Meet Jessica Jin, the creator of UT’s Campus Dildo Carry
#cocksnotglocks
A new law will allow handgun owners with a concealed carry license to pack heat on Texan campuses.
Private colleges may opt out of the law, but public schools like UT Austin cannot. In response, many professors and staff at UT have made “gun free zones” to include classrooms and lecture theaters. Those opposed to the new law have gathered behind many events, the most intriguing being UT alumni Jessica Jin’s Campus (DILDO) Carry.
People will carry dildos — which were banned in Texas until 2008, and are currently banned on the UT campus — in protest of the law. What started out as a joke Facebook event among friends quickly grew into a huge movement with over 10,000 people interested.
As a result, thousands have raised various sex toys in August at UT to protest a tumultuous gun culture with comedic sexual freedom.
We spoke to the talented and raw Jessica Jin, who raised questions about guns, sex, and protest in the 21st Century.
UT alum, Jessica Jin
What were your motives behind the protest?
It began as a joke. I was listening to pundits talking about the shootings at Texas Southern University and Umpqua Community College in October, and these guys kept saying things like, “We don’t know what to do about it, there’s no solution to this…” and I said to myself, “These guys are a bunch of dildos.” I messaged some friends about it and bet them that it’s against school rules to brandish a dildo in class, when starting next fall, students will be able to conceal carry guns. Sure enough, the school rules follow Texas Penal Code guidelines on obscenity and dildos, and I thought it was just too funny to not bring attention to it.
Did you have any hesitation or worry beforehand? What was the overall feeling you had before creating the event on Facebook?
I didn’t mean for it to blow up the way it did. I invited some friends and peers simply hoping to get a good laugh out of them. I wasn’t even sure if it would be a real thing. It was more of a silly suggestion. So I wasn’t at all prepared for it to be a big deal, but now here I am planning a very real demonstration.
How does it feel that over 10,000 people are signed up for Campus (Dildo) Carry?
Exhilarating. If people are still excited about this in the fall, it will be a grand spectacle for sure. I originally thought it would be a silent act of defiance among students against campus carry, where they would simply strap a dildo to their backpack and go to class acting like nothing had changed. It would do well to reflect the purported “harmless” nature of concealed carry, reminding everyone that people are packing heat, and that packing heat is obnoxious. But now people are talking about flying in from out of town to attend, so I’m working on ways to engage them to help push for a shift in attitudes about gun culture in the US, and hopefully, eventually, some real political change.
Art by Aubrey Langford, ‘A Well Armed Populace is the Best Defense Against Fear’
What do you feel the protest says about the current state of events and state of mind in Texas?
Texas is currently the epicenter of the gun debate in the US. An overwhelming majority of professors at UT Austin (over 1500 now) oppose guns in their classrooms. UT is one of the top research universities in the world, and our teachers are some of the brightest minds in their respective fields. When a large group of people smarter than you are, telling you that something is wrong, something is wrong. People around the world agree that campus carry is a terrible idea. So now we have this law, which is the result of a minority prioritizing their individual rights over the rights of the majority of the society they live in. When this happens, one should expect there to be an uproar. The battle is turning our learning environment into an outright circus. The Dildo Carry is going to help make sure everyone notices what a circus the Texas School System has become because of this law.
There has been a lot of media and attention about Campus (Dildo) Carry, has anyone interesting contacted you?
Oh man, the support from the sex industry has been incredible. We probably won’t have to worry much about supplying protestors with gear. Some people are calling this a mini revival of some of the “make love, not war” 60s counterculture, and I really love the frank sex-positive, feminist, sociological conversations that have become a major side effect of this protest. I for one need to focus on the issue at hand, which is chipping away at the root problems that make American students feel like there is a chance that they might not survive a school day unless they bring a gun to protect themselves. Their fears are valid, but campus carry is a very problematic and incomplete solution.
What are the reactions you have received?
I didn’t expect this to resonate with so many people. I guess it caught on because it makes a lot of sense to equate a gun to a big dick, a traditional symbol of power. For the unfortunate minority of people who did not understand it, they’re offended. They’ve written lots of colorful comments about my character, my race, my gender, my sex life. They’ve released my address and contact information to thousands of their followers and asked them to harass me. They’ve written things that are supposed to make me fear for my life. It’s not cool. But it also proves my point that these people claim they’re “responsible gun owners” who could take down a mass shooter in a stressful and chaotic situation, but they clearly can’t even stay calm in the presence of a bunch of sex toys. They’re also happy to threaten the safety and sanity of a young woman to try to prove a point. That’s not the type of person that citizens should want defending them.
What do you want people to take away from Campus (Dildo) Carry?
Gun culture has become so normalized that we’re numb to the fact that it’s absurd and obnoxious to live in a society where we constantly have to be on high alert. Well-meaning citizens with concealed and openly carried firearms only exacerbate this attitude. Campus (Dildo) Carry takes something that is actually harmless, but which people still have the energy to gasp and feel shocked about, to remind them that they should feel the same amount of shock, if not more, about college students having to protect themselves with guns in their own classrooms. This proliferation of dildos should offer people a visual representation of what it would be like if we all carried guns. It’s supposed to look ridiculous to you. People no longer react to bloodshed and violence, but for some amazing reason, they’re paying attention to our cocks.