Outrage at Chris Brown’s tattoo,They’s said ‘Try a bit of compassion for Rihanna’

Moral indignation over Brown’s tasteless tattoo masks a lot of misogynist meanness about Rihanna. We can do better than that

This week, someone noticed singer Chris Brown’s new neck tattoo and all hell broke loose. Though there are few clear photos available of the new marking, it appears to be a line drawing of a woman’s face, half etched with a peculiar mix of floral and faux tribal symbols and shading. The image could be a female version of the ghouls that flanked Brown during his recent performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Brown has now claimed that the artwork represents a Mexican sugar skull. But most who have followed the singer’s antics over the past few years seem to roundly agree that the tattoo resembles most strongly a battered woman: in 2009, Brown pled guilty to battering his then girlfriend, pop star Rihanna.

A frothing public poured its outrage across the internet (as you do). But frankly, the indignation rings hollow.

Brown’s smirking arrogance and defiance when faced with the consequences of his violence make him easy to cast as the perfect devil. He shows no signs of committing to changed behavior, long-term education or counseling. He has offered the barest lip service to contrition and backed his unconvincing penitence with nothing material save what was court-ordered. And he has, from the moment the attack on Rihanna came to light, seemed eager to brush it off as a youthful indiscretion and move on with the business of cribbing Michael Jackson’s moves and being famous. That – like tiger blood enthusiast Charlie Sheen before him – he retains the love of the entertainment industry and a legion of fans only makes matters worse.

It’s hard to argue that enmity directed at a man who demonstrates his personal growth through further reported violence and homophobic ranting isn’t righteous. But the public anger at Brown simply doesn’t square with the way mistreatment of women is ignored and justified when it isn’t committed by a celebrity who is easy to hate and its victim is not a pretty, young star.

For example, would that the routine misogyny of the internet, where, over the last 24 hours, anti-Brown screeds have multiplied, also provoked outrage. Some of the same corners of the web expressing vein-bulging anger at “Breezy’s” latest also regularly abet woman-hatred. The commentariat at Gawker property, Gizmodo, went in on Brown in response to a post by writer Emma Carmichael. But less than a month before, writer Molly Oswaks had to defend herself, and her fellow female writers at the site, against the relentless sexism of that same community.

This is not to compare internet trolling to physical battery, but to say that no cookies need be given for recognizing and objecting to Brown’s violence and gross antics. Disgust for an unrepentant abuser is the least we can ask for from right-thinking human beings, yes? But properly invested condemnation of the mistreatment of women should extend beyond high-profile celebrity cases to the other nooks and crannies where sexism lurks and potential violence festers more or less unchecked.

More telling is the “concern” shown for Brown’s victim. It is bad enough that, in the days following the attack, some people searched for reasons to justify Brown’s violence. But Rihanna has come under increased scrutiny in the years following the incident, for her dress, her partying, her sexuality and for not being as incensed at Chris Brown as we are. In 2011, the pair recorded a song together – the explicit “Birthday Cake”. And in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, the tearful singer expressed love for Brown and seemed to minimize his abuse.

Rihanna’s message is not one we want young girls, or boys, to hear. A shocking number of teens have reacted to this public case of abuse by blaming the victim. But abuse is devastating to the body and mind. Survivors of domestic violence often find it difficult to disconnect from their abusers. Rather than allowing Rihanna her healing, and understanding the psychological toll of abuse, the public demands that she be strong and make decisions that please them. If we’re going to support a victim of domestic violence, she had best be a “perfect” one.

Rage against a pompous, violent fool is easy; compassion for imperfect victims is much harder. Recognizing and addressing the roots of misogyny seemingly harder still. Unless the public can move past the first of these to the logical but more difficult next steps, then the breast-beating over the ongoing tragedy that is Chris Brown and Rihanna’s relationship is just so much impotent sound and fury.