Thursday, February 23, 2012

News Flash: Yeardley Love, George Huguely, and Patriarchy



Yesterday, a jury handed down a conviction sentence of second-degree murder to George Huguely for the murder of Yeardley Love after nine hours of deliberation.  The death was and is a serious tragedy for all of college sports, but particularly for the University of Virginia and its lacrosse programs.  One of the really unfortunate things about the murder is the effect on lacrosse nationally, as it is now starting to have a certain stigma associated with it, particularly after this and the Duke men’s lacrosse scandal, even though it ended up being false charges.  However, the effect on lacrosse is only one part of the story.  Particularly interesting is the thought that these cases never would have occurred or been alleged if more of society were educated about how our society is based on a patriarchy and the events that result from it.  Education systems in the United States need to teach the fundamentals of patriarchy and the unintended consequences that result from it in everyday life.
            George Huguely grew up outside of Washington, DC, and spent his high school years as a prominent sports star at Landon, a prep school well known in the area for its sports.  He excelled at lacrosse and was the quarterback of the football team, likely instilling a feeling of being at the top of his high school socially.  From Landon, Huguely was accepted at the University of Virginia and was a member of the lacrosse team.  Playing lacrosse at UVA is a big deal in the world of NCAA athletics, as they are fairly well known as one of the top schools to play for in college, if not the number one school, due to its recent success. It is likely that Huguely felt as though he was doing exceedingly well in his life so far, which is a fairly accurate statement.  As much as I would not like for it to be true, these feelings certainly may have contributed to his reckless lifestyle choices when it came to drinking and a lack of accountability down the road.
            Yeardley Love grew up in a similar setting, in Baltimore, Maryland.  She, too, was an athletic star, playing both field hockey and lacrosse in high school before being admitted to the University of Virginia.  At UVA, she also was a part of the varsity lacrosse team.    She and Huguely dated for a time, yet both ended up cheating on the other at different times, which resulted in a bumpy relationship.  Huguely had a history with alcohol, with two alcohol related arrests.  During one of the mishaps, Huguely resisted arrest and officers were forced to taser him to control him.  How much of this was known at the time by Love and his friends is unknown, but in hindsight, it is clear that there were underlying problems that would prove to be problematic.  Huguely himself knew alcohol had become a problem; in a letter to Love, he wrote that, “Alcohol is ruining my life…I’m scared to think that I can get drunk to the point where I cannot control how I act” [1].
            On May 3, 2010, Huguely reportedly went over to see Love to talk to her, yet the evidence does not point to any kind of civil conversation.  The conversation got heated, and Huguely admits to shaking Love some, but not to punching or doing anything severe enough to kill her.  However, the next morning, Huguely was charged with the murder of Love, after police found her dead the previous night.  Coroners confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma. 
            The whole affair is extremely depressing, and it’s even worse that it should have been avoided. It’s a perfect example of something that just never should have happened for a host of reasons.  Friends of the couple recognized that the two had serious fights and surely would have noticed Huguely’s alcohol problems at least to some extent. If only others had taken the initiative and stepped in, a life could have been saved.  However, the entire fault does not lie with Huguely and his friends.  The incident unfortunately also relates to the assumed patriarchy present in society.
            In his article on patriarchy, Johnson pushes the idea that patriarchy is a system that we all live in and interact with, often without thinking about the consequences.  Although individuals in the system may not intend to be oppressive towards women, the simple fact is that the system itself is oppressive to women, netting the same result.  Johnson carefully looks at the idea patriarchy through individuals’ acts versus patriarchy as a system.  In the above example with George Huguely, it is easy for opponents to say that his acts are his own, and that they are not caused by anything other than his own personal experiences and even by his alcohol issues.  While it may be easier to accept an argument along these lines, it is unfortunately not true.  As a part of modern society’s patriarchy, Huguely was certainly influenced by many of the ideas commonly found in patriarchy, such as gender oppression and assumed power structures.  According to Johnson, “Above all, patriarchal culture is about the core value of control and domination in almost every area of human existence” [2].  Evidence of this can likely be found throughout Huguely’s life, from the TV commercials he watched growing to the feeling of domination he felt on the lacrosse field.  When things in his relationship with Love did not go as intended, those who push the important of patriarchies would suggest that he wanted to feel the same level of control that he did in the other areas of his life.  For him, that meant confronting the problem head on, which resulted in the death of his ex girlfriend.  While the prosecution originally pushed for first-degree murder, which means that it was willful and premeditated, the jury felt otherwise and reduced it to second degree murder, which simply means that it was intentional but not planned or premeditated.  In my personal opinion, it should have been reduced one step further, to voluntary manslaughter, which also incorporates the idea of “heat of passion,” or that something emotional occurred that caused the individual to react more violently.  In my opinion, Huguely was trying to push a high level of control on his relationship, which meant that he handled Love in a physical manner that is unacceptable.  Unfortunately, the degree of control he wished to have is entirely not his fault; some of it rests with the patriarchal society we live in today.
            Johnson looks into the issue of what our society can do to help solve the problem of gender violence.  Noting that the vast majority of violence against women is male sourced, and that this takes place in a male dominated society, he looks into possible solutions.  When asked by a state committee what his suggested solution would be, he recommended that they become “the first governmental body in the United States to acknowledge openly that men’s violence against women is widespread, that we live in a patriarchal society, and that we need to devote serious resources to studying how those two are connected” [2].  While this solution is likely a bit radical at this point, it probably is the correct method to address the problem head on.  However, if that option is dismissed as overly aggressive, what is the correct solution?
            Most people will point to the fact that murders like this one are an individual problem, and refuse to connect it to the bigger picture of the social patriarchy present in our society.  However, if governmental agencies will not come out and make a public statement about it, another solution should be considered.  In my opinion, the education system needs to incorporate some basic teaching about patriarchies and what they mean in our society.  If children are educated at a relatively early age that our social structure has a large impact on events, commercials, and influences as they grow up, it will stay in the back of their mind and help to raise awareness.  While it will not make a huge impact initially, over time it will and it will cause conversations that will further raise awareness among other students and perhaps even with their parents.  Over time, the issue will become closer to the public spotlight and help to make it a topic of discussion at a national level.
            The death of Yeardley Love was a tragedy that will stick in the minds of college students at the University of Virginia and other college campuses for years to come.  The blame for the fault mostly lies with George Huguely, who will certainly regret his actions for the rest of his life.  However, the important takeaway message from this that our culture needs to recognize the serious side effects of having a society based on a patriarchy.  Proper education about the characteristics and effects of patriarchies will help to mitigate these issues, and hopefully lower the level of violence against women.  Only though education can our society be a better and safer place in the future.


