Welcome back to Chaise Lounge! This week we will take a look at the ways that the gun lobby is changing the way that the press reports on gun violence. Instead of the shock and grief that shooting tragedies should create in our hearts and minds, this certain sector of media is trying to teach us to accept shootings as a way of life and learn to deal with the emotional fallout. I don’t know about you, but I am not about to give up my freedoms that easily. My own firsthand experience in a live shooter situation has left me with some feelings on this. But first, let’s check in on some news updates.
News Updates
Saudi Arabia takes baby steps in women’s rights
A recent New York Times article discusses the small but important improvements in the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. While some of the changes, like allowing colored abayas to be worn, appear to be window-dressing, others really do make strides. From being allowed to apply for a passport, to living alone, and traveling on their own, Saudi women are gaining ground. However, the conservative culture makes it difficult for Saudi women to use some of these freedoms for fear of upsetting those conservative men. It is a catch-22 situation where the women have to balance their desire for freedoms with the possibility of severe backlash.
Sexual harassment and assault is rampant in Australian government
A new report commissioned by the Australian government finds that one third of government workers on average report being sexually harassed at some point, usually by someone in a superior role. For women, that figure was 40% and for those in the LGBTQ+ community, the number was 53%. Within the parliament, the numbers are even worse with 63% of women parliamentarians reporting harassment. Not surprisingly, the government workers did not report the harassment because they felt that nothing would happen due to the culture of harassment.
Although their articles create more engagement, female researchers are less cited than males
A long-running mystery in scientific research just became a little clearer. In scientific research papers, papers authored by male first authors are more frequently cited than papers authored by female first authors. While the phenomenon could be simply explained by sexism, a research team decided to take a deeper look into the data. They found that while male researchers were more frequently cited, the work of female researchers created more reader interaction. When they looked at the type of research completed, they found that male researchers focused on scientific progress while female researchers focused on scientific progress in addition to societal progress, thus increasing reader engagement. The findings have significant ramifications for future research funding.
Female nurses and surgeons play mind games with one another while male surgeons are allowed to work
A really interesting study just came out revealing the “status-leveling” behaviors that female surgeons express in order to enhance their relationships with nurses. The study found that female surgeons make sure to ask about the nurse’s children, share baked goods, and help with nursing tasks to stay in their good graces. Male surgeons do very little of this activity and even they noted that the dynamic between male surgeons and nurses was very different. Come on women, let’s support one another and not make life harder!
The Insanity of a "How To" Guide for Avoiding a Public Shooter
Have we already surrendered our freedom to guns?
It was already a sticky August morning in 1993, so I left the house early. I strolled my two year old daughter in her blue and pink umbrella stroller over to the mall to beat the hottest part of the day. Being pregnant with our second child, it was easy for me to overheat. We were lucky to live only two blocks away. It was a quiet morning at the mall, and I was headed to JC Penney’s to get some new curtains to cover the bedroom windows in our new house. The mall had seen better days, most likely built in the 1970’s, but it served our purposes well enough. Years later, the whole thing would be torn down to become a large mixed use development with skyscrapers interrupting the suburban horizon.
We headed straight to the curtain department and miraculously enough there were some curtains that would match our bedspread well enough and were the right size. I purchased them on the spot relieved that this outing would not turn into a difficult one with a toddler in tow. Although my daughter was typically a well-behaved toddler outside the house, you never know as a parent if any time something might set your child off.
I decided that I was hungry for a slice of pizza so we headed to the food court where I would buy Flannery a frozen yogurt too. The food court at this mall was a long hallway with restaurant counters on either side that led to a mall exit. Tables were lined up down the middle of the hallway where you could sit down and eat. The pizza place was at the end of the hallway nearest the exit. I got my pizza and a frozen yogurt for Flannery. She stayed in her stroller to eat while I sat at a table facing her enjoying our treats. We smiled at each other as we ate and Flannery kept saying “Fro-yo, fro-yo, fro-yo!” indicating her delight at her favorite snack.
