Research Memo 2

Research memo 2

Research Question:  Can hitting someone in the pit be looked at as assault?
Assault	1. They will either hurt someone, or get dropped with a quick left hook. 2. In The Pit, everyone is equal. 3. They feel every bump is a personal attack on them
Hitting	1. Without regard for the surroundings. 2. Get dropped with a quick left hook. 3. They feel every bump is a personal attack on them
Types of People	1)      The bully – Does not know what is going on. 2)      The Pro – Moshes all the time. 3)      The rock star – In the zone, total disregard for his environment.

In my opinion I feel as if this article gives evidence that moshing could be categorized as assault. I personally feel that moshing cannot be looked at as assault in any way. For the sake of my research I remain unbiased. There are three main reasons that moshing could easily be categorized as assault.  People in the pit are considered as equal/fair gain. Two there is a lot of hate moshing going on (hitting people on purpose), and there are multiple types of people in the pit two of which could be looked at in negative light. 

The first reason moshing could be considers as assault is due to the people in the pit categorized as bullies. They feel like every time someone bumps into them it is a personal attack. They only take it for so long until they decide to try and hurt someone. That in it of its self is assault, but if the bully wants to act up he is going to get beaten up by other people in the pit.

The reason is that hitting someone if it is not in self defense is considered assault by law. In the pit people swing their arms with no regard for their surroundings and that usually results in someone getting hit. Another thing about the pit is that if you mess up people will not hesitate to let you know by physical means, IE: hitting you in the face pushing you to the ground or kicking you in the stomach.

The last reason is the type of people in the pit with you. Most of the time there are people in the pit with you; with the sole intention of having fun. However there are some people that mosh who just want to hurt other people. As I said that is called hate moshing and it is all about hurting someone you do not like. It is generally against the rules at most venues.

In conclusion moshing can easily be considered assault. This is due to the fact that it is an extremely high contact activity. As with any high contact activity there are people that participate in it with the intention of hurting someone else. On top of that the people that mosh usually hold each other to a higher standard. If you mess up you will promptly met with a “left hook” of some other form of unnecessary physical punishment.

Conclusion:
In conclusion moshing can be viewed as assault depending on who is moshing and how you interpret the law. There are also three types of people that and they mosh for different reasons. The "bully" moshes with the intention of hurting others and that's about it. The "pro" moshes to have fun and show his love of music. And the "rock star" moshes with no regard for his surroundings. He is so into the music he has no idea what's going on.


Follow up:
For research memo 3 i plan to evaluate a documentary on moshing. I would like to find out how you can express yourself without moshing and why is moshing considered a liability to venues.