{"id":2181,"date":"2010-03-02T12:24:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T18:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2010-03-02T12:37:46","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T18:37:46","slug":"women-that-shoot-the-%e2%80%9csuffering%e2%80%9d-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/women-that-shoot-the-%e2%80%9csuffering%e2%80%9d-movement\/2181\/","title":{"rendered":"Women that Shoot: The \u201cSuffering\u201d Movement."},"content":{"rendered":"

The right to vote for women was called the Suffrage Movement<\/em> and continued for years.\u00a0 Women involved in the shooting sports are involved similarly in a \u201csuffering movement.\u201d\u00a0 I believe they suffer from a lack of respect given by too many of us and are intellectually insulted on a daily basis.\u00a0 I was fortunate enough to be near some women at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas and overheard some interesting dialogue as they walked by some exhibits.\u00a0 It was like looking at the same pictures with new eyes.\u00a0 This intelligence was too good not to share.\u00a0 The women were a good representation from what I have seen in the shooting sports.\u00a0 They were highly educated professionals and not the \u201cHooter\u201d girls with guns seen in the ads.\u00a0 It is time for us to consider some new methods to marketing to women that shoot.<\/p>\n

First, let me tell you that these pro-gun women didn\u2019t respond the same way most men did to the medically enhanced models we saw either in posters or in person.\u00a0 Some things infuriated them that I saw but was indifferent to.\u00a0 We just take some stuff for granted.\u00a0 Secondly, I found out that women are not moved by the color pink on a firearm.\u00a0 Despite the penchant for manufacturers to create such choices, it\u2019s for men who don\u2019t know any better.\u00a0 It is cute for your daughter but might insult your wife.\u00a0 Sex still sells, but one size doesn\u2019t fit all.\u00a0 Women are not moved to buy things from the same primal emotions that capture a man\u2019s attention.\u00a0 Failure to change how we market could not only lose a sale, but our future.<\/p>\n

Gun rights advocates have started to embrace different cultures and look to grow our firearms legacy, but we are still acting like we did when it was just one homogeneous group involved.\u00a0 This makes it easy for anti-gun people to paint us as Neanderthals, and keep us divided.\u00a0 Firearms instructors and retailers have to really be careful with this as all of us are ambassadors to the gun culture.\u00a0 Our actions and practices affect generations to come.\u00a0 Although we are products of our environments, and take \u201cstuff\u201d from our teachers, we have to be careful to evolve personally when we present to the public.<\/p>\n

And lastly; I am not so enlightened that I have always said or done the right thing when working with women, but I plan to do better.\u00a0 I ask that you do too.\u00a0 I\u2019ll talk more about this sex thing in my normal offbeat way on episode 155 of The Urban Shooter Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This week also on Episode 155:<\/p>\n