What do You Think of Girls With Guns?

The gun-toting femme fatale has been clawing and shooting her way into movieland, but just how do Malaysian women identify with girls-with-guns? We ask TV beauties Chermaine Poo and Jojo Struys.

She’s the lean, mean killing machine who’s been giving her spandex-wearing male counterpart a run for his money.

You’ve probably seen her in the tightly leathered form of a certain Miss Jolie, as a gun-toting schoolgirl in last year’s Kick-Ass, and most recently, as the lingerie-clad avengers in the racy teen-boy favourite, Sucker Punch, to name a few.

Yes, the deadly femme fatale has been clawing and shooting her way into macho territory.

Gone are the days when sneering and spreading rumours are enough to make a girl look mean. Reel women now go for the kill, making guns the latest cinematic fashion must-have. But while the likes of Jolie make firing machine guns look like a walk in the park, just how much has popular culture seeped into the traditionally female psyche?

More importantly, what do Malaysian women think about girls with guns?

Looking bright and perky in a bright pink top, Chermaine Poo may well be mistaken for a high-school cheerleader. But the petite beauty is quick to make her stand: “I’m definitely no damsel in distress,” she says with a laugh.

As a matter of fact, the pretty little miss is a professional shooter. Yes, you read right. Poo, who first gained fame as the runner-up of the Miss Universe Malaysia 2005 pageant, knows her way with guns.

“I take pride in my accuracy,” she says, her wide eyes gleaming. Leaning forward on a couch at the City Square Shooting Gallery in Menara TKSS, Kuala Lumpur, Poo recalls the thrill of firing a gun for the very first time.

“It was at my uncle’s farm in Pahang when I was very young, and it was a full-on rifle! My dad used to shoot as well, and he took me shooting one day. It must have been a fluke but I remember hitting a bird,” she recalls. source