Op-Ed

Article Is Rihanna a Complicated Woman or is it Complicated to be a Black Woman in the Rap Industry By: Mike Norman (Hope for Brighter Days Social Media Contributor) When Rihanna was assaulted by Chris Brown on February 08, 2009, many people were shocked and didnt know what to make of it. It seemed like the first report of its kind since the repeated incidents between Bobby Brown and victimized wife Whitney Houston (she was abused from 1992 to 2007). Here is the police report laying out what happened: "The victim said she became enraged and slammed both of her fists against the dashboard on the passenger side of the car they were in. She reported that the defendant then pulled the vehicle over and reached over her with his right hand." "He opened the car door and tried to force the victim out." According to the report, Chris Brown was unable to shove Rihanna out of the car, though he tried, because she was wearing a seat belt. The report continues, "When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window." "The victim then faced the defendant and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then continued driving. As he drove, he continued to punch the victim in the face with his right hand while steering with his left hand." Rihanna told police the "assault caused her mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter over her clothing and the inside of the car." Rihanna told police after Brown "stopped his first assault, she looked in the mirror and saw her eye beginning to swell. [Brown] looked at [Rihanna] and said 'I'm going to beat the shit out of you when we get home! You wait and see!'" Rihanna told police she tried to call her personal assistant, but she didn't pick up - but Rihanna says she "pretended to talk, saying, 'I'm on my way home. Make sure the cops are there when I get there.'" Rihanna says she did this "because she did not want to get beat anymore." But after Rihanna's fake phone call, she claims Brown became even more enraged with her, looked at [Rihanna] and said, "You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I'm really going to kill you!"

Rihanna told cops that Brown unleashed a second wave of punches, "during which time [Rihanna] interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face." He continued to punch her on her left arm, which caused a contusion on her left tricep. At that point Rihanna tried texting her assistant. Brown threw the phone out of the car, stopped the car and Rihanna then tried opening her door to get out, but Brown sped off and the door shut with her inside. Brown placed Rihanna in a headlock while he drove, then bit her on her left ear. The car eventually stopped and Rihanna took the keys out of the ignition, and Brown began to punch her again in the face and arms. He placed her in a headlock and started applying pressure to her carotid artery. She couldn't breathe and began to lose consciousness. She tried freeing herself, and Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and then released her. Rihanna took off her shoe and tried breaking the passenger window, all the while Chris Brown continued to punch her. Eventually, Chris Brown got out of the car. Rihanna opened the door and continued screaming. Brown began punching her again. He got back in the car and screamed "Where are my fucking keys?" He got out, looked for the keys in vain, and when he could not find them removed several CDs and walked away. Officers were called and observed numerous contusions and abrasions to Rihanna's face, forehead and left arms. There were other injuries as well. Investigators determined Brown was wearing a large ring on his right hand, which caused several of Rihanna's injuries. (Andrews, 2009)

This incident is truly horrific and as a reader, it is even more shocking that this type of abuse took place out in public. The severity of this type of episode would usually take place behind closed doors. Many of us have heard about the incident and many of us have been on the strange, yet often textbook, emotional rollercoaster with Rihanna as she first testified against Brown back in June 2009, Rihanna offered to then defend him for a probation violation in November 2012, and as of late December 2012, they publicly came out as a couple again. As of the writing of this article, it is possible they have split up again, but that is neither here nor there. This is where the article takes a turn in focus. This article is entitled Is Rihanna a Complicated Woman or is it Complicated to be a Black Woman in the Rap Industry. The complications that came to my mind was as I was re-reading through her history with Brown, I heard a song of hers for the first time on the radio during my evening commute home, which is called Pour It Up. The song glorifies masculinity, male dominance and dehumanization of women. A light bulb went off in my head at that moment. It could be a different world for women in the urban music industry if they would cater to women empowerment and not to the normal messages of hyper-sexualizing women, degradation, abuse, male dominance and compartmentalizing the woman into sexual body parts. Not only that, but I sought out to understand more. The main question I asked was, what is the relationship between rap music and the abuse of women connected to that culture? There are multiple facets to this and I will never be able to put in enough time and research to be the authoritative source on this concept of the interwoven elements and players involved in the cycle, which I am exploring. However, here are what I believe to be the core elements at play. Element 1: Rap/Hip Hop is a male dominated industry, which forces women to promote the masculinity of men and degradation and objectivity of women and their bodies. - A form of cultural abuse and image abuse of women and their bodies. Element 2: Many of todays Rap hits are first tested at the street level in strip clubs (most notoriously in Atlanta [or Hot-lanta as some rappers call it]) and based on the males libido experience, the amount of cash thrown at the strippers during that song and client attrition through the repeated exposure to that song and to half- naked women, the song is then fed by these DJs to the radio stations and often this snowballs into the hits we hear on the radio today through artists such as Ludacris, T-Pain, T.I. and many other industry leaders. Rap, Strip Clubs, and sexual entertainment often forced upon the women of poverty in these areas go hand in hand. - Another form of abuse on women and their bodies through this culture. Element 3: The women that work in these strip clubs are often recruited and forced to work in the clubs in order to avoid violence or having their resources stripped away from them. They are not paid wages at all (only tips), they are forced into prostitution, they have to often give half of all of their earnings back to the club and therefore cannot even afford housing. They become possessed and owned by the clubs and often are further ensnared by pimps and drug addiction in order to prevent them from leaving the club. They also often experience intense physical violence and sexual assault. This article will not even touch on the fact that strip

clubs across America are one of the main channels or avenues for the selling and buying of under aged boys and girls to be forced into child pornography or sexual slavery at the hand of their purchaser(s). Element 4: The media, male customers of these clubs and the fact that strip clubs play into the adult entertainment industry including the pornography industry, opens up society at large to the messages that women are either sexual objects to control or that they are not as strong or independent as men are and therefore are easy to control or abuse. The cycle begins to close at element 5, which was the spark that began this article. Element 5: The previous 4 elements, with specific focus on the Rap / Hip Hop male dominated culture feed into Rihannas situation. She is now a 25 year old woman, who has been inundated in a male dominated culture and has love and passion for a male dominated and hyper-sexualized music genre. She has, with good intentions, sadly become part of the urban music machine and system, by not only protecting her own popularity by becoming a sexual icon and putting her body all over magazines and videos, but she is also verbally adding to the messages through her lyrics by singing about strip clubs, men having money and power, sex with men and every other message that the male rapper personifies. It is sadly a never-ending cycle all in the name of entertainment. This cycle is not only effected by the fact that Rihanna is part of this machine, but again where it is this article began. It was a key player in the fact that Chris Brown is a player in this male dominated machine of objectifying women, abusing women and using force and threat to manipulate the women he is in a relationship with. The purpose of this article is to start a conversation. This is an article that is being presented on the greatest conversation platforms of this age social media -. I do not profess to be an expert, but I profess to be a person with passion about these issues and a person who knows how to back up discussion with research. I am seeking all of those in the Hope for Brighter Days community on Twitter and Facebook to share in this conversation with me, and start looking for solutions. Thank you for all that you do in our community to end abuse. Mike Norman References Andrews, D. S. Superior Court of California, Central Civil West, Dept 123. (2009). Chris brown affidavit and search warrant (58168). Retrieved from State of California website: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/05/brown.warrant.pdf