Animals, Women, and Weapons: Blurred Sexual Boundaries in the Discourse of Sport Hunting

Abstract

The furor and public outrage surrounding the release of a fictionalized video in which naked women are hunted down and shot with paintball guns ("Hunting for Bambi") inspired this paper. Arguing that distressing representations of hunting as a sexually charged activity are resilient popular culture images, this paper examines the theoretical framework that links hunting with sex and women with animals and the empirical evidence of such linkages in the hunting discourse of a popular newsstand periodical. Contemporary feminist theory often connects hunting with sex and women with animals. This paper details clear evidence of the juxtaposition of hunting, sex, women, and animals in the photographs, narratives, and advertisements of a random sampling of Traditional Bowhunter magazines (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003). Particularly prominent in the magazines' hunting discourse is the sexualization of animals, women, and weapons, as if the three are interchangeable sexual bodies in narratives of traditional masculinity. This paper concludes that moral outrage at the degradation of women might be targeted best at widely read newsstand periodicals that serve as popular culture precursors to videos that celebrate hunting naked women.venery (ven'arē) n. Archaic. 1. the gratification of sexual desire. 2. the practice or sport of hunting; the chase.While sex long has been tethered to hunting in human culture, the sexual dimension of hunting recently captured substantial attention in the release of the video, "Hunting for Bambi." Proudly hailed by the producers as "one of the sickest and most shocking videos ever made" (huntingforbambi.com), viewers watch naked women hunted down and shot with paintball guns on DVD or VHS. The video caused quite a sensation during the summer of 2003, with reports of "real live" Bambi hunts finally dismissed as a hoax amid public outcry and moral outrage at the shocking degradation of women.We argue, however, that numerous popular culture products link hunting with sex and women with animals. It is not difficult to establish that the erotic hunt has substantial "cultural currency" (Mallory, 2001, p. 79). Distressing representations of sex and violence and women and animals have been documented in many easily obtained and widely consumed cultural venuespornography, music videos, prime time-television, feature-length films, magazine advertisements, and narratives of black slavery (Adams. One key cultural commodity that so far has escaped the scrutiny of researchers studying the hunting-sex link is the hunting periodical.The paucity of information on sexuality in hunting periodicals is even more noteworthy, given the well-established theoretical tradition of connecting hunting with sex. 2 Feminist theorists have used numerous sexual narratives to elucidate their readings of the contemporary hunting discourse-erotic heterosexual predation (Luke, 1998), sadomasochism (Collard, 1989, restraint for aggressive sexual energy (Kheel, 1995), and allied with the abus...

More than the kill: hunters' relationships with landscape and prey

“…The main reason for the controversy surrounding it is the fact that there is killing involved in a leisure activity, which brings into play arguments about violence, brutality, manliness and anthropocentrism, amongst others (Bergman, 2005;Cartmill, 1993;Ingold, 1994;Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004).…”

“…According to authors such as Mallory (2001), Collard and Contrucci (1989) and Kalof, Fitzgerald and Baralt (2004), hunting perpetuates the idea of masculine dominance over all 'others', so often the analogy with sex in hunting discourse demonstrate the symbolic meanings attached to the practice (Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004). Masculinity, dominance and power are incessantly invoked in these discourses which, once again, would justify a special relationship existing between women and nonhuman animals -especially the ones, that is, the animals, involved in the hunting act.…”

Animal Blood Sport: A Ritual Display of Masculinity and Sexual Virility

“…Masculinity was validated through various traditions such as "shirt-tail cutting," a ritual that emphasizes the humiliation of a hunter who misses a clear shot at a deer; his shirt-tail is cut by a gang of men, leaving the shirt ineffective and symbolically castrating him, and his exposed buttocks feminize and emasculate him as a failed hunter (Bronner, 2004, 23). In another study of the contemporary hunting discourse, a widely-read hunting magazine was examined for representations of hunting as a sexually charged activity (Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004). The authors found evidence of the sexualization of animals, women and weapons in narratives of traditional masculinity, such as references to a victorious killing as a "score," hunting as "hot and heavy action," male animals as "hot-to-trot teenage bucks," and female animals as "coy does" (Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004).…”

“…In another study of the contemporary hunting discourse, a widely-read hunting magazine was examined for representations of hunting as a sexually charged activity (Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004). The authors found evidence of the sexualization of animals, women and weapons in narratives of traditional masculinity, such as references to a victorious killing as a "score," hunting as "hot and heavy action," male animals as "hot-to-trot teenage bucks," and female animals as "coy does" (Kalof, Fitzgerald & Baralt, 2004).…”

L’ambivalence des relations humain-animal

“…Les mondes païen et chrétien du Moyen Âge étaient coutumiers de ces récits mettant en jeu des êtres hybrides ainsi que des métamorphoses, passages d'un état humain à un état animal et inversement (Sax, 1998). Par ailleurs, les connotations sexuelles de la chasse mettent en évidence la virilité de cette pratique et une vision sté-réotypée de la femme (pour une analyse des conservatismes entretenus par cette pratique, voir Kalof et al, 2003Kalof et al, et 2004. On retrouve ici l'idée de catégories dominées, parmi lesquelles femmes et animaux sont placés en situation d'infériorité par rapport aux hommes chasseurs.…”