“I ain't afraid to love a man. I ain't afraid to shoot him either.”

This peppery proclamation did not originate with me (I wish it had), but was first expressed by one of my all-time favorite heroines: Annie Oakley.

Free. Fierce. Fearless. Focused. She was the exact opposite of today’s proud “me-too” victims who are set before us as examples of courage. Why? Because – let’s say – they continued to work for a man who made inappropriate advances; then 20 years later, whimperingly exclaimed, “Oh, my. He was such a brute. I was so helpless.” And then sued him.

Annie just would have shot him.

My father taught me (I remember so vividly) that if a man ever came at me with lascivious intent, I should just kick him in the groin. I never had to do that, but on at least one occasion, I did flounce out the door, slam it behind me, and quit. My mother did the same years earlier when her boss chased her around her desk in his office. Hey. It happens. Out the door. Bye-bye, Bad Boy. So-called “glass ceiling” be damned. We can always get another job.

Annie Oakley knew this.

She did not ask for permission to achieve independence or greatness.

She did not pattern herself after anyone, but created a pattern for us to admire and emulate.

She did not blame others if she failed. She kept at it until she got it right.

And she did not wait for life to happen. She marched up to it, aimed her rifle, hit the bullseyes, and enjoyed everything that followed.

That Annie Oakley did it better than anyone else was a Fact of Life and a celebration of her elegant and intelligent nature.

Oh, wait. Did I forget to tell you why she was so celebrated and what she did?

Well, Annie Oakley was a sharp shooter. Considered by many to be one of the best who ever lived. Born in 1860 to poor tenant farmers in Ohio, she suffered a bunch of “Perils of Pauline” type tribulations (both her father and stepfather died, leaving her mother and eight siblings in dire poverty). The Annie Oakley Center Foundation tells us that when she was just eight years old, "She took her father’s percussion rifle down from the fireplace,” stuffed it full of gunpowder, went out, and shot a rabbit. One rabbit was followed by hundreds more, which she sold to local merchants, and in such a way, helped her family to thrive.

Fast forward to 1875 when, at age 15, Annie was visiting her sister in Cincinnati. Knowledge of her shooting prowess got her an invitation to compete against famous sharpshooter Frank Butler. Pigeons were released from a trap for the contest, and excitement mounted as Annie and Frank matched bird for bird … until Frank Butler missed his last shot. Annie won, and Frank felt an affront to his fragile masculinity. Right?

WRONG!!!

Annie dazzled him. She entranced him. She bewitched him. He loved her skill. Her competence. Her confidence. Within months (after she turned 16) they got married. Thus began a life-long dual career that only ended 45 years later after Annie Oakley died on November 23, 1926 at age 66. Her beloved Frank, distraught and lonely, died 18 days later.

Theirs was a love affair for the ages. And their careers were so exciting, adventure-filled, and romantic, they were fictionalized in movies, dramatized in an Irving Berlin musical, turned into at least one TV series, and much more.

Not long after they married, Annie and Frank joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, a traveling circus that brought mock battles between cowboys and Indians to excitement-starved crowds. Stagecoaches were robbed, horses galloped, and ranch hands did fancy rope tricks. Even the great Sioux Chief Sitting Bull performed. The biggest attraction of all in the show, however, was its pretty and petite star: Annie Oakley.

Bill Harriman wrote In a July 23, 2016 article that she “would  skip into the ring, tripping, bowing and  blowing kisses to the audience. Frank  threw targets, launched glass balls and  generally ran the act’s props. Annie would deliberately miss the first few targets  and stamp her feet in frustration before  shooting the remainder in straight shots.”

It was entertaining. It was spectacular. It was fun. As to Annie herself, the audience was entranced not only by her performance, but also by her femininity. Unlike the rough and tumble way in which she is often portrayed (in real life, Annie always wore dresses), she was a lady, tip to toe. Beautiful inside and out, she was only five feet tall and slender, with sharp edged features and piercing eyes.

The values of heroism, masculinity, and honor are often sneered at nowadays. As such, we need Annie Oakley. In her long and fabulous career, she was not afraid to be fierce; she was not afraid to be “a lady.” She did not hesitate to express bold opinions about self-worth; about a “woman’s role;” and about relationships between the sexes. She fought for what she believed, and she never compromised when it came to her reputation or her integrity.

Sometimes – and this is one of them – we have to look to the past for inspiration. Since Annie said it all, said it first, and said it better than I could, I am going to zip my lip for the rest of this paean, and let that remarkable woman speak for herself.

“Aim for the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success.

“Even in the best and most peacefully civilized countries many occasions arise when a woman versed in the knowledge and use of firearms may find that information and skill of great importance.

“Housework is work directly opposed to the possibility of human self-actualization.

“If love means that one person absorbs the other, then no real relationship exists any more. Love evaporates; there is nothing left to love. The integrity of self is gone.

“There are always women who will take men on their own terms. If I were a man, I wouldn’t bother to change while there are women like that around.

“When a man hits a target, they call him a marksman. When I hit a target, they call it a trick. Never did like that much.

“Families are nothing other than the idolatry of duty.

“Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman’s natural fitness for the career of a mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.”

And my all-time favorite Annie Oakley quote of all:

“I aim to misbehave.”

Copyright © Shelly Reuben, 2024. Shelly Reuben’s books have been nominated for Edgar, Prometheus, and Falcon awards. For more about her writing, visit www.shellyreuben.com.