Old instructional videos aimed at women are a comfort — they show how far we've come since the time when a woman asking something like, "I've always wondered about something: why is it called a revolver?" wasn't totally condescending.

Gun Safety Is Different For Women [Everything is Terrible]

Maybe something along the lines of this? Who could blame her?

This most ridiculous thing, though, is that this guy is not only getting laid, but evidently in demand.

1.) "God, Guns, Guts, and American Pickup Trucks"
That's this guy's motto for his truck dealership in rural Missouri. He gives away a free AK-47 with each vehicle purchased. While being interviewed on CNN's American Morning, he made some compelling arguments for his business model:

"The only 911 call I need is chambering a round."
"There is a tremendous crime problem with people doing meth and these people – they've lost their souls."
"You don't have a problem with God, do you? I'm just curious…"
"We're a Christian nation."
"You don't think God wants us to defend ourselves? I'm confused."

2.) Paris Hilton: "I'm Not Retarded"

3.) Me: "Yes You Are"

4.) Barbara Walters' Speech Impediment
I've finally cracked the code to the cause of Barbara Walters' "accent." She says her R's backwards, so they come out as "raw" instead of "arh."

5.) Big Brother

I'm so obsessed with these turds. This sums up how I'm feeling right now:

6.) Gay Penguin Dramz
After a six-year relationship, Harry and Pepper, two gay male penguins living in a zoo in San Francisco, are no longer an item. Harry left Pepper for a woman. (A penguin one, not a human one.)

7.) And This

8.) Things Are Different in Canada

9.) Who Does Jon Gosselin Think He Is?
Remember when the father of eight said that he was sick of doing the show and sick of paparazzi? He's so sick of the celebrity life, that he just needed to get away from it—by sipping champagne on a private yacht floating in the French Riviera.

10.) Wrap It Up, Linda

(This post was written by Jezebel contributor & Racialicious editor Latoya Peterson.)

The piece was actually one of Randy Cohen's Ethicist columns, a humorous take on the issues of the day - and normally delivered with a healthy dose of truth. While I was amused at quite a bit of his analysis, I realized the post played on quite a few gender stereotypes - ones I have heard gun advocates use in all seriousness.

Were I to board the subway late at night, around Lincoln Center perhaps, and find it filled with women openly carrying Metropolitan Opera programs and Glock automatics, I'd feel snug and secure. A train packed with armed men would not produce the same comforting sensation. Maybe that's because men have a disconcerting tendency to shoot people, while women display admirable restraint. Department of Justice figures show that between 1976 and 2005, 91.3 percent of gun homicides were committed by men, 8.7 percent by women.

and

Even if some women prove imprudent with firearms - that is, act like men - feminizing gun ownership could ultimately reduce its appeal to men, making gun-toting as unmasculine as carrying a purse. There are occupations whose status (and pay) declined once they were taken up by women: secretaries, telephone operators, teachers. We already endure the mischief of such sexism; why not harness it for good?

Sarah Stern, writing for the New York Press (http://www.nypress.com/blog-4229-nyt-disguises-sexist-ideology-as-fact.html), takes quite a bit of umbrage at the article, asserting:

[I]n Cohen's distorted perspective, a woman has the genetic predisposition to behave herself, so the likelihood of her firing the gun would be slim to none.

He goes on to say that "women display admirable restraint." The word "restraint" reflects socially constructed expectations for women to act demurely and avoid stepping out of line. The appalling truth is that this op-ed was published because we still live in a society that tolerates sexist rhetoric.

But the issues reinforced in the article are a bit deeper than Stern discusses. One, the idea and image of guns is drawn in with ideas of toughness or masculinity. Not only is it seen as an aberration that a woman (coded feminine and weak) would want to even hold a gun, it as seen as something that only "bad girls" would do. However, since many people in our culture see guns as cool, the idea of women with guns then becomes sexualized. (Just trying to find a photo to illustrate this post brought me site after site advertising "sexy women with guns!" "guns and bikinis!" and "macho women with guns!") In addition, gun advocates and companies alike understand the enormous power of the untapped women market. The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has posted quite a few editorialsarguing that women need guns for adequate protection. (Interestingly, they also make the same argument about African Americans.)

Two, the silliness of imagining a world where women are packing heat to hit the Opera feeds into the idea that women carrying guns is a ridiculous notion - effectively erasing all the women who do own guns and carry them for personal reasons. Erin Solaro wrote about her relationship with guns for BlogHer, noting:

To say I liked shooting is an understatement. I like shooting the way I like knitting, and for the same reason: they both express fundamental parts of my personality.

And over at the Daily Beast, Meghan McCain says that guns make her feel "empowered" - both as a Republican and as a woman:

So, yes, the girl who wants to legalize gay marriage and thinks the GOP is out of touch with progressive-minded Republicans is fiercely protective of her Second Amendment rights and finds it empowering, especially as a woman, to fire off a few rounds and get closer and closer to the desired target.

