the young people's professor

I am tired of hearing about this whole situation...can't wait for it to be over

ill give you my spiel a bit later....but all ill summarize for right now is.....this is the court of public opinion...in an environment such as this that we live in, violence is essentially unwarranted, and we are taught to live by the gender roles that we believe to be true...or in other words, men are seen as naturally more aggressive than females who are seen as delicate by nature. so for a man of Brown's caliber to hit a woman of Rihanna's stature, it's seen as wrong (although violence is wrong period)

I don't feel that you should ever let yourself get that mad as a male to where you put your hands on a female

This is the SUPREME reason WHY I just LOVE You, and have so Admired you since the end of 2005. HONESTLY, I feel that individuals are judging this situation from the stand-point of their own misguided realms of Acceptable vs. UnAcceptable behaviors.

Regardless of which 'Team' one is supporting, the Bottom-Line, ESPECIALLY after her 1st photo leaked this morning, is that Chris Brown lost control of himself. In so doing, he has now lost control of his stability as an entertainer, and his sought after compassions as a man. Women will NEVER look at him the same, cross-culturally.

He has abandoned the sanctions of universal acceptances of a Man's Role in a Romantic Relationship.

It's SAD that Public Opinion has formed while he is being forced to remain SILENT. At this point, a March 5th Trial is Pointless. He WILL Walk without doing any Hard Time, for Rihanna has NOT pressed ANY charges.

However, in the eyes of the Mass American Market, he is deemed GUILTY AS SIN.

Wow, great article. Very well stated points.

Great post Frank! Thank you so much!

AMEN.

Welcome back, babe!

I will be glad when the media let's these people's personal affairs stay personal. I am sure neither of those two want their business out in the streets. Can they get some privacy?

Oh look who came out of sabbatical? lol. Its good to see you bro. I have to contend with gayte-keeper on this one. I do agree with you Frank. There should be no praise for Chris Brown's behavior and even Chris knows his actions were wrong. I also agree with Xem that the media hypes up EVERYTHING. While the photo on TMZ showed a battered Rihanna, they want to just make it seem like it is just HORRIBLE. And while the Act is horrible, the media HYPE is of course AS USUAL unneccessary. THERE ARE MORE PRESSING ISSUES AT HAND IN THIS COUNTRY. Unemployment, Stimulus bills, and the list continues.

No praise or judgment from me. I wasn't in the car. I don't know what happened.

AMEN.

Frank,

May I cross post on my blog? I will give you full credit and imbed the url in the post.

of course. not a problem man.

Great post Frank, glad you're back from your 'sabbatical' (you are back for good now, right? lol). I must say though ,that I disagree with your assertion that hitting a woman is an inherently sexist/misogynist act. I see what you're saying about the historical context of male-on-female violence as a means of subjugation, and obviously domestic abuse of any kind is reprehensible, but don't you think that there's a sexist implication/undertone in the "don't hit women" mantra? It kind of reinforces the inferiority of women - 'don't hit women, they can't defend themselves'. We should be speaking out against violence in general, not just violence against women. Chris was wrong to hit Rihanna not because she's a woman, but because she's a human being! That's my take on it anyway.

I couldn't agree more Frank.

Frank, welcome back and it's good to read some of your columns again.

Mel Smith

yes you can get a feminist, womanist, Nigerian dyke saying amen love. AMEN!

Welcome back and WELL SAID Frank!!I couldn't agree more and I'm glad that you posted this.

I found the article problematic on a few levels, but agreed with the first myth in its notation of a lynching mentality. It makes it a problem to see those run to his side, because there is a claim he was provoked. I think that sexist misogyny has a tendency to relate too specifically to male and female (hetero-normative) relationships, but violence in any capacity is not the best way to handle a situation. Too many others are making this argument about sex and race. The real issue is more specifically violence and gender. A discourse that should be about masculine and feminine, because if Rhianna was much larger than Chris Brown and an aggressor how would we then deal with this situation. I am not one to work in hypothetical circumstances often, but for a media situation where the details become less specific(yet information is continually leaked) everyone seems to have such strong opinions. It also has to take into consideration how two young pop stars have to cope with a relationship with each other, and please no citations of Justin and Britney(look at the aftermath of that relationship). I support the victim in situations such as these, but with circumstances like these Chris has been a very irresponsible person. He did not handle the apology or acknowledgment of his wrong doing in the appropriate manner and this very action leads to a notion of needed guidance. And if I choose a team I advocate them both, because he's obviously young and misguided, but this brand of disgust is obviously not a problem solving just an affect to a situation.

It's a good article Frank and welcome back. However I am so over this story. Especially now that they are back together it;s like for real?

Always compare the excuse to a "racist" excuse, and you'll see instantly the hidden woman hating that men love to justify.

White man beats an uppity black man for getting out of line, perfectly supported circa 1853. Black man beating up or hitting a girl friend, well she started it.

When black men speak up against woman hatred, woman beating by men, and violence of men, black men will become stronger not weaker.

Any black man who can be a feminist is a strong man in my opinion, and any men who speak up amongst other men about the complete unacceptability of violence against women are the brave ones!

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MISOGYNIST

SYLLABICATION: mi·sog·y·nist
NOUN: One who hates women.
ADJECTIVE: Of or characterized by a hatred of women.

Your site was recommended from a friend abroad.

I'll be back ... like your style.

First of all, I'd like to say how much I appreciate men like yourself who aren't afraid of identifying themselves as feminists, and who stand up for us women. Thank you.

And I completely agree. I was appalled at how many WOMEN believe that Rihanna provoked the attack. There is absolutely no excuse for what he did, especially considering how FAR he took it.

Some women just accept these things as a part of life, and so have little sympathy towards others who have been abused, which makes me sad because a) they've probably experienced abuse themselves, and b) they don't realize how strong and precious they really are, and how they deserve to be treated respectfully by a man.