Sexual Conflict Issues - Case Study Example

Part I had a sexual conflict with Greg Buszer. The conflict was not on my part. Greg, the resident paper photographer for our school, has this big crush on me. Like all the boys at Acadia, Greg likes to gawk at me. I never thought too much about it until that day. Our teacher in newspaper gave me and Greg the assignment to photograph the basketball team. Greg is the main photographer, but I know the basketball team better. Greg is a nerd. He is ugly, fat, and greasy. I would never notice him if we did not have newspaper together. Walking down the hall with him made me feel embarrassed and disgusted in a way. This tight ball bunched in my stomach as he tried to make small talk. He was blabbing on about who was screwing who. Like I really care? The only person I cared about was Nathan’s conquests. I just hoped no one saw us in the hallway. I would die of humiliation at being caught talking to Greg. We go into the gym. Greg asks if I could get Nathan, my best friend, to pose for a few pictures. Trenton and Raft, a couple of Nathan’s friends, were making snide remarks about the way Greg was looking at me. I cannot help it if boys find me attractive. Practically every guy at Acadia wants me. Greg was already uncomfortable with the guys. Although he had be falling all over himself in the hallway, when boys better looking, richer, and cooler were around Greg backed off. This sort of made me feel sorry for him. I would never have admitted it, but Greg did not deserve the jocks dumping on him. As I was feeling a little sorry for Greg, Trenton said something like “You know you want to f**k her.” I could have died right then! I was so mortified at the thought of Greg having fantasies about me. That was so gross. The mere thought made me queasy. Then Rafe and Trenton began teasing Greg. They were telling them he had zero chance for me. That he was a loser. My embarrassment once again turned to sympathy. How could these two cool guys pick on a pathetic guy like Greg? His self esteem was probably lower than the basement. I did not understand what the motivation was behind this taunting. Nathan saved me once again. I have never been more grateful than when he said “Enough.” Greg started taking pictures of Nathan and me. After taking a few of Nathan in action and the group Greg was ready to go. I told him to meet me in the hallway while I talked to Nathan. When I went into the hallway, I could tell that Greg was upset. I thought if I ignored it, maybe Greg would too. I tried being friendly. I told him not to worry about Trenton. Greg looked at me and said “You are a real bitch.” I was stunned. Why did he blame me for how others acted? The sad part was I really wondered if I was a bitch. I felt guilty for the whole episode. Greg did not talk to me for the rest of the year. He avoided assignments involving me. I think he even asked our teacher to keep us separate. Looking back, I am angry for Greg making me feel guilty. He should have known better than to mix with a class higher than his own. Part 2 There are several issues in this conflict. First is the attraction of Greg to Haley. Both are heterosexual. Katz explains that a few steps are necessary for individuals to be heterosexual in terms of societal constraints. Greg and Haley’s social arena is Acadia. Katz states: 1. society’s organization of eros and pleasure, 2. its mode of engendering persons as feminine or masculine (its making of women and men), 3. its ordering of human reproduction, 4. its dominate political economy. At Acadia, like most High Schools, eros and pleasure are derived from beautiful people. Whether a girl or boy, the popular crowd is beautiful. Greg might have been the next Bill Gates, but Haley would never even considered being his friends due to his looks. High School students rarely hang with a group that is ugly. Haley felt that Greg was beneath her based on his look. High School students rarely look into their classmate’s personalities. It is all about looks. If Greg would have looked at Haley a little harder, he would not even be interested in her due to her fakeness. High school relationships are not about love, but about sex. Greg and Haley were both attracted to beautiful, not personalities. Acadia had a way of engendering girls and boys. Haley was portrayed as helpless and manipulative when dealing with the basketball team. The basketball team was engendered as being very masculine with Nathan being the alpha male or leader. Greg was seen as a boy, but weaker. As a weak boy, Greg did not deserve Haley’s attention. It is like the herd mentality. In a herd only the strongest males are allowed to mate with the females. This was the situation at Acadia. Reproduction also had a role in the conflict between Greg and Haley. Greg would like to have a beautiful child in the future. He feels that with Haley that would be a possibility. Haley wants the same thing. Haley knows if she dates Greg or they have children, her children will be less than perfect. That is not an option. Haley would rather have beautiful children with Nathan, Rafe, or even Trenton. Although Haley is a virgin, her circle of friends likes to engage in random sex with physically pleasing people. Greg is probably still a virgin as well. This is because the girl’s find him unattractive. This norm of both Haley and Greg’s groups make the politics of Acadia. The second issue is Haley’s lack of defense when the guys start picking on Greg. Messner’s interview with Tom Waddell suggests that jocks have homosexual tendencies that are covered up by violently picking on the weakest. Waddell’s crush was violently picked upon as Waddell grew stronger (Katz). Greg was picked on because he was weaker than the guys on the basketball team. Haley went for the stronger male. The situation with Greg and Haley is hard to mediate. As an adult Haley’s actions seem cruel. Many of the non-beautiful people had experiences like Greg in High School. The phenomenon of beautiful girls being mean to nerds has not been around over night. Sexual tensions are hard to handle in High School. It is even tougher when sex is a taboo topic between teenagers and parents. Kinsky asserts that by “ignoring sex” society creates situations where sex is vague, taboo, and not fully understood (Winkler). If Greg, Haley, Nathan, Rafe, and Trenton had understood their bodies and the sexual tension, maybe the teasing would never had happened. Sexual tension is brought about by people attracted toward each other. Haley was beautiful; Greg was not attracted to her on an intellectual or emotional level, but on a physical level. His hormones probably were set off by any girl, but especially the ideal woman of Haley James. Hormones kicked in for Greg, as it did with Nathan, Trenton, and Rafe. Trenton and Rafe were making sexual remarks before turning on Greg. If Haley was not so naïve about her friends, she never would have agreed to go with Greg to shoot the basketball team. If Greg would have understood the dynamics of Haley’s groups, he never would have gone to the gym with her. The lack of understanding of each other’s sexuality caused this conflict. More knowledge might mitigate anymore conflicts. a Works Cited Katz, Jonathan Ed. “The Invention of Heterosexuality”. Messner, Michael A. “Becoming 100 Percent Straight.” Winkler, Mary.”Kinsey, Sexual Research, and the Body of Knowledge: Let’s talk about Sex.” Read More