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.
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.
ReplyDeleteAlthough 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.