Not-so-new in the headlines...

I'm not one to talk about big headliners, especially in the celebrity world, but...

Survey: Why were you shocked that Chris Brown beat Rihanna to a pulp?
A) Because it's CHRIS BROWN, boy wonder
B) Because CB's a celebrity
C) Because he's a youngin
D) Because a woman was beaten, period.
E) All of the above, except for D

Of course I was appalled for reasons A and D... but at the same time, I was thinking, why did it have to be a celebrity for people to finally throw a fit? And how are some people actually saying that Rihanna probably did something to provoke CB to do it?? I mean, really now??? DO PEOPLE REALIZE THAT:

1. One in every four (some stats say three) women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
2. One in three women will have experienced an attempted or completed rape.
3. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by
an intimate partner each year.
4. The majority (73%) of family violence victims are female. Females
were 84% of spousal abuse victims and 86% of abuse victims at
the hands of a boyfriend.
5. The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each
year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health
services
(All taken from credible sources such as the U.S. Department of Justice and the CDC)

... how unfortunate is it that D is definitely not a shocker? How terrifying is it that plenty of my friends will be abused at some point in their lives, and that I ALREADY have friends who have been abused by their partners (ex-partners, I'm proud to say) who seemed absolutely sane and harmless? I didn't even include the statistics on the number of women killed by their boyfriends/spouses every year. Just read a disturbing article about one actually...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/17/new.york.beheading/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Let's get one thing straight though, men of all colors, socioecomonic classes, and family backgrounds, commit intimate partner violence.

Nothing new, right? But this shit is real and happening every day. Men also are victims of intimate partner violence too, but I am highlighting female victims/male perpetrators because the numbers are SIGNIFICANTLY higher. Think you know a guy just because he's the "boy next door" or "Mr. Nice Guy"? Think women are equal in this world? It's scary, but guess again... you never really know who is gonna strike until it happens to you or a loved one (if they even have the courage to tell anyone). When we gonna wake up? GO research the "slap on the wrist" consequences that our judicial system hands out for intimate partner violence crimes, and you will never have to question again why another woman is getting beaten/raped/killed at this VERY second.... aaaand this second... aaaand this second...



Can I just end by saying how crappy is it that "Yo (Excuse me miss)" and "No Air" just don't hold up to what it used to be anymore...

R.I.P CB's career of making catchy, cheesy, R&B love songs... at least in my heart. Damn.