So apparently, conservatives are in a tizzy about Rihanna’s video “Man Down” where she’s shown murdering a man. I’d like to call horseshit.
Please know that I am not a Rihanna fan. Nor do I advocate violence, blah blah blah.
What bothers me, however, is that while all these people are upset that she murdered someone, none of them are talking about the fact that her character murdered someone because he sexually assaulted/raped her. The focus is on the fact that she murdered her assailant rather than that she did it because she was violated in one of the worst ways you can violate a woman.
This right here, this uproar with ignoring the incident that informed Rihanna’s character’s actions? RAPE CULTURE.
Murder is wrong; I get it; I know it; I believe it. But to say it’s irresponsible for Rihanna to show this kind of “violence” on television diminishes the role we play from keeping the story in “Man Down” from becoming reality.
Why don’t we talk about why Rihanna’s character killed the man who assaulted/raped her? Maybe it’s because 60% of sexual assaults don’t get reported, partly because women (and men) don’t feel safe enough and supported enough to report them. Some of them, too, don’t feel like justice would be done; I mean, look at the woman from NYC raped by the police officer! Even when women do report their rapes and it’s prosecuted, acquittals happen more often than convictions. And because of this the victim is degraded and considered a liar, whore, etc. And who wants to deal with that? Kobe anyone?
RAPE CULTURE.
Why don’t we talk about the fact that rape kits sit untouched for years, hindering prosecution? Why don’t we talk about the fact that there are statutes of limitations on rape? Why don’t we talk about the seeming lack of care we have for victims and for women so they feel safe enough to walk out their houses (or in their houses) and say with certitude “I doubt I’ll get raped today”? Why don’t we talk about the fact that clearly we continue to ignore the roles men play in rapes and sexual assaults but continue to victim-blame and discuss how appropriately a woman should react? Or the fact that we play the “hush hush, sweep the dirty secrets under the rug” with rape victims in our families or even in our churches? Catholics/Eddie Long anyone?
RAPE CULTURE.
It’s all bullshit to me, complete bullshit. Instead of being angry at Rihanna for depicting a violence that exists for so many women, why don’t these conservatives, parents, what-have-you work on actual legislation and culture-changing that brings these men (and women) to justice? Why don’t they stop focusing on the abstract and focus on the reality?
Women are raped; they are sexually assaulted; and when they aren’t helped, tragedies occur from depression to other mental illnesses to murder to suicide.
That’s a reality that Rihanna can’t change, at least not by herself. But it’s something we all can work on.
But that won’t happen because people are too busy worrying about what Rihanna put in her music video to focus on the realities. |files nails|
Wow--this is an intense issue. And I agree with you 100% yet again. I'm not a huge of music videos as most of them are too crazy for me to even understand but I can appreciate this one. I, too, think murder is wrong but as you point out, there's a much bigger matter going on in both the video and in the reactions to it.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I want to say that this song is completely terrible. I had to mute it part of the way through. Talking to other people, though, I realized that the whole song is about violence/killing and none of it is about rape. Therefore, I believe that the song should be banned from radio stations.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the video, I understand where you're coming from when you say that society as a whole ignores rape to a certain extent. I believe that they don't talk about it so we can all just forget that it exists, to be honest. But the issue is real and we can't just forget it. We have to be aware and we have to be preventative.
However, if you think about who watches music videos, the audience is mostly children. The thing about children is that they are very impressionable. With the first scene of the video being a dude getting murdered, the influence of violence is wayyy too strong to be acceptable. They have a short attention span and may not be able to see the last scene at all let alone connect the two ideas together.
Also, I feel that it would alter the mindset of what should happen when crime or wrongdoings ensue. If at any time someone gets raped or assaulted in any way, the video basically instructs that it's understandbale to retaliate against the person. Yes, the individual may be frazzled or severely disturbed by the incident, but in no way is it acceptable to go back and take matters into your own hands. Violence + Violence does not equal a resolution.
I think her video is extremely reckless and she could have addressed the community in a more productive way. She could have instititued a non-profit for educating the community or establish a rape victim advocacy group. But instead, her video that she possiblly created to "make a point" is going to do more harm than good.
Here's another blog on this. http://inciteblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/man-down-rihanna-uncovers-the-anguish-of-rape-victims-and-calls-the-community-to-accountability/
ReplyDeleteKimberly, I appreciate your post.
I am a survivor of Sexual Assault, this was never a response that I thought about and if I had seen this before, I still wouldn't have thought about it. I don't think it's instructing survivors to go to this is a stretch.
Also, I think the song does deal with a lot of feelings that are all mixed up between the reaction and the sexual assault.
I think this song/video is bringing up conversation that needs to happen. I don't know if she is a survivor or not but I say more power to her for doing this. I don't think she is saying violence actually solves this, I got the feeling that it was out of hopelessness that the character in the video took the action but the song also shows her pain from having done so.
I don't know how I feel about the song on the radio but I hope this song video isn't totally silenced because I want to see more people talking about this. I still haven't told my parents partly our of shame, partly out of fear they'll think it's my fault (and it's not) and partly because I don't want them to feel sad about it. I hope that someday this doesn't happen to anyone but until then I hope we can get to a point where there are more safe people to talk about this with.
Sorry this is really ramblely but I hope I make at least a little be of sense.