A serious matter

Opinion: February 24, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Anne Michaud

Newsday

Within minutes of singer Chris Brown’s appearance on the 2012 Grammy Awards — as he moved liquidly to his new single, “Turn Up the Music” — the phrases womanbeater and chrisbrownbeatswomen began trending worldwide on Twitter.

What that means is that people with Twitter accounts sent those phrases to their followers, in enough numbers that they showed up on every Twitter user’s home page.

To achieve “trending” was a victory for those who wanted to protest Brown’s appearance on stage. They said his brutality three years earlier should have disqualified him from his two appearances on the Grammy platform.

On the eve of the 2009 Grammys, news broke about Brown beating his then-girlfriend and fellow pop star, Rihanna. The images of her beautiful, badly bruised face were heart-rending. The incident would later lead to felony assault charges for Brown, to which he pleaded guilty and accepted a sentence of community service, probation and counseling.

At the 2012 awards show, Brown won his first Grammy, for best R&B album. Afterward, the 22-year-old took to Twitter to tell off his critics: “Hate all u want becuz I got a Grammy now! That’s the ultimate — off!”

But Brown’s was not the most disturbing reaction of the night. That came from at least 25 women on Twitter: “chris brown can punch me whenever he wants.” And, “chris brown can beat me all he wants ... I’d do anything to have him, oh my.”

Age-old mistake

Could these women really understand what they are saying? Could they have been in abusive relationships before and are volunteering for more?

Domestic violence seldom ends with one blow. U.S. government statistics from 1976-2005 state that 30 percent of all the murders of women are the result of “intimate partner violence.” And what doesn’t kill women — or men — in abusive relationships, can cripple them for life. Think of Whitney Houston, recently dead of an assumed drug overdose, who became hooked on drugs during an allegedly abusive 15-year marriage. Abuse, drugs, self-loathing — they can be a toxic mix.

Anne Michaud is interactive editor for Newsday Opinion and a member of the paper’s editorial board. Distributed by MCT Information Services.