Guns are a great equalizer for women. Contrary to what today’s so-called feminists would like people to believe, men and woman are not equal. If a man got into a physical fight with a woman, the overwhelming odds are that the man would win. A few self-defense classes isn’t going to change that, no matter how empowered women may feel after they walk out. There’s the idea of mace and pepper spray, but it is far from guaranteed to stop someone. People can easily keep moving after being pepper sprayed. Guns keep women safe. It makes them equal. If the fight is between a man and a woman, guns take the superior strength that men inherently have and make it irrelevant. Women know this; this is why women are the fastest growing demographic of gun owners. But if you go by Cosmopolitan’s line of thought, women are terrified of guns. They’re horrible. And if a woman is in a relationship with a gun-owning man, then the relationship is doomed to fail. Ericka Andersen breaks down this insipid video:

Within seconds, the viewer is aware that Cosmopolitan believes women think guns are scary “death machines,” men that own guns are probably domestic abusers, and the Second Amendment is worthy of nothing more than an eye roll.

… Ominous music opens the first scene, followed by a perky blonde named Maggie asking her boyfriend, “The guns that you shoot, are those… registered?” He assures her that yes, they are, but she’s clearly unsatisfied by this answer. All the guys in this video register slightly guilty looks on their faces while clearly backed into a defensive posture — portrayed as buffoons who just don’t understand why guns are “bad.” One man, inexplicably, asks his girlfriend if she is worried things could get “out of hand” when they have arguments.

… Another woman downplays the importance of freedom, saying, “As a non-American, Americans are used to the culture of like, freedom of speech… ” She gestures as if to say, “That’s a little embarrassing, now, isn’t it?” Her boyfriend quickly quips, “Well, it’s written into the Constitution.” But it’s clear these women don’t care so much for what the Constitution has to say about it — or for their boyfriends’ reasoning for owning a gun in the first place. Nor do they consider taking a firearms-safety class and learning how to use this “thing” they find so scary and dangerous. In fact, when Maggie’s boyfriend asks her at the end of the video to learn how to shoot so she’s not so scared of guns, she explicitly refuses. She also tells him she doesn’t want any guns in the house when she has children. No room for argument, case closed. Guns are bad, you are wrong.

Here’s the full video:

Congratulations, Cosmo. You’ve just set women back decades. Instead of portraying strong, empowered women who can take care of themselves, you’ve just showed women as whimpering cowards who are condescending, emasculating, and patronizing to boot. Who wants to bet that each of these wannabe-victims would describe herself as a feminist, too?

What would these women do if they were home alone and someone broke in? They’re cowering in their bedrooms with the doors locked as the intruder tries to break the door down. What then? They would have literally no way to protect themselves. All they could do is call 911 and pray that the police get there as quickly as possible. And while police officers are brave and heroic, they aren’t superheroes. They can’t teleport from one location to another as soon as they get a 911 call. These girls would be crying in fear as they hoped police get there in time, because there would be literally nothing else they could do. The saying “when seconds count, police are just minutes away” exists for a reason. Police can’t be everywhere at once, and if a woman has a gun, it means she has means to defend herself in dangerous situations.

The other disturbing aspect of this video is the utter lack of respect and consideration these women have for the men they supposedly love and care about. They look at these men with obvious disdain. They emasculate them, and talk down to them as if the men are children who need to be scolded and re-educated. And why? Because the men happen to have a different opinion than the women do. That’s all it is, yet it means that these men apparently deserve a giant heaping of scorn and ridicule. Who wants to be in a relationship like this? You may not agree with your significant other, but shouldn’t you at least give them a little respect? Is that too much to ask?

Is this the Cosmo definition of empowerment? If it is, then they might want to wise up. Women don’t want what you’re selling.