Cleaning This Gun and the Protective/Threatening Father

2007-12-13
By

There is a song currently being heard on the country stations called Cleaning This Gun and sung by Rodney Atkins. He begins by telling us that he doesn’t recall much of what he heard as a teenager in the classroom but says, “there is one speech from high school/I’ll never forget.”

That one stuck in his mind for good reason. He went to a teen girl’s home, ready to take her out on a date. The girl’s father appeared to have been a friendly sort, saying, “Come on in boy sit on down/And tell me about yourself.” That father then goes to a subject of mutual interest: “So you like my daughter do you now?/Yeah we think she’s something else/She’s her daddy’s girl/Her momma’s world.”

The next lines are: “She deserves respect/That’s what she’ll get/Ain’t it son?” The “respect” referred to has a meaning that deserves exploration. A young teen boy is usually horny. A young teen girl usually experiences it as a disaster if she gets pregnant. Respect for the girl means that the boy puts her safety from a traumatic pregnancy ahead of his strong sexual desires and his gratification of them.

It is hard for the boy to do that. Teens have a notoriously limited time frame and often live moment-to-moment.

But it is not at all impossible.

The song continues: “Hey y’all run along and have some fun/I’ll see you when you get back/Bet I’ll be up all night/Still cleanin’ this gun.”

Yes, there is an implied threat. Do not take a chance on getting my daughter pregnant or . . .

Fear can lead the virile young man to the virtue of self-control. (So can other attributes such as compassion but they are not part of the song under discussion.)

In today’s world, many young women do not have a father in the home. This is a contributing factor in pregnancies among unmarried teenagers. Fatherless homes tend to lead to more fatherless homes.

Perhaps the surest way to decrease problem pregnancies among minors is to see to it that more daughters have a Dad around for their beaus to meet.

238 views

  • amfortas

    Yep, I can just see it. The girl would be in ‘fear’, never mind the boy. Her dreams of ‘empowerment’ and ‘girls just wanna have furn’ poppin’ like soap burbles. There’s that good ol’ Rapist dad, a’cleanin’ his gurn. Mum cringing, silent, unmentioned, in ‘fear’ doing the dishes (chained to the double-sink, with refuse disposal and aerated fawcets of course). A typical 911 scenario if ever there was one.

    So Rodney ‘remembers’ a speech night, does he. No artistic licence at all? One wonders what the speech was about. There’s a lot more for Rodney to be scared shitless about than a fellow rapist getting his dominator in good order. But he ain’t singing about that. No record sales in tellin’ it like it is.

    As if a modern dad has ANY say in what his daughter does ! Hah ! Lord a’ Mercy. “Yeah we think she’s something else”. Well that one’s spot on! Appearances deceive. “She deserves respect/That’s what she’ll get/Ain’t it son?”. The cops answering the 911 will make sure of that, dad, by hauling your arse away just for opening your mouth. No need to bring poor, deluded Rodney into it. Placing restrictions of your lil’ girl’s ‘freedom of expression’ with ‘emotional violence’ is enough, tangential or otherwise.

    As for Rodney, the disrespect for himself goes right over his head. Keep plucking the guitar, son. Your turn will come.

  • conservativation

    Teen girl experiences it as a disaster? Maybe used to be the case that you could foise this on boys, but take a look at prom after party pics or spring break with girls virtually BEGGING for the old in-out

  • fourthwire

    “The song continues: “Hey y’all run along and have some fun/I’ll see you when you get back/Bet I’ll be up all night/Still cleanin’ this gun.”

    Yes, there is an implied threat. Do not take a chance on getting my daughter pregnant or . . .
    Fear can lead the virile young man to the virtue of self-control. ”

    LOL….. Not quite so relevant in this day, where it’s those daughters who need to learn “the virtue of self-control”. Modern women are bombarded with messages through entertainment, and even the “educational” systems (Maine!) that girls ought to have sex. Some months ago an entire classroom of junior high school girls were videotaped giving blowjobs to their classmates.

