Dear Rihanna
To anyone reading this, this is clearly a touchy subject. So take this letter with a grain of salt, rather than take my rhetoric as me being a proponent of domestic violence. Here goes.
Rihanna, you were never really that much of a pop icon to me. I saw you go from a Bajan dancehall-pop artist (somewhere in the realm of Sean Kingston), to a regular R&B-pop star, to a 'pop icon' (as Mediatakeout and MTV like to call you). I never really minded your career, but I always seemed to have a disdain for your music. Now, when the story and the pictures detailing your domestic run-in with Chris Brown, I was somewhat skeptical. Not only does Chris Brown seem like a soft dude, there were rumors on top of rumors that you were jealous, controlling, and had hit Chris on numerous occasions. No one but you and Chris were in that car when he allegedly (well, now, reportedly) beat you up. However, I'm willing to put money on the fact that Chris' meltdown was not completely of his own volition.
When you think about domestic violence, what do you think of? Exactly. A man beating a woman. However, who's to say that this tenet couldn't be reversed? So many times in society, we place the onus of being the bigger person on the man in the relationship, when the woman is just as responsible for the turmoil. So many times, as a society, we allow sensationalism to cast an improper shadow on people. So many times, we allow double standards to cloud our vision into thinking that the man is always the bad guy. Not to say that Chris Brown was not in the wrong, but where is any investigation on your part in the incident, Rihanna? Who's to say that you didn't provoke Chris at all? I'm sure that ANYONE would get pissed if you were hitting them up while they were driving. Women, and the matriarchal black society that we live in, are so quick to point the finger, that even before anything was proven, Chris was already guilty. In this day and age, if you get mentioned as a domestic abuser (guilty or not), you will never be able to scratch that off your record. Chris Brown may have laid not a finger on you, but will be guilty by association 99% of the time. What's worse is how you've gone about your 'road to recovery', Rihanna.
First of all, if you were so 'ashamed' of what happened, why were you back in the man's arms weeks later? Second off, why were you photographed with Drake only weeks after that? That's an awful lot of switching beds and paparazzi action for someone who's 'scared and shaken'. I'm not saying that you should have been shacked up for 5 months, but I didn't know getting back on the pony was so easy. Another thing, Rihanna. Why were you so quiet and pensive about everything until now? Your album Rated R is set to be released on November 23rd. I suppose your timing couldn't be more correct. Rihanna, so much of this incident seems skewed in your favor. You more or less traded bruises and Chris Brown's career for publicity. Something about that doesn't seem too 'ashamed' to me. Like I said in the beginning of this letter, I'm not a proponent of domestic violence. Violence has no place in a relationship and shouldn't be condoned. My mother told me never, ever to hit a woman. But if the woman is hitting me, when do I say enough is enough? Rihanna, adding to a destructive double standard shouldn't be the price you pay for platinum plaques, and you know it. It's just sad that a performer much more talented than you had to be a victim of that standard...