As a woman who has spent a bit of time on the shooting range, and who leans heavily in support of the second amendment, I wouldn't necessarily describe a session spent emptying a clip as empowering. And yet, it is this kind of narrative - the empowered woman versus the victimized woman that dominates our discussion on women and firearms. Rarely is gun training discussed, how one of the first things they teach you is how having a gun makes you an instant target. Anyone with firepower needs to be taken out first, so if you pull your weapon, you had better be prepared to use it.

Nor is it discussed how you have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and your skills before you can think about owning a gun. The heft of a firearm serves as an instant reminder of what it represents: you can use this to kill someone. Sorono describes having a gun as "a terrific equalizer" against a rapist or would be assailant, without ever mentioning the need to come to terms with possibly ending someone else's life. We all joke about doing it - but would you? Every few years, I go to the gun range and make sure I'm not slipping. I need to make sure that I can still hold, load, and fire, and still connect with the target with my glasses off. Just in case. But I do not own a firearm, partially because I'm not sure I could be comfortable pulling the trigger with someone else in my sights.

Still further, only people who are in favor of handgun bans or stricter gun control laws actually talk about the escalation factor - how having a gun near you in an altercation can take things to terrible turns. When I was breaking up with one of my ex-boyfriends, the first thing I did before letting him back into our shared apartment was to run and hide his gun. Now, this boyfriend has never been physically abusive towards me - however, with tensions flaring the way they were, I was not trying to chance it. After all, as a black woman, I have a statistically greater chance of being murdered with a handgun AND a greater chance of being murdered by an intimate partner.

But these topics never seem to stay on the table. Today, the Ethicist posted a follow-up, making a point he apparently had forgotten:

Comment No. 13 notes that Guns for Gals "could be a great boon for American manufacturing, because gunmetal and chrome don't go with everything," necessitating the production of a "teal pistol." I agree. A fringe benefit of this plan is its being a sort of economic stimulus program for the fashion industry, an important business here in New York, as Vera Wang and Betsy Johnson, et al., begin designing chic holsters.

Oh right. I forgot - I have a vagina, so my gun needs to be pink to match.

Glad we remembered what's really important here.

On the other hand, well, I really do like watching women kick some jerk's ass. Call me a reverse-sexist, call me an inappropriate fan of country justice, but there's something primal about watching a bunch of powerful women get some of their own back. In fact, in The Handmaid's Tale, there's a scene in which state-sanctioned violence against rapists by the least powerful women in the society is ritualized as a way of controlling the handmaids' impulses to rebel against their station. So, when I'm not watching Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell and Tracie Thoms beat the shit out of Kurt Russell, I sort of wonder if the fetishization of violent women is just another way of distracting us from the rights we don't have — like equal pay, say — rather than an actual equality.

Wait, what was I saying? That's so cool.

Guns Are A Feminist Issue [Asymmetrical Information]
A Deadly Myth [Violence Policy Center]

A digital video camera! In exciting colors! And the company is called DGXUSA so it must be made in Amurrica. What do you mean it's made in China? That's crazy talk.

An eco-friendly lawn mower, perfect for punishing teenagers. Better get two.

It's not an American holiday unless you cook meat over fire. The Nu-Wave oven ought to be black and come with a smiley face T-shirt. Oh, wait, that's Nu Rave. Make that a Cure T-shirt, then. As for the year-round grill, I'd think there was a problem with it if my mind were not addled due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

It's not Memorial Day without a flag!

Oh, dear. Nothing classes up a lawn like some PVC critters.

A hammock is key for day-off lounging, but let's discuss the well. Because a well in the yard means Precious Moments™ in the house. Am I right?

Jewelry makes any holiday memorable! Get an eagle pendant to prove your patriotism. Or some CZ earrings. I love how they have a black dude for illustrative purposes, like, "Hey, it's okay for men to wear Diamonique studs. See? This black guy does it. So it must be cool."

If anyone tries to critique your grilling technique, bust a cap in 'em. Kidding! Violence is never the answer. But the threat of injury can often be effective. Just tuck the semi-automatic on the lower right into your apron or the back of your jeans. They'll get the message.

[Fingerhut]

Earlier: Christmas Shopping With Fingerhut: The Fun, The Funny & The Fugly

• First, we made a New Year's resolution to be nicer to womanity.
  
• Then we agreed with Julie Burchill and told you how awesome bitches are.
  
• We also felt conflicted over the trainwreck that is the life of Britney Spears. Are we the cause, or the, well, cause?
  
• But you know what's totally not our fault? Kumari Fulbright, the law student (well, now probably former law student) who posed in a bikini for a gun calendar and kidnapped her boyfriend with three middle aged men.
  
• We also met her awesomely meth-y mugshot
  
• And her equally awesome Facebook profile!
  
• Obama won in Iowa, and boy, were we excited.
  
• Just like Scar Jo, the other Obama girl.
  
• So let's all celebrate with a few beers at Ellen Page's haunted whorehouse, because no one likes transparent sluts better than us.