At some point, I looked up from her toward the center of the mall. There was a set of escalators obstructing the view of the stores on the other side. I noticed a man wearing a green camouflage coat, and I could see something in his hand. My mind told me that it was a gun, but he was so far away from me that I couldn’t be sure. Besides, who would stand in the middle of a mall at 11:00 in the morning with a gun? As my mind was trying to figure out if it was a gun, all of a sudden I heard someone yell, “He’s got a gun!” The few people who were in the food court immediately got up and ran behind the counters of the food establishments for cover. I was frantically trying to unbuckle Flannery out of her stroller to do the same, but my hands were shaking so badly that I could not get the buckles undone as she squirmed to see what the commotion was about.
All of a sudden, five or six men with stockings on their faces came running at full speed with bags full of merchandise. It really felt like we were in a movie. My only thought was to protect Flannery, so I folded my body over hers with my big belly in between hoping that if they shot they would get me instead of her. The men fled the mall, but the one with the gun shot a couple of shots into the ceiling presumably to scare everyone from trying to follow them.
We all waited a few minutes before those behind the counters re-emerged and I unfolded myself from Flannery. The robbers had completed a smash and grab at Reed’s jewelry store which was just on the other side of the escalators. I realized that the guy with the gun was the lookout person as the other men performed the robbery. I was a nervous wreck, but fortunately Flannery had no idea what had just happened. I spoke to a few other people and then left to find a pay phone and called my husband. As soon as I started telling him what had happened, the tears started flowing. I had been in shock about the whole situation and had not really begun to process it until I had to tell someone else.
So why am I telling you this story? When this event happened in 1993, Columbine hadn’t happened, nor were mall shootings a regular event. Especially not in a white suburban neighborhood. Everyone was shocked and surprised by it because it was such a rare occurrence. We had recently relocated from the Bay Area and when I told my California friends about it, they were concerned about the safety of the area I had moved to. I assured them that this was a unique and random event. And I was right, at least until recently.
Last week, the News and Observer published an article giving everyone tips on how to respond and stay safe during an active shooter situation after three people were shot on Black Friday at a different local mall. To say that this article was upsetting is an understatement. The idea that we have accepted public shootings as part and parcel of our daily lives that we are writing “how to” articles about it makes me nauseous. Let’s save the “how to” articles for things like “How to make a soufflé” or “How to change a tire”.
This type of advice belongs in a war zone, not a shopping mall.
What have we become as a society that we are willing to accept shootings at public places as a regular part of life?
Instead of focusing on how to cower and hide when someone with a gun is shooting, why don’t we demand that we focus on the problem of guns getting into the wrong hands. And yes, I understand that those who want guns will find a way to get them. However, do we have to make it easy for them? The premise of the local article is completely backwards. The problem is that it is too easy for anyone to get a gun. As a result, we are the only country, other than those in a war zone, where we wake up each morning in fear of today being the day we are shot in some random event.
According to an April 2021 Pew Research poll of those leaning right or left,
“Majorities in both partisan coalitions favor two policies that would restrict gun access: preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (85% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats support this) and subjecting private gun sales and gun show sales to background checks (70% of Republicans, 92% of Democrats). Majorities in both parties also oppose allowing people to carry concealed firearms without a permit.”
If such large majorities of Americans agree on these three points, why don’t our laws reflect it?
The explanation that we typically hear is that the National Rifle Association is a powerful lobbying organization that pours money into politician’s pockets. Our politicians and the members of the NRA have the blood of all the school children and others killed each year on their hands. But somehow, it just does not seem to matter. In fact, some of those politicians actually harass and mock survivors of shootings.
I wish I had a magic wand and could simply whisk away the problems, but you and I live in the reality that every day we never know who is sitting next to us at the doctor’s office or restaurant who might be carrying a concealed weapon that they decide to use for some reason. Road rage incidents are turning deadly more frequently.
We must demand that our Congressional leaders actually represent the views of the people rather than those of the NRA and other constituencies with different motives. I realize that statement sounds incredibly hollow. If Congress does not act when their own members are shot, think Rep. Gabby Giffords and Rep. Steve Scalise, what will it take? But if we do not keep trying, we will continue to live in this dystopian country where you never quite feel safe when you are simply trying to buy some curtains.
The Insanity of a "How To" Guide for Avoiding a Public Shooter