Be a man, drop your weapon.

We are living in a Lebanese society, surrounded by terrorists attacks, daily political arguments and a government that does not provide us with proper security. Lebanese people are forced to take their own safety precautions. They believe weapons will defend us and thus prove their masculinity.

A perfect example to my theory is the ad below. It is a Lebanese anti-weapon campaign; simple indexical piece, daring and well presented. It depicts the myth of masculinity & weapons.

At first glance, we would see a twisted bullet with a phrase beneath it. Then, we would notice that this bullet looks like a man's genitals.

The sentence beneath it is written in Arabic slang language and says: " That's not what being a man is all about, drop your weapon."

The ad's point is to represent a picture of a bullet, shaped like a man's sexual organ unerected. Based on our culture, we believe a man's masculinity is in his sexual strength, presenting such ad strips him away from his manhood.

In Lebanon, some men do not own guns, which means gun use is by choice.

A combination of cultural, social, and political factors makes it acceptable for a man to own a gun for defense. It is believed that manhood is measured by the ability to instill fear in others. If we look at our government, it is powerful because of its armaments and soldiers that are always ready in case of an incoming threat. When Lebanese people see their leaders equate power with militarization, it makes them believe that weapons will provide them with masculinity and strength. In fact, Lebanon's security is explosive, forcing each man to protect himself, and his family, with all means possible, even if he had to use weapons.

I conducted my own survey, going around asking some men of all ages, if they are with or against gun use. For those who are with, i asked them why?
Here are my results :







As we can see, most people own a gun for self protection or to protect their family calling themselves "Man of the house".

In addition to that, media plays a big role in promoting gun use. Gun ads usually portray a stiff muscular man (a symbol for masculinity) holding a gun, as a way to say that real men are killers.

As sad as it all is, believing that weapons are a sign of masculinity and security puts us in a more dangerous society; where crimes and shootings increase, and where kids grow up to the thought of embracing war instead of striving for peace.

Example of typical muscular model
promoting a weapon.

A Weapon ad for Trijicon company
with the phrase "take control".