    And you’re correct of course that fatherless households lead to more cases of teen pregnancy…… a fact that the feminazis…. who spearheaded the charge to CREATE fatherless households are undoubtedly willing to blame men for.

    And they will continue to fight to create fatherless households in our society.

  • http://mensnewsdaily.com/author/denise-noe/ Denise Noe

    conservativation said,

    Teen girl experiences it as a disaster? Maybe used to be the case that you could foise this on boys, but take a look at prom after party pics or spring break with girls virtually BEGGING for the old in-out

    (Denise) Young teen girls still usually experience PREGNANCY as a disaster. Otherwise there would be no demand for the painful and morally troubling operation of abortion by this group and there is such a demand.
    Teens and pregnancy is a complicated subject. A “pregnant teen” may be a 19 years old and MARRIED — yes, even already married at the time of conception. A “pregnant teen” can also be unmarried and 13.
    However, I think it’s safe to say that the majority of unmarried teen females still think of a pregnancy as a disaster.

  • http://www.false-accusers.com TheManOnTheStreet

    ah yes… boys are the monsters that only care about one thing… and control themselves…. rapist in the making……and those poor poor widdow virtuous girls!

    Right….Come on into the 21st century when you get a moment Denise….

    TMOTS

  • fourthwire

    Denise: “However, I think it’s safe to say that the majority of unmarried teen females still think of a pregnancy as a disaster.”

    fourthwire: The parents of those boys who impregnate unmarried teen girls also think of pregnancy as a disaster….. particularly in those cases where the unmarried teen girls give birth.

    As is the case with female pedophiles, boys’ parents are forced to pay child support (at least until their sons reach their 18th birthday….. at which the sons are forced to pay, pay, pay.).

    And unlike the teenaged girls, the boys and the parents of the boys have zero say in terms of their obligations and financial responsibilities, thanks to feminazi-inspired reproductive laws.

  • Demosthenes

    As men we are lectured ad nauseam about the fundamental superiority of women over men:
    • Women are able to think more rationally.
    • Women can make better choices, especially under pressure.
    • Women can understand complex issues, including politics, more easily.
    • Women’s brains are superior to men’s due to some (disputed) studies claiming that women tend to have a slightly larger corpus callosum than men.
    • Women have special, innate, or better-developed intuitive or multitasking abilities than men.

    Yet when it comes inevitably back to women taking responsibility for their own actions, it is those stupid but EVIL MEN that nevertheless are able to seduce/manipulate “women-children” without their apparent consent.

    Additionally, the greatest rise in illegitimacy is in the 26-40 year old range of women who should know better.

  • http://mensnewsdaily.com/author/denise-noe/ Denise Noe

    amfortas said,

    Yep, I can just see it. The girl would be in ‘fear’, never mind the boy. Her dreams of ‘empowerment’ and ‘girls just wanna have furn’ poppin’ like soap burbles. There’s that good ol’ Rapist dad, a’cleanin’ his gurn. Mum cringing, silent, unmentioned, in ‘fear’ doing the dishes (chained to the double-sink, with refuse disposal and aerated fawcets of course). A typical 911 scenario if ever there was one.

    (Denise) I don’t see how the song indicates that the Dad is in any way a rapist or incestuous. He loves his daughter the way a father ought to love his daughter which is to want her to “go out and have some fun” without having to later worry herself sick over a pregnancy or go through the actual trauma of a pregnancy.

    amfortas: So Rodney ‘remembers’ a speech night, does he. No artistic licence at all? One wonders what the speech was about.

    (Denise) It’s about the father’s love for his daughter and how she deserves respect and how he’ll be up when the couple gets back “probably still cleaning this gun.”

    amfortas: There’s a lot more for Rodney to be scared shitless about than a fellow rapist getting his dominator in good order. But he ain’t singing about that. No record sales in tellin’ it like it is.

