Sports/Social Issues in Recent Decades,

Sports/Social Issues

In recent decades, the increase in level of violence exhibited by young girls has skyrocketed, along with a general increase in the amount of females entering the nation's penitentiary system. According to authors Miller and White, in an article entitled "Situational Effects of Gender Inequality," "Girls' violence is produced within social contexts of extreme gender inequality. How and when girls choose to adopt violent strategies, as well as when and how girls negotiation within potentially violent situations...each of these is best understood by recognizing the significance of contextual construction of unequal power relations and gender asymmetries." (Miller and White: 186).

This theme of contextual construction of unequal power relations and gender asymmetries as the reason for the increase in the rate of violence among girls is a theme that runs across all the essays found in the anthology entitled Girls' Violence. The book, which is a collection of scholarly articles on the topic of girls and violence, brings together an international view on the subject. Such questions as whether or not violent acts committed by females has actually increased or is the phenomena more akin to a recent uncovering of the truth that has always been there and that the media has recently focused on. Further, the articles challenge the practice of defining violence differently between girls and boys, in a way that some so called violent behavior committed by a girl would, if committed by a boy, be considered "boys being boys."

One of the most interesting angles that this book takes is a critical look at the correlation between girls' violence and such broader, societal issues as social construction and social control that is placed on adolescent females and their femininities. It is this concept of society's role in female violence that the authors refer to as "contextual construction of unequal power relations and gender asymmetries. In other words, the authors of this particular essay argue that it is because of the various inequities that young girls face that cause violent behavior to surface.

This is similar to boy behavior. When a boy gets frustrated due to being unable to get over some form of restraint, many will often revert to some form of violence. However, more often than not, society views this behavior as being a normal act of aggression and not violent. Yet, when a girl does the same thing, it is seen as abnormal behavior and violent. This is just one example of how contextual construction of unequal power relations influences the violent behavior of girls.

Because girls, particularly adolescents, are seen as being unequal by society at large, girls tend to develop a feeling of being less important and not having any power. Thus, to compensate for this, girls develop inner-hierarchies among themselves- each with their own leaders, groups and power struggles. It is within this quasi-society that the phenomenon of girls' violence is most often seen.

For example, within these various girl groups are found sub-groups. Often times these sub-groups are divided along lines of race and class. Within each group there are specific girls that can best be described as the Alpha Female and typically gather a following through misogynist and ablesit practices. Although there are actions of violence that occur within these individual groups, there are also acts of violence that occur between separate groups.

One of the most common forms of this group-mentality violence is what is commonly referred to as bullying. Although bullying is not always physically violent, it is almost always emotionally and/or psychologically violent. This is the type of violence that sees the non-leader girls doing whatever it takes to win the favor of the girl leader and thus gain acceptance into the group. Often times this requires picking out a certain female, either from another group or a non-associated girl, and singling her out for unfair, violent and demeaning behavior. By "beating up" on one girl, who is typically powerless, the other girl (and the group) are able to easily gain a sense of power and entitlement in which they are unable to acquire from society at large.

However, sometimes this bullying escalates to actual acts of violence. Although the purpose and reasoning for the actions often remain the same, the action becomes more dangerous. The common explanation for this is that by taking extreme action, a girl is able to get more attention, both from within the girl community and, most importantly, from society at large. This violent behavior exhibited by girls is done in almost a martyr type of mentality. By committing the act of violent despite the known consequences, the girl is able to solidify their spot at the top of the power pyramid, thus striking fear in some girls and admiration in others. Either way, the girl who commits the act of violence has just solidified her power, either through a power from fear or a power that is derived from an almost idolization outlook.