Thursday, March 12th 2009

By adam owen

I have always prefaced my opinions on subjects I fail to completely grasp by pleading ignorance. From there, it has been my hope that the opinions I extol carry a certain grain of salt. There is value in speaking of what one does not entirely grasp in that it opens a debate and exposes for examination the viewpoints held by the occasionally ignorant majority. The most recent example of my lack of full understanding was the continuing issue of a woman’s place in a male dominated world. Thank you to everyone who helped further this discussion. While it remains a contentious issue, I feel that we can all agree on the usefulness of the dialogue. Indeed, it is comforting to know that there are people on this campus who do not shirk at the invitation to respond to and criticize opinions expressed with which they do not agree.

In that spirit, please help me understand the myriad of issues surrounding pop star Rihanna’s run in with the dirty little secret known as domestic violence, and the ensuing media circus.

I also hope that my opposition on philosophical grounds to the creation of a student funded women’s centre does not appear at odds with my opposition to domestic violence in general. The chauvinism of which I have been accused is not, like all subjective issues, black and white, as extremists on all sides of all contentious issues attempt to make it.

My mind is blown at so many aspects of the whole case. Most pertinent, I feel, is the circus itself. Why does it take two international recording artists to bring this issue into the public’s mind? We fully understand the irony that the Silhouette is also joining in the circus, but hopefully we can take advantage of the prominent place this issue now holds in the public consciousness.

When one in four women will suffer domestic abuse at some point in their lives, this isn’t a case where we need a spokesperson. This isn’t a Rock Hudson moment. The public is already intimately conscious of an aspect of society that is arguably systemic. If it doesn’t happen in your own house, chances are it happens in the house of someone you know. And yet, here we are, not discussing the fact that a man hit a woman, but that Chris Brown hit Rihanna. Our interest in the issue is limited only to the fact that rarely we can talk about domestic abuse around the water cooler. Sadly, once the media cycle repeats itself, we will move onto another moral issue de jour.  Tina, Whitney, and now Rihanna are talking points when they should be points of action.

With word that the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards Program is standing by Brown and not revoking his nomination at the risk of validating a man guilty of assaulting a woman in the eyes of children around the world, the perverted truth becomes clear that any publicity is good publicity. Now adults who would never have watched the program will tune in just to be a part of the conversation the next day. Domestic abuse is profitable in the eyes of the same media that simultaneously wags a finger with one hand, and pockets the cash with the other.

Unfortunately, the one glaring similarity that this instance bears to the rest is that the object (grammatically, not chauvinistically) of the issue, Rihanna, is characteristically silent. With reports that she has reconciled and possibly married Brown, criticism abounds. Is this a case of “blaming the victim” or is it a reasonable argument? I understand that a feeling of helplessness is natural, but given her target audience and the aforementioned media circus, is it acceptable to be disappointed in her handling of her status as a role model that women and future women look up to?

I also want to state my belief that this issue will remain stagnant until we start thinking of it, and other issues like it, not just as women’s issues, but as issues that affect us all in kind. People say that perpetrators of this sort of violence must be confronted, but for those of us who it never affected directly, shouldn’t we take the time to call our fathers, brothers, and uncles and thank them for not bringing it into our houses and our lives? It’s problematic to expect kudos for not breaking the law, but when the majority of agents of domestic violence themselves come from homes where it occurred, as men who did not experience it growing up, we should recognize and thank our fathers for setting an example of true masculinity.

I want to know the answers to these delicate but important questions, but I want them answered out and in the open. Send in your thoughts and let’s not let this issue drift away into the realm of dirty little secrets.