A Teen Perspective on Chris Brown and Rihanna

A few weeks ago, I briefly talked about Chris Brown allegedly assaulting Rihanna while blogging about Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.

Since then, all signs have pointed to a reconciliation between the two. When I found out they were back together, my heart dropped, not just because I believe that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior and that Rihanna is putting herself at risk, but because of the message it sends to young women everywhere…that somehow being assaulted by someone who loves you is okay.

I stumbled across a fantastic essay written by two young women who are part of Females United for Action within the Women & Girls Collective Action Network and just had to share. Fifteen-year-old Alex Pates and seventeen-year-old Ansheera Ace Hilliard give their perspective on the media coverage of this situation, and powerfully express where the real issues lie:

We hear so much of what will happen to Chris Brown’s reputation and career if these allegations are proven to be true. We hear how all Chris Brown’s sponsors and endorsements will back down, and how his entire career may go down the drain. Now we ask, what is going to happen to Rihanna? We never hear, on a well publicized scale, how this is going to affect her career. We do not even hear how she may be damaged mentally, physically, or emotionally after this incident of abuse. You would think that because she is a survivor of abuse, people would be concerned with her well-being.

Every time there is a story like this we never hear anything from the survivor’s point of view. We really want to know how this is affecting Rihanna. What is life like for her now? We feel like in situations like this the young woman of color is always left out and forgotten about and more likely than not the blame is put on her. She is put to the side and told to get on with her life. But that is not so simple. There are scars that will never heal and wounds that will never close. We will probably never even get to sympathize with her. We want there to be something out there that tells the story from the perspective of the survivor.

Read the full essay here!

UPDATE (March 18, 2009): Click here to read another interesting (and disturbing) article in the NY Times about why many teen girls are siding with Chris Brown.