Facade

Twitter both amuses and scares me.

The latest Twitter phenomenon came during the Grammy Awards, when rabid fangirls tweeted during Chris Brown’s performance that they would “let a man that sexy beat me anytime” and that Rihanna was stupid for letting him go, because he was so hot that they would let him punch him if it meant they got to be around him.

Now, I’ve made my opinions on Chris Brown very clear in many other blog posts, so I’m not going to rehash my thoughts on him again. If you like his music, more power to you. If you feel he’s paid his debts and should be free to live his life, even better. I’m also not going to comment on the debunked rumours of Rihanna spending time with him, because that’s just insulting to her.

My problem is that young women are mocking the concept of domestic violence, saying it’s okay because “he’s hot.” I don’t care how good looking a man is, he has NO right to lay a hand on a woman. Sherri Shepard of the View showed blatant disregard for Rihanna as well as domestic violence survivors by claiming he is a “role model” for putting out an album after his troubles.

I’m sorry, but no matter how talented Brown is, he’s no role model. He beat another human being half to death, not once but on at least seven different occasions. He violently destroyed a Good Morning America dressing room, sending shattered glass into Times Square, endangering strangers. He served his time yes, but he’s still not a role model. He’s a talented singer/dancer, but there’s more to life than that. Again, I’m not saying people can’t enjoy his music and put the past behind him. Michael Vick served his time and has resumed his playing career and proven that he’s been rehabilitated during his incarceration. There’s nothing wrong with a second chance. My concern is the comments that these teen girls made.

The fact that young girls are lining up for Brown to “beat them” so that they can be close to a celebrity makes me wonder what we’re teaching our young women. Are we showing them that looks are the only thing that matters? That landing a hot guy is so important that it’s okay for him to treat you like crap? That women should have no self respect? It’s absolutely disgusting to me that young girls would even say this in jest! I hope their parents see these tweets and question what their daughters are learning and where they are learning it from. Do Mom and Dad have a crappy relationship? Are they being abused by their current partner? What are they watching on TV? Where would young girls learn that it’s okay to be with a guy that beats them as long as he’s hot?!

Part of the blame rests on my own beloved media. It’s our job to present things unbiased and as they are. If we are presenting domestic violence in some kind of warm and fuzzy glow, then we need to stop. The parents are to blame as well. They should be more closely monitoring what their teenagers put on line. But some of the blame rests on Brown himself. Instead of launching homophobic slurs on Twitter to his detractors and trashing sets, he should be using his fame to educate people. Why not discuss what he learned in anger management? Why not take the time to tell people that he’s learning how to be in a healthy relationship?

As a mother, it breaks my heart to see how some teen girls think so little of themselves that they think it would be amazing to be with an abuser just because he’s good looking. Somewhere we stopped teaching women to be strong and independant. Maybe we should go back to that.