Sources
[1] Andreadis, Cleopatra, Christina Ng. “Jury: UVA Killer George Huguely Should Get 26 Years in Jail.” ABC News (2012): http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-huguely-guilty-degree-murder-grand-larceny/story?id=15765239

[2] Johnson, Allan G., The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2005. 

1 comment:

  1. Stuart- While reading your newsflash analysis of the Huguely case through Johnson's patriarchal lens, I immediately thought of Steinem's "Supremacy Crimes" piece. In the same vein of Johnson, Steinam examines how our social construction of masculinity creates many problems, specifically in the realm of violent and fatal crimes. She argues that while white, heterosexual, often privileged, males commit most of these crimes, we fail to recognize this category as criminals because we (meaning the media and apparatuses of disseminating power) overlook the role of patriarchy in our culture. It is interesting to apply this to the case of George Huguely. You said that "when things in his relationship with Love did not go as intended, those who push the important of patriarchies would suggest that he wanted to feel the same level of control that he did in the other areas of his life. For him, that meant confronting the problem head on, which resulted in the death of his ex girlfriend." Clearly Huguely was tangled up in the ropes of patriarchy. However,t he question here is how did the media portray this case? Did they do what Steinem believes should be done- look across the spectrum to see the influences of class, gender, and race? Or the opposite- did the media portray Huguely's elite status and background as more of an extenuating circumstance so that the normalcy, again, is not realized? As someone who has followed the case very closely, I believe the media brought up important issues regarding the privilege and whiteness involved in this case; however I do not think the real issues involving the notion of masculinity were actually raised.

    Although Huguely has been sentenced, I am interested to see the future repercussions from this case- whether at Virginia, in the NCAA, or in the game of lacrosse.

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