasslestromdisapproves this philosophy and advocates the feminist principle that women has the capacity to defend and protect themselves through gun possession. Gun shifts the balance of power and provides a reachable method of self-defense. An approximate 2.5 million of assaulted, raped and robbed women happens in America every year that is the highest rate of documented rape in the world. (Hyatt and Blair p.117) This alarming statistics only suggest the great need of women to own a gun in order to avoid the risk of being potential victims in the future.

Works Cited

Hasselstrom, Linda. “A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun.” Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Ed. Mendel Stephen andLaurie Kirszner. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. 354-358. Print.
Blair, M. E., and Eva M. Hyatt. "The Marketing of Guns to Women: Factors Influencing Gun-Related Attitudes and Gun Ownership by Women." Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 14.1 (1995): 117.