Because ‘Abuse Mad-Libs’ only work when you’ve got someone with whom to play, the National Organization of Women have spoken out in reaction to Chris Brown’s odd choice of wording regarding his assault of Rihanna. I’m not going to rehash that whole set of quotes from Wednesday’s piece, nor am I going to republish his entire, tedious and pandering Page Six story that came out on Thursday (it doesn’t deviate in theme or context too much from the excerpts in Us Weekly and there’s nothing revelatory in there, which would usually compel me to give it its own write-up, so I’m just going to direct people to the full thing). Responding to his seeming unwillingness to admit wrongdoing/ apologise sincerely, and his comments which readers of this site noted were glib at best and dismissive at worst, Acting Vice President Erin Matson has spoken to RadarOnline.com. ‘To imply that it is something that can just be gotten over is just an insult against women across the country,’ said Matson. ‘It is very upsetting for Chris to think it is all about him. Whether we like it or not, celebrities get so much attention in our culture and with that attention comes responsibility. To see him backing away from his responsibility to speak out against intimate partner violence is horrifying.’ In reaction to the use of the word ‘mishap,’ as a euphemism for the assault two years ago, Matson responds, ‘It was not a mishap, this was a serious act of violence. No woman who has been assaulted would refer to it as a mishap, nor should anyone refer to it as such.’ She continues, putting it far more eloquently than I, ‘The far-reaching message to young people who get beaten up is, ‘Who cares?’ Domestic violence is often not reported and when you see people in the public eye trying to sweep it under the rug, it’s one more reason why victims struggle to come forward. There is a fear that if it’s reported it will become worse and this adds to that message.’
