On The Gun Range: Mars vs Venus

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 6/16/20 | T Whitlock

[w1n1]

When it comes to who is the better shooter and why, men or women, the iconic Irving Berlin duet from Annie Get Your Gun immediately springs to mind. “Anything you can do I can do better! I can do anything better than you” is sung while Annie Oakley and Frank Butler prepare for the climactic sharpshooting contest in the classic Broadway musical.
For an object as functionally gender-neutral as a gun, why is it that each of the sexes assumes they are better adept at mastering it? Any quality instructor will tell you the real weapon is not the gun. The educated mind that controls the gun possesses the real power. Therefore, do men and women learn and process information differently especially with a gun in hand?

There is still much uncharted territory when it comes to the human mind. The scientific community offers studies of both children and adults that prove more similarities between the sexes than there are differences at the biological level. Painting with a wide brush can lead dangerously down a path that reinforces gender-specific stereotypes and hinders learning down range. That being said, touching on some of the salient points that make men and women unique is worth investigating.

From an instructor's perspective, new male shooters tend to learn better when introduced to a concept or technique by presenting the mechanics of the skill first and then putting that activity into context. Women tend to learn the same skill best when introduced to the context of when and why that particular skill is important and then taught the mechanics of putting it to use. The result is the same: the student learns both the action and the application, though from opposite perspectives. Both are fully capable of executing the skill set with precise fine and gross motor skills, regardless of gender, and put it to use when and where appropriate in the real world.

Processing Information
Male and female brains have a number of well-documented structural differences that illustrate how men and women process information. One major difference is in the grey and white matter of the brain and how the sexes use it all to process information. The female brain utilizes more white matter (the connective network that links the information and action processing centers of the brain) by a multiple of 10, and that may be why women are considered better at making social connections, observational connections and are better at multi-tasking than men.
By contrast, men utilize seven times more gray matter (the information and action centers that are localized in different regions of the brain), which is largely why men are attributed with being good at task-focused activities, having tunnel vision or a "one-track mind."

New firearm students offer the best opportunity to see these differences in action, especially in a high-stress environment like their first force-on-force class. Students often break down into two categories that display these brain behaviors without prejudice. Women can be observed as seeing and processing a wide range of critical information, yet they often hesitate to take specific action, while in a first-time force-on-force scenario men can be observed to identify one specific problem and focus intently on it missing other threats entirely. This isn't to say that both aren't guilty of making the same beginner mistakes, nor does it mean that these mistakes can’t be corrected with proper instruction. Read the rest of gun training.

[scottteng]

All of my instructor experience was with BSA and in my opinion from years of observation girls tend to be better shooters than boys all things being equal. The boys just tend to be all to wiggly for the most part. The shooting sports team had 2 state shotgun champs during my tenure both girls. Rifle was more even among the top shooters but it took an awful lot of practice and dedication to get to that point so was basically self screening for the average scout

[DuncanWaring]

I remember about 25 or 30 years ago there were a couple of teenaged sisters in Prescott, AZ who were “eating everyone’s lunch” shooting at 1000 yards.

[Joe 6-pack]

As a MP Company commander in the Army, one observation I made (and this is a very broad generalization) was that most new female soldiers had little if any exposure to firearms before their enlistment. They were somewhat apprehensive about firing a weapon, and as a result, paid very close attention to the NCOs and officers conducting their training.

Some male soldiers had been hunting since they were 12 or 13, and many shooting prior to that. Some had developed very good shooting habits which showed, but some others had been reinforcing bad habits for 5-6 years before they joined the Army. Worse yet, some of those thought they already knew everything.

[real saxophonist]

Mars

Venus

[bk1000]

Men will flinch when the hammer drops on an empty chamber. Women do not. This statement comes strictly from my own personal observation.

[Jeff Chandler]

My long gun skills are top notch, but pale in comparison to Mrs. Chandler’s.

[nevergore]

As a former instructor my perspective is that women are better students than young men as they tend to approach shooting with less preconceived notions thus accept correct instruction.....

A little bragging, my daughter went to the Air Force Academy and was a walk-on to the rifle team displacing a recruited member...

[Blurb2350]

Many moons ago I read something to the effect that women are better shots on the range and in competition because of a lower, quieter heartbeat, smaller less twitchy muscles, etc. But in the heat of battle, men have much better instincts and reactions. Makes sense to me.

[scottteng]

The know it all’s are the worst especially the cub scouts

[SoConPubbie]

Getting a Trojan alert from MalwareBytes from the source website.

[familyop]

More political correctness. Here are your keywords for finding the information yourself.

men visual spacial hand-eye coordination

But the battle of the sexes is not what’s important. It’s silly, really, like a peeing contest.

Learning and practice are most important. Men and women, develop your skills. He or she who has more skill will win.

Happy hunting.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

[real saxophonist]

Keep in mind this is the idiot who used to post videos of girls firing WAY too much gun for the first time, under the category ‘Humor’.

[real saxophonist]

Proof

[keats5]

All I can say is that we had a bunch of target shooting medals in my 2-parent family.

They all had my mama’s name on them.

[minnesota_bound]

Halle Berry Training with Taran for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa2RJPrY2Og

Plus at the end sweeps up.