Will Young Women Heed Rihannas Lesson?
As we prepare to watch The Grammy’s air this weekend, I’m reminded that it was one year ago that a generation of women learned that domestic violence can happen to anyone. On February 8, 2009, following a pre-Grammy party, the hip-hop entertainer, Chris Brown assaulted his pop star girlfriend, Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty. While there had been such high profile DV charges in the past, too often the women had been perceived as unsympathetic or unsurprising victims: • Robin Givans 1988 revelation to Barbara Walters that the actress’ boxer /husband Mike Tyson terrorized her, garnered sympathy for him and the label of “bitch” for her. • When in January 1989, Madonna filed and then withdrew an assault complaint against her then husband, Sean Penn, the public hardly raised a brow. It was as though Madonna’s boisterous and erotic persona justified her abuse. • When we learned during OJ Simpson’s murder trial that he had beaten his then wife Nicole Brown Simpson, she was seen by some as a woman of no
