I haven’t been following the Rihanna/Chris Brown beating very closely – but a blog I follow recently posted an article about teen response to the incident. Which is important to me – because teens are the market for Rihanna and Brown, and their reaction to these Pop idols violent interaction tells me something about what’s going on in the world. How our future is shaping.
And folks – it doesn’t look good.
On a personal note – I’ve experienced male violence in my life – from a trusted family member. The escalation was not necessarily provoked by myself, but I understand that something I said resulted in this important male figure choking me.
But I don’t EXCUSE that behavior. Violence is NOT the necessary result of a verbal altercation. Domestic violence is certainly not excusable in my book. I don’t excuse this person’s behavior, and I don’t believe that I brought it on, or that I need to take responsibility for his actions. He’s a grown ass man – just like Chris Brown. He can be forgiven, but he will not easily regain trust. Trust is earned, like respect. And physical violence, for me, shattered those elements of our relationship and it has taken years for us to get back on good ground.
Certainly – I see where teens understand that verbal fights CAN turn violent. But it doesn’t mean they SHOULD. And it doesn’t mean Rihanna deserves to be beaten.
Who does, really?
Ultimately – hitting someone, choking them, slapping them, kicking them…well now, that’s a choice. Many people get through life without ever making the choice to resort to violence with loved ones. If you make a choice to beat someone, to hurt them physically – you have to live with that. You can’t deny your choice. You can’t BLAME someone else for your own actions. No one MAKES you hit them – no matter what they say. It’s your fist, your arm, for body. So – live with that, and deal with it.
But the tendency for those young men and women in the article to deny that Chris Brown made a choice – that disturbs me most of all. As if the details of the beating aren’t horrific enough:
This links to the written affidavit of the incident.
Here’s a video with visual interpretation of the affidavit:
It’s hard to piece together what someone might say which would stimulate the response of another rational human being biting their ears and fingers. That’s pretty fucked, no matter how you look at it. I will be interested to see the April 6th proceedings for Mr. Brown. Unfortunately for him – upholders of the law probably aren’t in his listening demographic.
Much Love, Mindy C
Filed under: News, Sex and Gender | Tagged: affidavit, celebrity, choice, Chris Brown, domestic violence, reaction, response, Rihanna, teen, victim, video affidavit, violence
