Conforming To Rituals Creates Mistaken Identity Essay

, Research Paper

Rituals are activities consistently repeated to serve a significant purpose for a person or group. These rituals can be simple or complex and various groups can have rituals that revolve around the same idea, yet they are different under the surface. Sex is used as a ritual for both the Spur Posse in Stiffed and the teenagers in “The Lost Children of Rockdale County.” There is dissimilarity, however, because the Spur Posse uses the ritual of sex for points, where sex is seen as a game and the young man having intercourse most frequently is seen as more masculine. The teenagers of Rockdale use sex as a pastime at parties, where they perform the ritual of group orgies. Identity becomes the questionable aspect in the performance of these rituals in the discretion of what identity the members of each group will take on. Identity is the image people create for themselves, which can often differ from the way they really are or the way they would like to be. The members of these two groups attempt to create their identities by conforming to the rituals of those around them, therefore, sacrificing their own identity in order to find acceptance within a group.

The Spur Posse believes that women now have all the power in relationships, in which they can cry rape at any given time, and men have lost the control that once allowed them to dominate. This desire for power stems from male chauvinism, and the Spur Posse create the ritual of sex for points so they will each feel masculine and domineering when they have sex with women because it will earn them another point in their game. They each show that power lies within the act of sex, and so they create an identity of men who love control and feel like they gain supremacy by engaging in sexual intercourse. The pride of these males, and their desire to maintain it, causes them to conform to the group’s norms and perform this ritual to create an identity revolving around power and male dominance.

This ritual is a reaction towards the women’s movement, in which now “girls have all the power” and men fear losing their gender roles to the opposite sex. The women’s movement gradually built up women’s control to the extent that men no longer have full authority. Women are now working in chemical plants with men and fighting in the military. These achievements leave men terrified that they may lose their masculine authority to the uprising of women’s liberation. Men feel that if they have sex with many women, then, in some way, this will give them back the power they strive to regain. They feel like they can “put women back in their place,” in which females will degrade themselves back to their submissive role as housewife and complete abider to all the male formulated rules, if a man can victoriously dominate women by means of sexual intercourse.

The ritual of sex for points allows the Spur Posse to feel like they can gain back the control that they have lost by “conquering” women and therefore winning the game. The changes is society has caused these rituals to come about for this group, where the young men feel that they need the power associated with masculinity, and so they do not perform feminine acts, such as crying, and instead have sex with many women. They believe this will take away the control that women have gained and allow them to regain the authority that feel they deserve because that is what society teaches them. Getting emotional is seen as a feminine characteristic while the desperation for sex is a manly trait. The Spur Posse feel “macho” when they can treat women like a possession and fully dominate a relationship.

These young men conform to this ritual to be conventional with their peers, in attempts to belong to the group and retain their pride. The problem is that this identity masks the true self of each individual partaking in the ritual. Their attempts to be famous for all their antics show that they are truly just striving for attention, and the interest people showed in them allowed them to be invited to various talk shows, which they looked at as an accomplishment. In actuality, the Spur Posse suffers from loneliness and a lack of male self-worth. They believe that the fame they receive as retribution for their actions gives them the fulfillment that they need, but that is due to the fact that they are truly feeling alone outside out of their public life and needs the media to help them get over their lonesomeness. The only way to make them feel important is by publicity and performing their ritual. The ritual reflects their doubts of how strong of men they actually are, and they feel that if they can prove their manliness by performing this ritual, then they have shown the importance of masculinity in society, as well as raise their self-confidence level. They reject their true identity and go along with the rituals of the group as a whole to prevent their loneliness and to feel like part of a group instead. As a member of the group, they follow the norms set forth by the group as a whole and never question the actions because it was accepted in their own little society they created for themselves. By being part of this group and conforming to the ritual, the identity they create for themselves is more desirable than any identity they would have had if they were an outsider because they now have the self-esteem and pride that they always wanted.

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