With the ever increasing wave of feminism arising this century, it is important to travel back in time and explore the life of one of the most distinguished American feminists: Annie Oakley. With her sharp shooting skills and her ideology that women are as independent as men, she believed women should be taught how to shoot and to be able to carry a gun with them for emergency protection. Oakley opened the door to future feminist movements in addition to her own. Through her social status and her ability to take on any male opponent, she proved that being a woman does not limit a person’s ability to hold any position in society or perform any activity.
Given name Phoebe Ann Moses, Annie Oakley was born in 1860 and suffered through a dramatic upbringing in which she experienced the loss of her biological father as well as her step-father, along with being sent away to a farm; she lived with a different family where she was forced to perform arduous labor both inside and outside of the household. 1 After years of being treated as a slave and being repeatedly abused on the farm, she returned home where she was then forced to pay her mother’s $200 monthly mortgage at the age of fifteen. She took to shooting game, which she had learned from her father at a young age, to sell to nearby hotels and marketplaces in order to meet the mortgage payment. After boasting for years about her shooting skills, she found herself invited to a challenge against one of the best shooters at the time, Frank E. Butler. When she shot against him, he was amazed at her skills and became fond of her after she won the challenge, and the two married shortly thereafter. The two traveled throughout the country and were invited to star in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. After performing with her husband and allowing him the main spotlight throughout their relationship, Annie eventually reached a turning point in which she had become the star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, known as the “Champion Markswoman,” and Butler, feeling inferior beside her, retired and became her manager. 2
After sixteen years of extensive travelling to many countries, and given the incredible opportunity to meet many famous individuals along with kings and queens, Annie and her husband decided to quit the show and retire to a relaxing life in Cambridge, Maryland. Although she retired at an early age, she wrote to the current president at the time, William McKinley, asking to be sent to the front line in the Spanish-American War, to which she received no response. Then, when World War I erupted, Annie offered to hold shooting lessons in order to help teach young men how to shoot properly without injuring themselves or their fellow soldiers; however, her offer was declined. Years later, she decided to make her comeback and begin to perform in shows, but after a car accident, and then a train accident in which she was injured along with her husband, she was too frail to do much, and the Butlers relocated to Annie’s hometown where she worked on her memoirs, which would be published and distributed throughout the country.
Although there is still much debate today on whether Annie Oakley was truly an advocate for women’s equality in the United States or if she continued the “ladylike” expectations that were apparent in the country, it is clear that she was able to obtain a sense of belonging in what was a man’s world. She spent a large majority of her time helping to teach women how to shoot a gun safely, and it is estimated that she helped approximately fifteen thousand women to do so. Oakley is viewed as a complex woman today because she was seen as petite and fragile; however, she earned her place in society by her talent and ability to prove that she was just as capable, if not more, than any man at her time. In addition, her fame made her a public figure, which gave her power to stand up for other women at the time and produce a new image of women that had not been widely seen previously—that of independence. Contradictory to many beliefs, she did not politically take sides with other feminists of her time, but instead showed those around her that she possessed skills that were previously never demonstrated by a woman. 3 Oakley was very aware of her role in society, both in the United States and internationally, and made a point to be as feminine as she could be in order to show that even the most ladylike females are capable of doing tasks and performing “manly” activities. Along with being a sharp shooter, Annie took up riding a bicycle, which was also considered a “man’s sport” at the time, and made a point of showing that it should be acceptable for a woman to participate in sports and that these sports should not be confined to a specific gender. Oakley succeeded in making a name for women all across the world and proved to many countries that she traveled to that one’s gender makes no difference. She demonstrated that both genders are capable of participating in sports that had been male dominated in the centuries preceding her. 4
- Ron Soodalter, “Annie Oakley vs. Hearst’s Worst,” Wild West 27, no. 5 (February 2015): 30. ↵
- Mary E. Virginia, “Annie Oakley,” Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016, http://blume.stmarytx.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88806878&site=eds-live&scope=site. ↵
- Lisa Bernd, “Annie Oakley and the disruption of Victorian expectations,” Theatre Symposium 20 (2012): 42. ↵
- Sarah Russell Cansler, “Annie Oakley, Gender, and Guns: The ‘Champion Rifle Shot’ and Gender Performance, 1860-1926,” Pursuit: The Journal of Undergraduate Research at the University of Tennessee 5, no. 1 (March 2014): 164. ↵
This Post Has 60 Comments
I had no clue as to who Annie Oakley was until I read this great article. I admire that she wanted to teach young women and men to shoot a gun carefully, but can not understand why she got declined to do so. It was interesting to know that she came out in a show and became the star of it due to her great shooting skills.
Before reading this article, I was unaware of Annie Oakley. It seems unreal that at one-point activities such as riding a bicycle and shooting a gun was rare. The story of Oakley and her ability to become the “Champion Markswoman” during the 19th century is incredible. I am sure that being a woman at this time was difficult and society did not believe women were capable of “manly” activities. Regardless of whether Oakley was a contributor to the equality of women, her willingness to demonstrate that women were just as capable as men to partake in these activities play a vital role in instigating a conversation for women’s equality. Great article!
Annie Oakley is a woman that not many people have heard of at least I had not. She went through a lot in her life all the abuse really brought out her will to prove that a woman can do anything a man can if not better. The place she held in society was so influential and she changed how people saw many women.
I never knew who Annie Oakley was before reading this article. It is sad to hear how she was abused and treated like a slave when she younger. She was able to live through all those hard times and eventually had a better life when she met her husband. She didn’t let others influence her when they would tell her that she shouldn’t be doing things that men typically do.
This article was so interesting! I had no previous knowledge about who Annie Oakley was and how impactful her actions were as a woman marksman at the time. I admire her ability to fight against the odds of the era and learn how to shoot a gun, and shoot it really, really well. I’m also happy that she was able to teach so many women how to shoot a gun because it’s important and could be life-saving.
So shocking this is the first time I’ve heard of Annie Oakley. Horrible to hear of her being a slave and the abuse she suffered. She never gave up and got right back on her feet when she was rejected and put down. She worked for herself and was quite skilled with her shooting. Her having skills that were more foreign to women is a stance in itself.
Wow this article was a very good read and very well written. I honestly had zero clue who Annie Oakley was and knew nothing about her. Learning that she was abused and was a slave is so sad. She is such an inspiring women to look up to. I really learned alot reading this article and would totally recommend it to anyone!
I do believe Annie Oakley was truly one of the first females to have such feminist ideals. She pushed herself out of the norms that society held for women at this point in time and was not afraid. I was not very familiar with Annie Oakley, other than knowing her name, prior to reading this article, therefore it was very informative and helped me get to know who she really was. Everything she had to endure must have been hard, especially all of the abuse and rejection, but she still stood tall.
When I was in high school, my school did a production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun, which is based on Annie Oakley. Although the musical does get some of the details right, like Annie marrying Frank Butler, it did miss a lot of other important things, and this article is eye-opening to what a trailblazing woman Annie Oakley really was. I’m there were women in the past who were brave enough to stick up for themselves and pave the women for the women who came after them.
I never knew who Annie Oakley was but after learning about her, how she was abused and basically a slave. Then going to live with her mom and having to be the adult of her house. It makes her ability of a sharp shooter have a lot more meaning like a woman who was capable of taking care of herself and extremely carful.