By now you've probably heard that Rihanna and Chris Brown are making music — and possibly more — together again. How disturbing should this be to us? Very.
Slate's Emily Bazelon argues in a piece today that Brown not only beats women but makes a conscious choice to do so. And if you've considered the idea that we should excuse his initial act of violence and unrepentant behavior because of a possibly underlying mental "issue" that he needs help with, think again:
In March 2011, after a heartfelt-sounding taped apology to Rihanna, Brown turned around and called his assault on her a “mishap.” “At the end of the day,” he said, “if I walk around apologizing to everybody, I'm gonna look like a damn fool.” That same month, after Robin Roberts asked him questions about his abusive history on Good Morning America, Brown went into a rage, throwing a chair against a window and shattering it.
And then this week, of course, the people behind the Grammy Awards, in all their infinite wisdom, asked Brown to perform twice, along with giving him the award for best R&B album. After the blowback online, Brown tweeted Wednesday “HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That's the ultimate FUCK OFF!”
OK, clearly this is a man who can’t handle Twitter. But is that actually a sign that we should feel badly for him— that he lacks some fundamental impulse control because he’s suffering from an underlying psychological disorder? Does Chris Brown hit women because he can’t help himself, in some deep way?
In a word, no …
Read more at Jezebel and Slate.
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