On July 3rd, I talked about two completely different youtube videos, one by Fate of Destinee and the other by Erika of Cory & Erika. The post is here if you’d like to read it. I was pretty harsh on Destinee in the post, not because I don’t like her or think she’s a bad person, but because she became a handy target for an issue I’ve been rolling around in my head lately.
First off, I’ve met Destinee, and she’s a perfectly nice kid. I have no beef with her other than around that specific video and the attitude it conveys, which is actually the whole point of this post. Her whole statement about an attitude of disrespect towards women has really been sticking in my craw. Maybe I’m just old school, but I’ve felt respect that is something that should be earned.
Follow my logic on this one. Putting yourself on the internet, whether it’s a blog, youtube, or FB page is saying to the digital world “look at me!” I didn’t wake up one morning and find myself a respected player in the firearms industry, I worked hard to earn that respect. Julie Golob didn’t just show up one day and become captain of Team S&W, she earned her way to that position through hard work. Shelley Rae wasn’t given the Executive Editor position at a new gun magazine because she has a lot of followers on twitter. All of these women (and countless other women) in the firearms industry have worked hard and earned the respect that we give them.
In fact, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re a woman or not, because I’ve struggled with the same thing. I’m a short man with a young looking face. You think I’ve never been talked down to or condescended to at a gun shop? Of course I have. But I also know that other people’s attitudes aren’t my problem, so if someone is committed to being a jerk, I’ll just let him go about his merry way.
The bottom line is that if you want to be respected in the firearms industry, the blogging community, at the range, at a USPSA match: you have to earn that respect. Work hard. Kick ass. Be awesome. You’ll find that by doing that, you won’t have to ask people for their respect…because they will have given it to you.
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