Female Fighting and the "Male Dance"

Fights involving males are often less extreme than fights involving females. Carl Nelson stated, "Girls try to totally dishonor or embarrass their adversaries. Then they try to mark them up for life so their opponent remembers she had a fight with so and so." Chuck Hibbert agreed, "I would rather deal with ten male fights than anything that has to do with females."

So why are male fights "easier" to handle? Perhaps because of the "male dance" - a somewhat predictable routine of posturing and talking. It seems that most males know that if they fight, there is a probability for some injury. The "male dance" is a way to avoid fighting while still saving face. Chuck Hibbert explains, "Most of the fights that you see between males involve a lot of dancing around because they are really looking for someone to intervene." By "dancing" around and provoking the opponent, young men can maximize the chances that an adult will intervene and thus prevent the fight.

Make no mistake, however. When males engage in the "dance," the situation becomes volatile and the likelihood of a fight occurring is high. Often, other students from the crowd can incite or even initiate the fight. George Jennings suggests, "Boys will kind of puff their chests out and then wait for a crowd to get around them. Usually they will say 'you hit me so I'll hit you,' or 'I'll hit you when you hit me.' They will do that for several minutes before even starting to fight. What usually causes the fight is when a student in the crowd pushes one of the combatants into the other one." Thus, the need for crowd control in theses circumstances becomes paramount. See "How to Intervene in a Fight" for more information.