FC: The Equalizer? Crime, Vulnerability, and Gender in Pro-Gun Discourse

Author Jennifer Carlson discusses her article, "The Equalizer? Crime, Vulnerability, and Gender in Pro-Gun Discourse" which was published in the January 2014 issue of Feminist Criminology and was awarded the journal's 2014 Best Article of the Year Award. Abstract:Alongside literature on how crime and crime control reproduce racial inequality, less attention has been paid to how the social construction of crime reproduces masculine priviledge. To address this gap, I examine 71 interviews with gun carriers. While gun carries actively promote guns to women, they tend to assume a masculine perspective on crime by emphasizing fast, warlike violence perpetrated by strangers - the kinds of crime men, as opposed to women, are likely to face. Extending theories of vulnerability to gun politics, I argue that the social construction of crime is a key vehicle through which gender is reproduced. Read the article here.