Whoops...

[moominmuppet]

I laid down to take a little nap about 7:30pm. And woke up at 2:30am. Oops. Should go back to bed; I have to be up in about three hours to go escort.

In the process of unpacking the games I ran across two plastic toy scimitars that used to decorate my wall (I think they also used to make *crash* noises when you banged them together, but apparently not anymore). It got me idly wondering about why I don't like having toy guns around, but toy swords don't elicit the same reaction. I wonder if I lived in a society where swords were actually regularly used as weapons, would I feel differently? Would I feel differently about toy guns if I lived in a society where real guns weren't a hot-topic issue?

Comments

[bec76.livejournal.com]

I prefer edged weapons because they don't "accidentally" go off. It's a lot harder to shoot yourself in the foot when you're cleaning a knife or a sword. Plus, if you hang them on your wall, people just think "Oh, they're into medieval weapons" and feel less threatened.

Of course, if people knew I have a lot more experience swinging a sword or ax and hitting what I'm aiming at than shooting a gun and hitting the target, perhaps they'd be more uncomfortable.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

check out the link to the article that Rowan_leigh left in the comment after yours -- it's a neat little analysis of why they might feel different to us, and I think it definitely strikes chords with me.

Re: Toy guns vs toy swords:

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

Oh, fascinating, thanks! That managed to articulate a lot that feels pretty accurate to why I think of them differently.

Re: Toy guns vs toy swords:

[bec76.livejournal.com]

That's a great piece. It certainly strikes a lot of the myths about non-violent parenting. I think that swordplay is a much less aggressive way of combat play. Plus, like the article said, swords denote a certain level of ethics in play, i.e. feeling "heroic" or "knightly." Those are excellent qualities to foster in all children. Thanks Rowan!

[jajy1979.livejournal.com]

Blame Mom. She is so anti-gun that she literally drove us towards swords as an "acceptable alternative". That and the growing up with Le Guin, Tolkien, et al. made us have a facination with fantasy and science fiction.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* Do you remember having squirty fish and the like, instead of water pistols?

*nod* I think a lot of people with a "romantic" streak have a fondness for them. The article rowan_leigh linked to mentions how our cultural imagery around them ties into ideas of valor and such, and I think that's part of the difference.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

swear it on my sword (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22swear+it+on+my+sword%22): 43 hits
swear it on my gun (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22swear+it+on+my+gun%22): 0 hits

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* Exactly!

[musicalchaos.livejournal.com]

For me a lot of it boils down to the method of killing, and more over the perception there of. With a gun, it seems very... dispassionate, detached from the victim, where as with a sword or some other sort of close combat weapon, it's up close and personal. It's an ugly, bloody mess and you have to see the person you're killing, and frankly while neither is appealing, it seems a much harder thing to get through when you're standing right there and see just what has happened. I don't know, either way it's a horrible situation.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*nod* Much more personal, much less able to be "accidental". It definitely makes a difference in perception.

[musicalchaos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as I perceive it, you really have to hate someone, be in an actual life or death situation, or be a card carrying certified psychopath to be able to kill someone up close.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*nod* Exactly.