There was a shout and a rush of adrenaline as the mass of people standing in line shifted away from the madness. In a cloud of grill smoke and profanity, fists started to fly. There was a fight in the Tiger Den on April 9. An ongoing argument turned into a physical battle while fellow students, French fries and Subway sandwiches in hand, watched a male and a female throw punches.
Derek Myers, deputy director of Police Services at the University of Memphis, said the female instigated the fight.
"She hit him first," he said. "Apparently, this was an ongoing thing. They popped each other, and the friends broke up both students. Five years ago, I never would have thought it, but now..."
Since 2003, there have been eight aggravated assaults, 51 simple assaults and 32 intimidation reports all by women here on campus.
"The number used to be zero," Myers said. "I've been here 15 years, and a couple of years ago, I could count the number of female arrests on one hand. Now it seems 50/50 male and female."
Since 2002, female aggravated assault has increased by 1.2 percent, whereas male aggravated assault is down 1.1 percent.
Candace Henderson, a 26-year-old teacher's assistant, has a history of fighting in Memphis. She said most girl fights emerge from animosity and resentment.
"A lot of it is jealousy, and [they] don't know how to express it," she said. "In my daughter's school they have a 10 -second fight club because they need to prove they were the toughest or most popular."
Danielle Pierce, a 21-year-old journalism senior and Daily Helmsman staff reporter, said she has seen girls get beaten up for no apparent reason.
"Girls will fight now if you just look at them," Pierce said. "My friend got beat up, and when she lost her baby, she almost killed the girl."
Memphis clubs have also seen an increase in female violence. A bouncer at the nightclub Senses said there are usually four girl fights at a minimum on the weekends. He said some are girl-on-girl and some girl-on-boy, but any fight involving a girl is hard to stop.
"They're usually about jealousy," he said, " and it gets rough in the summer time because girls are revealing more in short mini-skirts."
The bouncer also said the fights are more than just hair pulling and scratching.
"I've seen a girl get hit with a beer bottle, and her weave get ripped out because she danced with another girl's boyfriend," he said.
Over the past few years, females demonstrating violent behavior are becoming more common on the news. On March 30, six girls in Lakeland, Fla., took turns beating another girl until she was unconscious. Once she woke up, they continued pummeling her while two boys stood guard outside.
The largest age group committing these crimes are between 25 and 29 years old at 14.1 percent, according to FBI statistics.
There are those who feel this violent behavior is nothing new to women and the press creates a false impression of increased violence. Joycelyn Pollock, professor in the department of criminal justice at Texas State University-San Marcos, said there have been flashes of violence in women throughout history.
"We're used to women not being violent," she said, "so whenever you run into a situation where you find a woman being violent, it's always a story."
As co-author of "Violent Women: Findings from the Texas Women Inmates Study," Pollock said there have been small news trends over the years promoting the emergence of female violence, but when you look at the crimes being permitted, there is really no trend. Her study stated the female homicide rate has declined 1.3 percent compared to 11.5 percent for men. She said there would always be an amount of women committing violent behavior, but it goes in cycles. There is much debate concerning where female violence stems from, and Pollock said she is unsure of its origin.
"Is it our socialization or is it biological inheritance? Who knows?" she said. "We are socialized to not be violent. We started having this argument since women were becoming educated. People said, 'A woman is going to become a man and more violent.' As women enter traditional work categories, people said they too would enter nontraditional or violent categories."
Pollock's research indicated certain patterns present in violent women. She found most female criminals incarcerated for violent crimes, homicide, assault or robbery tended to be young, black, unemployed or previous offenders.
"They are much more likely than male offenders to have been victims of sexual violence, incest, and addicted to drugs," she said.
In a laboratory study, Pollock found women are just as aggressive as men, but are usually influenced by contextual clues, like threats involving children. Her study suggested that violence in women is most commonly explained by the socialization theory. Boys are encouraged to be aggressive, and women are punished for the same actions.
Janet Mullings, a colleague of Pollock's and professor at Sam Houston State University, also said the behavior of women has been exaggerated by YouTube and the media.
"I think women, compared to men, have always been relatively nonviolent," Mullings said, "and in cases when you find women committing crimes, they often become sensationalized."
"I wouldn't say that all of the sudden all of these young women are becoming more violent," she said. "We need to be careful to keep things in perspective."
Yaschica Williams, associate professor of criminology at The U of M, said she is researching female aggression, and both the literature and statistics show an increase in physical aggression. She said while there is an increase in media attention, females are now more likely to be the aggressor than in the past.
Williams said there is an obvious increase in aggression as far as girl fights, but the media is making it a public issue. As for Pollock's suggestion that there is no surge in the amount of female violence, Williams said she is on the right track, but it is more obvious than before.
"She's not too far from the point," Williams said. "Maybe girls have always been fighting, but now it's in public view. It definitely pokes its head out."
Williams said data shows lower income females are the most common to be aggressive, but it is only because there is a lack of information.
"It was hidden before and now it is more visible," Williams said.
While Pollock and Mullings said they disagree with the notion that women are more violent today, they did confirm violence occurs most within intimate relationships. Rebecca Terrell, Community Relations Coordinator for the Center for Research on Women at The U of M, said almost all domestic abuse is committed by men, and other women should be aware of this behavior.
"Eighty percent of all incident of violence is unreported," Terrell said. "There are services available to reduce and prevent these incidents, like the Red Flag campaigns, to pay attention in relationships."
She said many women may not see the signs of an abusive partner before it is too late.
"Does he love me, or is he kind of crazy?" she said. "Sometimes women mistake certain attention for affection and interpret actions to what you'd like to see."
Terrell said another on-campus support group is called Safe Campus Project. This mission looks at relationships and sexual assault, and with April being sexual assault month, Terrell said it is a good opportunity to promote backing for abused women.
After a rough and tumble youth, Henderson said she has put fighting aside because now she has a house, a husband and a child.
"I feel like I have more to lose, and there are better ways," she said. "I'm older, and I know that when people are jealous I look like 'I must be doing something right.'"
Pierce said after seeing her friend in jail she knows there is more to living than fighting.
"It's pointless. When I saw her in jail, she wanted to know where the girl was. I'm like, 'Live your life.'"
