Setting Another Trend

SETTING ANOTHER TREND?

Parents and fans alike were outraged after hearing that Chris Brown beat up Pop star Rihanna, but seeing is more than believing. In fact it was heart breaking for Rihanna’s supporters, family and likely the pop star herself when TMZ posted the now infamous photo of her badly battered face on their website. Fellow performers like Kanye West, Jay Z and T.I. released statements in support of Rihanna, but after weeks of being in hiding Ms. Umbrella (ay-ay) resurfaced with none other than Chris Brown himself. Kanye West even released another statement clearing Mr. Brown of his “mistake” but only time will tell if the fans will be as forgiving, or will younger and more impressionable fans follow in the pop sensations footsteps? Rihanna has ushered in quite a few trends in the past few years like short hair cuts, star tattoos, liquid leggings and one can only assume that the next trend that she’ll be responsible for is taking back your abusive boyfriends.

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In comparison to super shiny R&B and Pop singers like Beyonce, Ciara or Ashanti, Rihanna is much more rebellious and edgy. She ditched the blonde extensions, choreographed dance moves and typical cookie cutter songs and embraced a much darker, authentic and organic style, so it was surprising to learn that she would not rebel against domestic violence. Now thousands of little girls and young women who are looking for one reason to follow their hearts and not their minds can use Rihanna and Chris’ reconciliation as a reason to forgive their abusive boyfriends and that’s unfortunate because obviously some “fights” end in death and in that respect Rihanna was extremely lucky.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 22% of women in the United States have been abused by their intimate partner, but in Rihanna’s native Barbados 30% of women suffered the same fate. Many men who resort to violence against the women that they claim to love were in some way exposed to domestic abuse early on, and Chris Brown is no exception to this rule. Well before this incident allegedly took place, Chris was seen on the Tyra Banks Show and in an interview with MTV’s Sway, talking about the verbal and physical abuse that his mother was victim to and one would think that would a deterrent, but more often than not, that isn’t the case.

Rihanna has a responsibility to her fans and if she has reconciled with him as it is widely reported, she owes her fans just as much of an explanation as Chris does for allegedly hitting her. Her fans need to when enough is enough. Is it “really” over when he pushes, slaps, punches, and chokes you?  Or do you forgive him? These same fans might make it out of their current relationships unscathed but ten or twenty years from now when they are all snug into a pattern of thinking, what should they do when the hands are holding guns? Who will forgive their men once the smoke clears?