    (Denise) Where in the world does “fellow rapist” come in? This is about a responsible, protective father and a teen boy. The vast majority of men and of teen boys are not rapists.

    amfortas: As if a modern dad has ANY say in what his daughter does ! Hah ! Lord a’ Mercy. “Yeah we think she’s something else”. Well that one’s spot on! Appearances deceive. “She deserves respect/That’s what she’ll get/Ain’t it son?”. The cops answering the 911 will make sure of that, dad, by hauling your arse away just for opening your mouth. No need to bring poor, deluded Rodney into it. Placing restrictions of your lil’ girl’s ‘freedom of expression’ with ‘emotional violence’ is enough, tangential or otherwise.

    (Denise) Again, the father wants his daughter to “got out and have some fun.” Just not the kind that leads to nervously worrying if her menstrual period is late, having a fetus ripped to pieces out of her womb, or having a baby when she is not yet in a good position to take care of it.

    amforts: for Rodney, the disrespect for himself goes right over his head. Keep plucking the guitar, son. Your turn will come.

    (Denise) The song ends with the singer now a father and planning to give an identical speech to his daughter’s date.

  • http://mensnewsdaily.com/author/denise-noe/ Denise Noe

    fourthwire said,

    Denise: “However, I think it’s safe to say that the majority of unmarried teen females still think of a pregnancy as a disaster.”

    fourthwire: The parents of those boys who impregnate unmarried teen girls also think of pregnancy as a disaster….. particularly in those cases where the unmarried teen girls give birth.

    (Denise) Some might consider it worse for the pregnancy to be aborted. Those parents might think of the unborn as a grandson or granddaughter and be more upset if the pregnancy is terminated. I remember reading about an adult man who had a break into multiple personality disorder that was brought on when his girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes.

    fourthwire: As is the case with female pedophiles, boys’ parents are forced to pay child support (at least until their sons reach their 18th birthday….. at which the sons are forced to pay, pay, pay.).

    (Denise) Perhaps the song portrays a father who is in cahoots with the moms and dads of his daughter’s dates. The boy’s parents called the girl’s dad up and said something like, “You know how impulsive kids can be. Could you put a little bit of a fright into our son so he’ll know better than to try to have sex with your daughter and mess up all of our lives?”
    As for those teen boys’ parents who had to pay women who were impregnated by the boys when the latter were too young to consent, I think it would be a good idea if child support responsibility was always voided when the sex took place with a boy or man who was in no position to give consent. Heck, I think we should consider making pregnancy under such circumstances grounds to automatically take custody away from the mother.

  • fourthwire

    Denise: “Some might consider it worse for the pregnancy to be aborted. Those parents might think of the unborn as a grandson or granddaughter and be more upset if the pregnancy is terminated. I remember reading about an adult man who had a break into multiple personality disorder that was brought on when his girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes.”

    fourthwire: Some might indeed, but in either case, the boy and the boy’s parents are given zero reproductive rights. And if the boy is a few years older than the girl, he risks becoming a juvenile sex offender (often at the wishes of the girl’s male-hating mother).

    My point is that you want to focus on the teenaged girls involved and THEIR risks. I was providing a perspective that you apparently lacked.

    Denise: “Perhaps the song portrays a father who is in cahoots with the moms and dads of his daughter’s dates. The boy’s parents called the girl’s dad up and said something like, “You know how impulsive kids can be. Could you put a little bit of a fright into our son so he’ll know better than to try to have sex with your daughter and mess up all of our lives?”"

    fourthwire: In that case, the father was a sexist pig for not calling up the girl’s dad to tell him to put “a little bit of fright” into his daughter so that he’ll know better than to try to have sex with my son and mess up all of our lives!”.

    Denise: “As for those teen boys’ parents who had to pay women who were impregnated by the boys when the latter were too young to consent, I think it would be a good idea if child support responsibility was always voided when the sex took place with a boy or man who was in no position to give consent.”

    fourthwire: No. Make child support payments COMPLETELY voluntary so that boys’ parents (and adult men!) don’t have to endure being financially raped by thoughtless, greedy, egotistical women.

    You would be surprised at how women’s memory about birth control pills will improve when those women cannot count on getting the power of law enforcement to force men to pay, pay, pay.

    Don’t support the financial rape of men, Denise.

