April 1, 2009--A Ways to Go, Baby

We have come a long way. Especially women. Thus it was disturbing to read an article in the New York Times about how too many girls and young women are still stuck in old cultural traps.

Jan Hoffman interviewed and reported about how 9th grade girls who attend Hostos-Lincoln Academy in the Bronx are thinking about the alleged assault on 21 year-old pop singer Rihanna by her boyfriend, equally popular rock star, 19 year-old Chris Brown. Both known to the public for their wholesomeness. His nickname among fans is “Sweet Chris Breezy” and he has appeared in a video with Elmo from Sesame Street. (Article linked below.)

“I thought she was lying,” one girl is quoted as saying, “that the tabloids made it up.” Even when shown the photos of her battered face and reading a transcript of her frantic call to 911, they said, “She probably made him mad for him to react like that. “You know, like, bring it on.”

This blaming-the-victim response is not unique to teenagers in the Bronx. A recent survey of 200 adolescent girls by the Boston Public Health Commission revealed that 46 percent held Rihanna responsible. And the Internet has been full of chat about this, much of it also finding fault with her. “She probly [sic] ran into a door and was too embarrassed so blamed it on Chris,” one asserted in a Facebook discussion.

Of course there are deeper lessons and concerns. As African-American performers they are inevitably viewed, fairly or not, as part of the world of Hip-Hop. Tricia Rose, who teaches African-American culture at Brown, says that Brown and Rihanna come from and appeal to a generation permeated by Hip-Hop’s “smack-down tone,” which stereotypes “an aggressive. physical, often misogynistic masculinity that often justifies resolving conflict through violence.”

Marcylienna Morgan, a professor of African-American studies at Harvard adds that these girls’ response to young women being abused by their boyfriends reflects a “learned social signal”—they have been taught that what matters is that “we don’t destroy boys.” If girls speak out about this violence they will shatter boys’ futures. And since the community needs these boys to succeed, girls will go a long way and absorb a great deal of humiliation to protect and cover for them.

There is a lot on Barack Obama’s plate, but this too is something he is concerned about and in part, by the example of his own life, is attempting to influence.