Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Breaking the First Two Rules of Fight Club

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Antisocial Media

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture ((PSCMC))

  • 524 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter examines how fight pages, as a form of antisocial media, have changed the terrain for distributing footage of public bare-knuckle violence. Drawing primarily upon my experiences following five fight pages, I provide an account of the content hosted on these pages, from the clips of bare-knuckle brawls they curate, to the video descriptions that enframe them. Through doing so, I show that the violent entertainments hosted by pages were not only highly heterogeneous but also curated in a manner that legitimated street fighting, and street justice: eye-for-an-eye retributive violence enacted in response to a wrong.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This term, which is taken directly from several such video sharing sites, is an allusion to YouTube and the series of specialized video sharing sites, including Redtube (pornography), Schooltube (education) and Godtube (Christianity) that have appropriated the ‘tube’ suffix in reference to the site.

  2. 2.

    School Fights (2016c) was founded on 17 February 2010. Whilst the page is still online, it is inactive and has not posted since 6 February 2014.

  3. 3.

    One notable example of a recorded mutual combat is the highly publicized fight between Seattle MMA fighter and costumed vigilante Phoenix Jones and an intoxicated and racially abusive man (see Raftery 2012a, b).

  4. 4.

    Though masculinity on these pages was primarily affirmed through engaging in feats involving a discernible physical risk to the health of an actor, there were exceptions to this. Some videos, for instance, depicted displays of impressive technical ability, such as martial arts showmanship. Whilst displays of toughness centre upon a perceived mastery of physical and emotional durability, such videos, depicting, for example, martial artists using spinning back kicks to hit moving objects at head-height, centre on a different form of mastery: that of technique.

  5. 5.

    Though the six subcategories detailed above were the most prevalent, many others exist, including pages dedicated to fights between ‘hooligan’ football fans (Crazy Hooligan Fights), fights between skaters and BMX bikers (Insane Gang/Skater/Bmx Fights, etc.) and fights occurring within a particular country (Aussie Fights).

Bibliography

  • Agamben, G. (1998). Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allan, S., & Thorsen, E. (Eds.). (2009). Citizen journalism: Global perspective. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bataille, G. (2012/1957). Literature and evil. London, UK: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauman, Z., & Lyon, D. (2013). Liquid surveillance. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, C. (2014). Facebook KO fails to keep Perth ‘Fight Club’ pages down. WAtoday, November 26. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/facebook-ko-fails-to-keep-perth-fight-club-pages-down-20141126-11u88b.html

  • Bruns, J., & Hauser, W. A. (2003). The epidemiology of traumatic brain injury: A review. Epilepsia, 44(Supplement 10): 2–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnett, R., & Marshall, P. D. (2003). Web theory: An introduction. London, UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrabine, E. (2008). Crime, culture and the media. London, UK: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1994). Self-protection and the culture of honor: Explaining southern violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5): 551–567.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., & Richardson, J. (2002). Pit Bull panic. Journal of Popular Culture, 36(2): 285–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, S. (2015). Pictured: The shocking real-life fight club where videos of bare-knuckle brawls are shared by thousands on Facebook. Daily Mail Australia, January 29. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2930397/Real-life-fight-club-takes-NT-members-start-posting-bare-knuckle-brawls-Facebook.html

  • Doyle, A. (1998). Cops’: Television policing as policing reality. In M. Fishman & G. Cavender (Eds.), Entertaining crime: Television reality programs. New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Facebook. (2007). Facebook Ads. Facebook, November 7, Retrieved June 14, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/facebook-ads/6972252130

  • Facebook. (2015). Community standards: Keeping you safe. Facebook. March 16, Retrieved June 14, 2015, from https://touch.facebook.com/communitystandards/?section=0

  • Felony Fights. (2016a). Felony Fights – YouTube channel. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/user/officialfelonyfights/featured

  • Ferrell, J., Hayward, K., & Young, J. (2008). Cultural criminology: An invitation. London, UK: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, G. A. (2012). Facebook: One billion and counting. The Wall Street Journal, October 4. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443635404578036164027386112

