Rihanna's Nightmare?

"Rihanna's Nightmare" was the title on the cover of a recent People magazine.  The article detailed the downward spiral of the singer's one year relationship with R&B entertainer, Chris Brown.  The end result?  Rihanna was beaten and bruised and Chris Brown was on the run.

Recently, the internet and legitimate news sites have been abuzz with news that Rihanna and Chris Brown are "back on".  The New York Post went so far as to post the title "How Could She?" on their webpage.  Shocking?  Not to me or anyone else who has known a battered woman.  Women who are abused by their mates often accept their beautiful gifts and tearful apology.  Men assure their victims that they lost it, just that one time, and it will never happen again.  The women, who oftentimes convince themselves that the violence was partly their fault as they provoked their lovers, forgive and move on.

I disagree with People magazine's cover title.  This is not Rihanna's nightmare.  This situation is the nightmare of any parent raising a young girl, especially those girls who idolize either of these singers.  They are tasked with the difficult duty of instilling self-confidence and self-love in our girls.  How do parents make them understand that love is a verb that never strikes them physically or demoralizes them emotionally.  Love forgives, but does not necessarily forget, condone or reward bad behavior.

Now, more than ever, parents should turn the attention of their children inward instead of outward.  They must stop idolizing celebrities, as they are only human beings making their own mistakes, and start learning values at home.  Rihanna, at twenty-one, may not fully understand the concept of love.  At her age, who can blame her?  However, she must not be admired by young girls as a role model.  She is not. Rihanna is a young woman who sings about empowerment (Take a Bow, anyone?).  But she is not yet a woman who knows the full meaning of empowerment because if she did she would tell Chris Brown to take a bow...and get lost.