    If you don’t like being forced to provide sex to men against your will, don’t support men being forced to pay for it, against THEIR will.

    Men (and boys) deserve the same reproductive choices that women (and girls!) already enjoy. Don’t be a hypocrite.

    Forced child support is slavery, pure and simple.

    And it’s the feminazis who forced that bit of misandry through Congress, teaming up with those in support of welfare reform.

  • fourthwire

    Sorry, typo in my second rebuttal: “In that case, the father was a sexist pig for not calling up the girl’s dad to tell him to put “a little bit of fright” into his daughter so that SHE will know better than to try to have sex with my son and mess up all of our lives!”.

    My point was that teenaged girls can and do initiate sex with boys and ought to SHARE in the “fear” provided by backwards bumpkins such as the one that you apparently refer to.

    Raising a child to make good decisions and exercise good judgment through fear isn’t necessarily smart, effective, or even an efficient means of teaching youngsters how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

    And since I lived in a nation that’s several orders of magnitude BETTER than American society seems to be at educating their children, you can take that one to the bank.

  • http://mensnewsdaily.com/author/denise-noe/ Denise Noe

    fourthwire said,

    Sorry, typo in my second rebuttal: “In that case, the father was a sexist pig for not calling up the girl’s dad to tell him to put “a little bit of fright” into his daughter so that SHE will know better than to try to have sex with my son and mess up all of our lives!”.

    My point was that teenaged girls can and do initiate sex with boys>>

    (Denise) They sure do.
    Although I was not sexually active in high school, in my adult life I was frequently the initiator in relationships with men.
    Maury is always having programs in which young teen girls brag about seeking sex with boys. Sometimes they even say they are TRYING to get pregnant.
    I don’t have any doubt that females can be horny. I have a friend who knew a family that had a prepubescent girl who had to have special gloves put on her hands to prevent her from harming her skin because she was masturbating so frequently. From the age of about 12 to my early 20s, I averaged 6-18 orgasms a day and that could probably match or exceed that of the fellows.

    fourthwire: and ought to SHARE in the “fear” provided by backwards bumpkins such as the one that you apparently refer to.

    (Denise) I believe the narrator of the song is not necessarily unaware that teen girls can be horny. Rather, he probably assumes that pregnancy is a built-in cost for the girl and that the physical costs of pregnancy — morning sickness, weight gain, etc. — are a biological basis for her fears. Of course, as I pointed out, some girls may actually think they are equipped to be good mothers when young teens and be willing to shoulder the biologically based costs of pregnancy. However, I think it’s safe to say that, in this particular song, the girl’s biologically based fear is assumed and the father is trying to even things out by “putting the fear of God” in the boy.

    fourthwire: Raising a child to make good decisions and exercise good judgment through fear isn’t necessarily smart, effective, or even an efficient means of teaching youngsters how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

    (Denise) It can actually backfire. People of both sexes who become sexual addicts — and even sexual criminals — are often those who were terrorized about sexuality during their childhoods and adolescences. Too much fear can lead to obsession which can even lead to a compulsion to act out the thing feared.

    fourthwire: And since I lived in a nation that’s several orders of magnitude BETTER than American society seems to be at educating their children, you can take that one to the bank.

    (Denise) What country is that?

  • Rick

    All the issues and discussions concerning whether it is morally justifiable for “dad” to protect daughter’s virtue, the fact is this song (like many others on the radio) advocates/lends approval to acts or threatened acts that are against the law. Period. End of any other concievable justifications. This song tells us it’s OK to tell anther person that if they don’t behave in a certain way, deadly force may be used against them. “It’s all in fun, nobody’s gonna get hurt” (or words close to that, if memory serves me correct) are heard towards the end of the song. If it were me picking up this guy’s daughter and heard those words, my cell phone would be out calling the police within seconds, and I can also say with some certainty that this girl would be having some difficuly in getting ANYONE with half a brain to go out with, or even come near her, after the news of what her father does spreads around her school. I for one am tired of musicians like Akins using their musical median to advocate actions that are ILLEGAL.






Search