The Rihanna Syndrome

Our society must stop this cycle of helplessness that traps abused women. We must give them the help they need to escape the abusive spiral. But women must begin holding their loved ones to a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to violence- Jane Velez-Mitchell


Let me tell you a short story.

Girl meets boy, both fall in love. They rock the world together, or so it seems. Girl thinks she's found her soulmate and boy thinks...well never mind what boy thinks. Why? Cos boy beats up girl one day, and another day. Girl thought she couldnt take it anymore and told evereyone the dirty little secret...boy is a 'woman eater!'

Girl cries her heart out but knew she had to leave Boy alone for her own good....The End

Right?....Nope! the story doenst end there. Instead it starts all over again...Girl meets boy...yada yada yada

After the Rihanna and Chris Brown fight, i thought to myself "Good thing she dumped him. What were they doing together anyway?" Bue dear Rihanna proved me wrong by taking pity of the poor loverboy who did a lame apology song...without the words "I am sorry" appearing even once on the whole track! And in three weeks she forgot all about chris banging her head against the passenger window,in 3 weeks she forgot all about lover boy biting her hands ,punching her face and putting her in a headlock. Love, love, love...abi?

No, this is simply a classic case of battered woman's syndrome. She probably thinks she cant be happy with anyone else. she thinks he's her soulmate and life would me miseralbe without him. (Isnt that what they all sing about). however, real life is different from the 'RiBro' fantasy. I commend the Americans who observed the hazard this love story holds for young people. Not only does it send the message that domestic violence is permissible, it also portends a society where women put themselves at risk and fall into the brutal cycle of powerlessness, fear and low self esteem that often accompanies abusive relationships. To top the cake with icing, men like Chris Brown are given the liberty to remain abusive as long as they can sing a hopeless apology song after each pummeling and God help the Rihannas of this world, he would probably do an èncore at their funerals.