Hank,
While having no love for the backdrop per se, is it really any different than the proliferation of inter racial fights in the cat fight genre, especially white vs. black? That one in particular seems to have perceived social class and the fact one fighter's ancestors may have owned the other fighter's ancestors hanging over it. Add in the various class based fights (maid vs. employer) which also seem to be acceptable fodder.
Some people's sexual link is more emotional than others. And some of us lack an emotional connection to the concept of idea of fighting over a lover. Took me years to be able to fake it in cyber fights and stories since to me, it was (and still is ) innately ridiculous. So other concepts worked better for me as a framework. Also when doing more violent fights these concepts make more sense for some as well.
Another thing I have found is , as you say, a lot of this makes the people involved look like bigots. I have found that people are more comfortable with awful things in fantasy happening to awful people. One reason for the popularity of Eastern Front WWII wargames and their brutal war of attrition was, according to my Dad "Communists versus Nazis. Who cares if they all die? "
Why do some people like more realism in their fantasy that others? Why are some people gay and some straight? Mostly the answer is "It is what I am"
Although I will agree with you that the number of fights suggested in these schools is really high and overly simplified. I went to school where an active female White Power cell existed in the high school and they seem to have created less violence than these schools.
