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Yeah, Rihanna and Chris Brown are young in relative terms, but I am not actually talking about them. If you watch her 20/20 interview, there were a few youtube clips from some young people who were angry with Rihanna because they felt like she has caused Chris Brown to beat her. There are many, many more similar clips and posts online. It's bad enough to see young people you don't know believing she deserved to be battered, it's even worse to know young kids in real life who feel the same.

It's been hard to write about the whole incident because I feel like it's deja vu ala R. Kelly all over again. I heard all types of defense for that 30+ year old man videotaped having sex with a 13 year old girl. "She wanted him." "Her parents are to blame." Then this April, defense for a young man who brutally beat his girl friend. "She must have hit him first." "She provoked him." Is this REALLY happening again? Why do some people feel the need to vilify the victim in order to show support to the offender? Rihanna is not a perfect angel, but that DOES NOT excuse with Chris Brown did! What he did does not make Chris Brown a vile beast, however, he still has to take responsibility for what he did! Why is that so hard for some people to comprehend? But what is the worst part of all this? Hearing those opinions from CHILDREN!

My 19 year old, 190+ lbs, male cousin laughed, "I heard he beat her ass! I know she did something to deserve it!" A friend who raises her children in a closely supervised environment in the suburbs mentioned her 10 year old son said "I heard she took some of his money." Her 14 year old daughter said "But she started fighting with him!" The only response of a friend's 14 y.o. son to Rihanna's 20/20 interview, he made fun of her accent.

INCREDULOUS! How in the hell do children so young form these types of opinions? Has this become so commonplace, as it seemed to be in Rihanna's childhood home, that some people don't give a second thought to women being severely beaten as a result of domestic violence? Would it have been any different if she sustained much more severe injuries? How about if she had died? What would have society said to these young kids then? Unfortunately, there would have been some people giving excuses (having flashbacks of O.J.). What to do? I don't know the answer. At some point, the shock will wear off.

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