  • Goggin, G. (2006). Cell phone culture: Mobile technology in everyday life. London, UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, C., & McLaughlin, E. (2010). We predict a riot? Public order policing, new media environments and the rise of the citizen journalist. British Journal of Criminology, 50(6): 1041–1059.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S., Critcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J., & Roberts, B. (1978/2013). Policing the crisis: Mugging, the state and law and order. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, S. (2011). Social media and social movements: Facebook and an online Guatemalan justice movement that moved online. New Media & Society, 14(2): 225–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess, K., & Waller, L. (2014). The digital pillory: Media shaming of ‘ordinary people’ for minor crimes. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 28(1): 101–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson-Jacobs, C. (2014). Competitive violence and the micro-politics of the fight label. The Sociological Review, 62(Suppl. S2): 166–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, D. (1998). Gender-linked derogatory terms and their use by women and men. American Speech, 73(4): 399–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewkes, Y. (2015). Media and crime. London, UK: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellermann, A. L., & Mercy, J. A. (1992). Men, women, and murder: Gender-specific differences in rates of fatal violence and victimization. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 33(1): 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbo Slice Fights. (2016b). Kimbo Slice Fights—Facebook page. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/KimboSliceFights/?fref=ts

  • Lyng, S. (1990). Edgework: A social psychological analysis of voluntary risk taking. American Journal of Sociology, 95(4):  851–886.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacNiven, A. (2014). Perth school fights page removed from Facebook. WAtoday, November 19. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-school-fights-page-removed-from-facebook-20141119-11pq0c.html

  • Mann, S., Nolan, J., & Wellman, B. (2003). Sousveillance: Inventing and using wearable computing devices for data collection. Surveillance & Society, 1(3): 331–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mosher, D. L., & Sirkin, M. (1984). Measuring a macho personality constellation. Journal of Research in Personality, 18(2): 150–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, M. B. (1994). Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in ‘reality-based’ police shows: A content analysis. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 38(2): 179–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, M. B. (2003). African American men as ‘criminal and dangerous’: Implications of media portrayals of crime on the ‘criminalization’ of African American men. Journal of African American Studies, 7(2): 3–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palahniuk, C. (1996). Fight club: A novel. London, UK: WW Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polk, K. (1999). Male and honor contest violence. Homicide Studies, 3(1): 6–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rafter, N. (2007). Crime, film and criminology: Recent sex-crime movies. Theoretical Criminology, 11(3): 403–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raftery, J. (2012a). Phoenix Jones fist fight video goes viral. MyNorthWest.com, November 12. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://mynorthwest.com/76/2126651/Phoenix-Jones-fist-fight-video-goes-viral

  • Raftery, J. (2012b). Phoenix Jones fist fight video goes viral. KIRO-FM/MYNorthwest.com, November 12. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://mynorthwest.com/76/2126651/Phoenix-Jones-fist-fight-video-goes-viral

  • Rennison, C. M. (2009). A new look at the gender gap in offending. Women & Criminal Justice, 19(3): 171–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samson, A. C., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Humour as emotion regulation: The differential consequences of negative versus positive humour. Cognition and Emotion, 26(2): 375–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • School Fights. (2016c). School Fights—Facebook page. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/School-Fights-307685814569/

  • Schopenhauer, A. (1966). The World as will and representation, Vol.1. New York, NY: Dover Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, D. C. (2009). Sex offender as homo sacer. Punishment and Society, 11(2): 219–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • STREETBEEFS FIGHTS. (2015). About. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/user/yungxcraven/about

  • Surette, R. (2015). Performance crime and justice. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 27(2): 195–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • The MEN’S Bible. (2006). The MEN’S Bible—Facebook page. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/MEN8Bible/timeline

  • van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender and Society, 1(2): 125–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfgang, M. E., & Ferracuti, F. (1967). The subculture of violence: Towards an integrated theory in criminology. London, UK: Tavistock Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yar, M. (2012). Crime, media and the will-to-representation: Reconsidering relationships in the new media age. Crime Media Culture, 8(3): 245–260.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Criminology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Mark A. Wood

Authors
  1. Mark A. Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Wood, M.A. (2018). Breaking the First Two Rules of Fight Club. In: Antisocial Media. Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63985-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63985-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63984-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63985-7

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation