In news too depressing to really even contemplate, the Boston Public Health Commission reports that out of 200 teenagers — aged 12 to 19 — interviewed about dating violence, “nearly half of Boston youths surveyed said [Rihanna] was ‘responsible’ for what happened while 52 percent said they were both to blame.” The particularly bitter breakdown broke down like this:
* 71% said arguing was a normal part of a relationship
* 44% said fighting was a normal part of a relationship
* 51% said Chris Brown was responsible for the incident
* 46% said Rihanna was responsible for the incident
* 52% said both individuals were to blame for the incident, despite knowing at the time that Rihanna had been beaten badly enough to require hospital treatment
* 35% said the media were treating Rihanna unfairly
* 52% said the media were treating Chris Brown unfairly
Oh, and: “In addition, a significant number of males and females in the survey said Rihanna was destroying Chris Brown’s career, and females were no less likely than males to come to Rihanna’s defense.” A wistful hope that the BPHC was a less than reputable news outlet was quickly shredded: they have Mayor Thomas Menino on their letterhead and everything. Equally demoralizing anecdotal evidence — say, the nearly 50 person strong crowd of jokers over here who say Rihanna is a “bad role model,” “an enabler,” “disturbing,” etc — seems to confirm the basic sentiment here as well. How anyone can feel good at the end of the day criticizing or blaming an 21-year-old girl for being assaulted by the pop star she was dating is a complete mystery to us here at SOTC, even to the two of us who once lived in Boston. A place to which we are now that much more reluctant to return.
“Survey: Half of Boston teens blame Rihanna for Chris Brown beating” [The Guardian]