Last week's article "Teenage Girls Stand by Their Man" in the New York Times provides an uncomfortable glimpse:
On blogs and social networking sites, teenagers...[have] been compelled to think aloud about dating violence....While thousands of teenagers have certainly turned on Mr. Brown, many others — regardless of race or gender — defend him, often at Rihanna’s expense.Their attitudes back up the cold hard facts. In the life of a teen, each year:In a recent survey of 200 teenagers by the Boston Public Health Commission, 46 percent said Rihanna was responsible for what happened; 52 percent said both bore responsibility, despite knowing that Rihanna’s injuries required hospital treatment....
This reaction has alarmed parents and professionals who work with teenagers....Boys who condone Mr. Brown’s behavior disappoint, but don’t shock Marcyliena Morgan, executive director of Harvard’s hip-hop archive. “But it’s the girls!” she said. “Where have we gone wrong here?”...
The girls’ willingness to minimize Mr. Brown’s alleged behavior also reflects a learned social signal, said Professor Morgan, who teaches African-American studies at Harvard. They’ve been taught, she said, “What really matters is that we don’t destroy boys.” Teenage girls think that if they speak out against an abuser, the boy’s future will be shattered, she said. “We have to appreciate that this is not simple for them.”
- 25% report abuse of a verbal, physical, emotional or sexual nature
- 20% of high school girls report physical or sexual abuse by a dating partner
- 54% of high school students report dating violence among their peers
Related articles:
- 10 Facts About Teen Dating Abuse
- Facts on Tween Dating Abuse and Violence
- Rihanna and Chris Brown Bring Dating Abuse Out in the Open
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Comments
neither actually… you would need to change evolutionary biology first that will always short circuit any higher thinking. as a man who was raised as a gentleman and enlightened by all the lofty feminist and conscious-raising ideas of my lost generation, held the hand of many a feminist friend in the throws of some abusive relationship or another – only to watch them go back to this “bad-boy” like an addict hooked on chocolate, the issue is as old as time and 40 years of higher will never win out over 2 million year of hard-wired social programming in the double-helix.
I just think that they should’nt be a scapegoat and used they way every tabloid and now abuse website is doing. Its their private life and i understand the fact that they live in the publics eye. They deserve some privacy and i think that maybe things have been twisted and contorted into something the media has created. He has yet to talk about it due to his court case and she also has yet to talk about it. I don’t condone it no man should hit a woman but then as a society we create a double standard for woman. A woman can hit a man and its ok just for the fact that men are macho. I say we leave Rihanna and Chris alone and let them work it out. No matter how many people tell her not to go back Rihanna will do whats best for her as any person would do in the same situation. I just hope they both seek some help to better themselves and work through what they’re going through.
yeah im fifteen. and i know alot of girls and boys who jus brush this thing over they dont see it as a big deal as the media and adults do. alot of girls are still goin to support him i heard alot of them say if he hits her agian then they will stop. we undersatnd we only humaan we make mistakes. and he jus happened to make a reall bad one we dont need to demonize him over this he is young he still has time to grow and develop as a man. i myslef still supports him. i believe that he wont hit her agian despite what oprah says or anyone else.not everybody is the same. if god forgave him who are we not to?
i just say that many people have different opinions, you cant expect everyone to agree to what the adults want to hear, i think they are making this a bigger issue than it is, leave Chris alone and Rihanna aswell, they are young and make mistakes, mistakes is all about learning from them and i know they learned alot from this situation they were in, they will do what is best for them, why cant you people give them some support and unbias guidance because all of this seems very bias to me because you are just in favor of the woman but what about the male, imagine if it were your son to do something like chris, would you want to help him and guide him? wouldnt you support him to get the help needed without crucifying your own son? they are both young and both need some support, media needs to stay out and let them work it out
I think they are grown and lett them people live their own life and how they want to live it. if they fight everyday its their busines not anybody else.