The 2012 Grammy Awards ceremony was not only a space for reconciliation and acceptance of Chris Brown back into the highly esteemed and respected award show — it felt more like a lovefest and overindulged amount of attention given to Brown.

Three years after he was convicted for a felony assault against his then-girlfriend Rihanna, the artist was not only invited back to the show. He also gave a lengthy performance and accepted the best R&B album award  for ‘Fame.’

Why the Grammys and the music industry embodied an almost apologetic attitude toward Brown and his presence on Sunday night is beyond me, but even more disturbing were fans’ reactions to him on Twitter.

Buzzfeed published a post, titled ’25 Extremely Upsetting Reactions To Chris Brown At The Grammys,’ that displays screenshots of different fans collectively expressing their extreme loyalty to Brown, to the point of condoning his abuse.

‘I don’t know why Rihanna complained. Chris Brown could beat me anytime he wanted to’ and ‘Chris Brown can punch me anytime he wants #love’ are only two of the many tweets demonstrating a sense of the public’s troubling conclusions post-violence: He can do it to me, too, because he’s so talented and good looking. The author of the Buzzfeed post wrote a subhead for the title, ‘Yikes. Looks like we have a really big problem here, society.’

Yikes, indeed. This really is a big problem, and it’s worth questioning whose problem it is.

While these comments are disturbing and it’s upsetting to think about these individual fans acting insensitively and dangerously with their support of Brown’s abuse, they’re not necessarily the only ones to blame. These comments are reflective of our culture at large, which quickly forgets the level of seriousness in this matter in the name of business, popularity and ratings.

One in every four women experience domestic violence in their lifetimes, and nearly 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest per capita rates of intimate partner violence, according to the Bureau of Justice.

With these alarming statistics at our disposal and personal experiences to back them up, young women on campus should be deeply concerned with the reactions of Brown’s fans. It’s not that people don’t deserve second chances or an attempt to recover from their past failures, but maybe Brown shouldn’t have been given the opportunity to make such a drastic transition from an abusive threat to Grammy all-star in just a few years.

There’s a difference between allowing the artist to attend the event and then fully promoting Brown’s career while shielding him from any discomfort over his history of domestic violence. Luckily, Buzzfeed has taken individuals to task on their overwhelmingly problematic comments and is forcing people to confront the societal status quo.

Young women should hold CBS, the Grammys and the music industry responsible for encouraging such a dangerous assessment of domestic violence and relationship abuse. They should also challenge themselves to be more critical thinkers and consumers of pop culture. The statistics about domestic violence are real, and so is the ability to refuse to ignore them.

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.   

Published on February 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm