Now we're finally talking about dating violence. Why does it take such extreme circumstances in the lives of entertainers when every 15 minutes in the US some woman is getting abused? Don't regular people matter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt4CEqEbd_U&feature=fvsr
When this situation first occurred in the Spring of 2009, my organization Sisters United had a program to discuss it. There were various opinions, but the surprising thing is how many of us "blamed the victim". Many people stood behind the accused perpetrator and did not allow Rihanna to be innocent in the matter, she had to be somehow responsible for the treatment she received. It is interesting to me, how often we tend to blame females in society for the genderized problems that they face. The other stereotype that comes into play here is that of the overly aggressive black male. I feel that many people ran to the side of Chris Brown in order to protect him and in turn the entire Black male race from the media scorn. This concept, as Patricia Hill Collins explained it, is similar to comparing lynching to rape. Many in the African American race felt the need to protect the male in this situation, possibly because of the subconscious thought that he would be overly criticized and hurt by the media. The woman, Rihanna, was somehow responsible for the man's actions, more so than the man himself. This is a fundamental problem in our society, we hold women accountable for the negative acts performed against them, but we do not hold men responsible for their wrongdoings.
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