Learning the Hard Way: Masculinity, Place, and the Gender Gap in Education

8. Friday Night Fights

150 Chapter 8 Friday Night Fights When I first told Kevin at Clayton that I was writing a book about high school student life, he responded immediately, “Well, you’ll have to put a lot in there about fighting.” Although his statement might appear to be flippant, I found that fighting was indeed an important part of school life at both Clayton and Woodrow Wilson. Fights occurred regularly and were popular aspects of school life—a sort of underground sport, which, perhaps even more than school-sanctioned sports, paraded and tested masculinity. Not only were the willingness and ability to defend oneself physically (and harm an opponent) enduring signals of masculine power, but fighting also brazenly defied institutional rules and decorum. Interestingly, however, boys were not the only fighters at school. Girls at both schools got into fights, some of them in ways that were indistinguishable from the boys’ approaches. Fighting, Masculinity, and School Life Fighting provokes a flood of emotions arising from both the fight itself and from people’s views about the act of fighting. Fighting also tends to vary according to social location, as evidenced by the fact that engagement in fighting is divided along class lines. Table 8.1 shows that, as income increases, the likelihood of student fighting decreases. This does not mean that lowerincome students are belligerent, but the data do show that, for whatever reason, fights are more common among disadvantaged youth. Yet I do not want my analysis to feed the hysterical assumption that schools, especially low-income ones, are rife with violence (Devine 1996). Fighting certainly occurred during my fieldwork, and students certainly enjoyed talking about it, Friday Night Fights 151 but by no means did it control the climate of either school. Therefore, instead of documenting acts of school violence, I want to dissect the conditions that necessitated physical confrontation and examine how such confrontations affected masculinity and femininity. Although the frequency of fighting might vary according to income, getting into a fight often serves as a visceral rite of passage for boys in any segment of our society—including myself. When I think back to my first fight, I am reminded of the pain, outrage, exhilaration, and force that can come from physical violence. I am not exactly a natural fighter. My only real physical confrontation occurred when I was in seventh grade and attending a school football game with a friend. As we were walking to a dimly lit concession stand, a group of boys from the rival school suddenly attacked us. In what must have looked like an absurd wrestling match, my attackers and I became a flurry of arms, legs, fists, grunts, and cries. Time accelerated but also seemed to stand still. At that moment the only thing that existed was the fight and the immediate imperative (in my mind) of survival. My friend and I eventually succeeded in fending off our assailants, who left as suddenly as they had emerged. And that was it. As powerfully as I had experienced the initial shock of being attacked, I now experienced the intense elation of having survived and, indeed, succeeded. My ribs and face ached, but my friend and I buoyantly recalled our surprise, bravery, and newfound physical prowess. For the first time in my life, I felt like a man. Few other social acts so profoundly convey the raw power, aggression, and pain that seem to be fundamental to manhood. As Ann Ferguson (2000) Table 8.1 Percentage of Students Ages 12–18 Who Answered Yes or No When Asked If They Had Been Involved in a Physical Fight in School, 2005 Household Income Yes No Less than $7,500 8.8* 91.2 $7,500–14,999 12.8 87.2 $15,000–24,999 11.5 88.5 $25,000–34,999 5.5 94.5 $35,000–49,999 4.6 95.4 $50,000 or more 3.5 96.5 Source: National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety, 2007 (http://www.nces.ed.gov). *Interpret with caution due to large standard error.` 152 learning the hard way states in her lucid analysis of fighting and school, “fighting is the emblematic ritual performance of male power” (193). Among the disadvantaged African American boys she studies, fighting promises masculine power, particularly for those who have been pushed away from school and seek to create a reputation through...