Teenagers Blame Rihanna

Tainted Love: Teenagers Claim It's Rihanna's Fault
Source: jezebel.com
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=52349123190&h=0jjJ4&u=T_U6J

A reader tipped us to this Chicago Tribune article, wherein teenage girls claim that not only are they not surprised by the violent attack Rihanna has suffered, but they actually blame her for her injuries.

Thanks to Claire for bringing this to my attention. It doesn't surprise me that young women are blaming Rihanna, and in turn blaming themselves for violence in their relationships. We have a culture of young women who accept sexual violence as the norm, and a culture of young men who are not asked to be accountable for their behavior. This happens because we don't include consent and respect in the "safe sex" conversation, if we're allowed to discuss sexual education, our justice system permits a rape-prone society when juries decide rape cases, we encourage hyper-masculinity and sexual dominance in our media, and we slash funding aimed at educating and empowering young women and men.

I want to highlight the work of Men Can Stope Rape for their focus on educating young men and creating allies, and the work of the Internet Sexuality Information Service (ISIS-Inc) that harnesses mobile technology to educate youth about safe sex.