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. ↵
124 comments
Cheyanne Redman
I have never heard of Anne Oakley prior to this read, but I feel she really changed the way women were portrayed. She gave women a light to choose their own way of living by giving them the choice to break away from societies conformities because of what she tried to do. It gave readers an inside look onto how society portrayed women during this time, yet Anne showed that they portrayals are all wrong. Interesting read.
Natalie Childs
I enjoyed this article and really like the introduction. While I had known a little about Annie Oakley and her time in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, I had never known about her upbringing, and just how she got to be where she was. Her requests to help out in the time of war are pretty disheartening, since the offer probably would have been taken up had she been a man. While she may not have been what we would consider a feminist now, she really did show how much women can actually do.
Marlene Lozano
I remember hearing the name, Annie Oakley but I do not remember the details of who she is. This article is very informative in what Annie represented as an advocate for women. It is amazing how Oakley tried to change the image of how a woman was supposed to act. Overall this was a great and I would recommend it to other people.
Anna Guaderrama
I always heard the name Annie Oakley growing up in history classes, but I guess I never paid much attention since this is the first time I actually learn about her. I remember I even went to three academic competitions and the wifi password always had Annie Oakley as the name, but I never took the time to learn about who this amazing woman was and why she is so famous. Though time and age still pass by I think the legacy she created for herself is interesting because of how unique it is.
Jason Garcia
I had always heard about Annie Oakley as if she was a fictional character, I had no idea that she was an actual person! I find it fascinating that even way back then there were women that stood up for what they believed when everyone else said they couldn’t. whether or not she was an advocate for women’s rights she became a symbol that triumphed over sexist laws in this country.
Kayla Lopez
This article really caught my attention because is a great amount of feminism in today’s day and age. It was nice to know that Annie Oakley did not take a stand for feminism directly through politics but instead by her own abilities. The fact that she did many things that were only considered as, “things men did” such as shooting and riding a bike, allowed her to show that women were and are more than capable of doing things men can do.
Mariah Cavanaugh
Reading your article was a fantastic learning experience. There were countless women that came before us that paved the way for women’s rights, Annie Oakley is one of them. I understand that there are those who argue that she wasn’t truly an advocate for women’s equality. What cannot be argued is that she saw the importance of being an independent woman and helped many other women along the way.
Megan Barnett
Wonderful article, I had never heard of Annie Oakley before this but I think you did a great job of explaining the name she made in history! Her story is very inspiring as I am sure many people would not have been capable of going through what she had to, while turning it into something that helped thousands of other people.
Mariet Loredo
Before reading this article, I had never heard of Annie Oakley, her story is interesting though. She is a women who broke the standards women had in the past, by knowing how to shoot a gun, and knowing how to shoot it very well. I admire who she wanted to teach young boys how to shoot to be prepared for war, and even though they never let her I still find it fascinating that she offered that help even though she was a women.
Matthew Rios
Lets be honest, in this time period to be handling weapons the way she did is astounding. We can’t measure the affect she had on women, but if she shot guns the way you say she did then I can imagine she inspired a great deal of people. To put things into perspective I suppose, the leader of the NRA today uses a brilliant woman spokesperson to push the protection of gun rights. It’s nice to see how far they’ve come in all aspects of life, and especially the one most notable in Texas, gun rights advocation!