Humour me for just a moment…

We are all quite comfortable in life, generally, but agree that we also have hardships and crosses to bear. That for the most part (in a modern, developed-world) we are doing ok, and only have a few creases to iron out in terms of equality to each other.

True as this is, there is something about the inequality of gender in our modern age which irks me. I know I’m a lucky one, which is so obvious when looking at developing countries. Yet the subtlety of it here, in cosmopolitan Europe, has knock-on consequences. I can’t help seeing it all around me, and I’m consistently shocked that so few share my point of view. These grips are nothing compared to the fact that women are still the poorest, least educated, most persecuted gender. But they still matter. They do! It all adds up!

Examples I noticed throughout the pop-culture stratosphere over the last week or two really stood out. So I wanted to make a note of them and hope that they are food for thought…or at least help me to exorcise my inferiority and insecurity demons…

1. Beyonce, a very cool and talented woman, wearing red underwear at the MTV European Video Music Awards last week. Why, oh why, does a woman who sings like that need to wear this? Incidentally the host, Katie Perry, also wore very little all night and was constantly being ‘sexy’ and mimicking positions and clothes traditionally associated with sex workers or exotic dancers (nothing wrong with being a sex worker or dancer, but Ms. Perry is a singer, no?)
2. That the David Guetta (feat. Akon) song called ‘Sexy Chick’ is a huge single. The chorus is actually ‘I’m trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrepectful’…my god, are we at the stage where we can’t describe women we like (our girlfriends or wives or friends) without using the words ‘sexy’ or ‘booty’. Is there really nothing else about this girl that he can say without turning her into a piece of meat?? I’m finding it hard to describe that song without being insulted.
3. The fact that, in his new video, Chris Brown, who was recently sentenced for beating up his then-girlfriend Rihanna, is looking pretty aggressive, playing with ninja-style weapons and singing about transforming good girls (Rihanna’s last album was called Good Girl Gone Bad). Not only this, but he was interviewed by Larry King about the whole situation for the first time, he didn’t say he was sorry, he just shrugged and looked sheepish, saying it was all ‘crazy’. Fellow rappers Lil Wayne and Bow Wow have since supported HIM saying things like ‘he’s only human’. What the fuck? So if you’re human and male it’s acceptable to beat up women?? It’s just a wee character flaw we all need to get over? How is his new single doing well (top 15 in US and top 20 in UK/ Ireland)? How does he not have his little shriveled-up tail planted firmly between his legs, while watching his career trickle down the sewers with all the other little shits….???

You may be thinking I’m a femi-nazi gone wild. And that these things don’t add up to a world where women can’t enjoy the social or economic status of men. But I can’t help thinking that even here in the developed (apparently equal) world, these small instances result in a mindset which treats women as things to be looked at, to be kept, to titillate us.

Maybe their cumulative effect has some kind of influence. Helping to cause things like these recent news stories:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8352711.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/oct/30/gender-pay-gap-still-high
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8365808.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8366197.stm

An amazing antidote to this stuff comes in the form of this PJ Harvey video (‘The Piano’). There is just something about this (the juxtaposition of such images with the tune) which really makes me stop and think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpNxP7FcywY

So, keep your eyes open. Talk about this stuff to people. Don’t be scared to stand up for each other and explore the notion of equality…g’won, I dare ya…

Chris Brown is under a court order to cease all communication with the ex-girlfriend Rihanna, whom he admits – and publically regrets – beating up. We’ve heard him voice his regrets on ‘Larry King Live’  and more recently on American interview program ‘20/20’. Technically is this a contravention of his court order? If it was ordinary  you or I would we be able to point our point of view in a public forum, where what we have to say – no matter how apologetic – will also reach the person we’re supposed to avoid? Can Rihanna avoid Chris Brown’s protestations?  Is she being harassed?

Complicating the issue even further is Chris Brown’s new album ‘Graffiti’  - another  reason for him to be doing interviews – containing songs which Brown openly admits as being about “the situation”. Does this compound the issue? Can Rehanna avoid hearing these songs if she wanted to avoid them or needed to avoid them?

We assume she’s getting on with her life, that she’d dealing with “it”. But what if she isn’t? What if Chris Brown’s so public so available pronouncements are adding the mental damage caused by the assault?

You can’t blame Chris Brown. He wants to be heard to say he’s sorry, because he’s truly sorry or became he needs to manage the damage to his career. As a creative person we also expect him to express what he’s thinking and feeling in his medium of choice, music.

It’s all messy, no matter what way you look at it.

While Chris Brown is clearly harmed by the aftermath, Rihanna seems to have come out of it rather well. She was always a bit of a flawless pop princess, despite calling her last album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’. This has made her more “real”, although her latest album ‘R Rated’ maybe takes her more along the ‘”bad girl” than she should right night. One minute she’s championing women in bad relationships, next minute she’s pictured nude bound in gaffer tape.

The irony of course is that both artists have released new albums within a week of each other. It would have been part of a long-term strategy, to capture the lucrative Christmas market. Rihanna’s album so far has received a “soft”, careful reception. The acid test will be what fans have in store for Chris Brown.

CHRIS BROWN FEELS TIGER’S WIFE SHOULD GET IN TROUBLE FOR HER ASSAULT

Chris Brown thinks that the world is one-sided because Tiger’s case was closed so quickly while he had his drag on. Maybe he thinks Tiger’s wife should’ve been investigated for domestic abuse too and have the negative media attention that he’s been getting. I guess he may have a point but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. Here’s what he Tweeted after the Tiger case was pronounced over. Chris Brown thinks that the world is one-sided because Tiger’s case was closed so quickly while he had his drag on. Maybe he thinks Tiger’s wife should’ve been investigated for domestic abuse too and have the negative media attention that he’s been getting. I guess he may have a point but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. Here’s what he Tweeted after the Tiger case was pronounced over.

Hey guys sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. I’ve just been so busy with school and whatnot. But anyways, here’s what went down this week.
We all know about the whole Tiger Wood’s drama and for those who don’t ; on Friday November 27, professional golfer Tiger Woods crashed his car into a fire hydrant just across the street from his Florida home. His wife, Elin Nordegren used a golf club to bash the back window of his SUV and got him to safety. He’s okay right now but thats not the end to this story. Rumors surfacing that he had an alledged affair with club hostess Rachel Uchitel. According to the Orlando Senitel; the mistress count has been upped to three. Including Los Angeles hostess Jaimee Grubbs, and another woman named Kalika Moquin. This goes to show that you can never keep your life private as a celebrity (with the exception of a certain few).
Fast forward to December 4th. Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts did a long awaited interview on R&B sensation Chris Brown about what happened with then-girlfriend, Pop-singer Rihanna. When asked if Rihanna had heard his song “Changed Man,” Chris responded that Rihanna did indeed hear the song the day he recorded it. For more on this you can watch this clip; or go to abc.com and search “Chris Brown Interview.”
Well tell me what you all think of this and comment please .

WATCH VIDEO HERE  (props to WorldStar Hiphop)

I didn’t think it was going to be this short of an inteview; I was expecting as much more Q&A as when Rihanna was on 20/20. Makes me wonder how much they edited for the show. Overall, it was an OK interview; it was basically the questions and the answers we expected.

PLEASE let this be the last time we hear about this incident!!!!!!!