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Power dynamics - physical violence
I am reading the module about physical violence, and it seems rather different than what I experienced. It says that a fight has rules, like:
- No tools and weapons
- If there are tools, both should have them
- No eye pocking
- Below the belt is frowned upon
- Kicks are sometimes frowned upon
And I've never seen any of this rules being respected in Romania, Bucharest. It is considered to be expected, according to mainstream mentality, that taxi drivers would use a baseball bat or similar in a road conflict. People also attack from behind, attack as a group, and I'm talking about social violence, as in not criminal violence, but used to settle conflicts or punish or force someone to respect a rule.
I recommend Marc Macyoung's books about this kind of dynamics, he treats the subject exhaustively and he also has hands on experience.
Ambrose,
Since you don't link to the lesson, I can only go for what I remember.
And if I remember correctly, the lesson is meant to refer to physical violence to negotiate status and power between men and within hierarchies.
Those are uncommon in the adult world, and more commonly happen between adolescents.
The typical "fight" in middle school is two guys rolling on the floor.
Albeit certainly not all, a good chunk of the 1:1 fights among adults also end up being relatively "fair".
The parallel in that lesson are animals in mating season who "fight" in what is more like a dance or choreography that an actual fight to inflict as much damage as possible.
Take this brawl as an example:
You do see the punch from a third party, but you see a lot more who are just shoving each other.
People see that and think that fights are "violent".
But it's actually quite within "fighting etiquette".
The 2 main contenders, including a professional MMA fighter, square off clean.
If one wanted to inflict damage, he'd have attacked the more skilled guy from behind, or when he least expected it.
The fighting is also super clean.
Diaz is kneeing within MMA rules -that'd be almost comical to an alien who expected fights to have a goal to "win at all costs" or to inflict most damage-.
The non-professional guy is taken in a clinch and he doesn't even try to knee Diaz in the groin, or even to to kick him, which could be a very effective solution and easily end the fight.
That guy kept it "clean" even while he was being choked.
In a way, that's potentially good news for the world's underdog when it comes to weight class because it means:
- Negotiate status in different fashion than brawling, because there are better alternatives
- If you're dragged into a fight, an often available shortcut is to not fight clean
Thanks, Lucio!
Sorry for not linking, this is the lesson https://thepowermoves.com/courses/power-university/lessons/physical-challenges/topic/how-violence-size-physical-threats-impact-power-dynamics-theory/
