In the week that followed the still-murky incident that led to Chris Brown being arrested, Rihanna being bruised and beaten and nearly everyone with a microphone in front of his or her face willing to offer an opinion, insight became a rare commodity.
Brown didn't dispense much wisdom when he said he was "sorry and saddened" over "what transpired" in an apology that made Jason Giambi seem as earnest as Robert Frost. Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Eve Ensler made barely legal allusions to the incident at a luncheon for nonprofit group V-Day, relegating the organization's battle against mass rape in the Congo to the back burner. Roseanne Barr offered some vitriol toward Brown and, as she is wont to do, brought further indignity to already poisoned discourse simply by attaching her name to the debate.
Instead, the few moments of clarity came from a hip-hop community frequently criticized as both violent and misogynist. Jay-Z, who signed Rihanna to Def Jam Recordings and has done a lot of growing up since ordering hos into his car in "Big Pimpin'", pleaded with the media during the NBA All-Star game to handle Rihanna's situation delicately.
"If you can't have compassion for others, just imagine it being your sister or your mom or someone like that. Then think about how you should talk about that."
Kanye West, commonly cast as the most selfish man on the planet, was among the first to suggest that bruises weren't sustained by a superstar named Rihanna, but by a 20-year-old woman named Robyn Fenty. He also asserted that Ms. Fenty's career path shouldn't dictate whether or not she is treated well by another human being.
"I don't care how famous she is or even if she worked at McDonald's, that should never happened. It should never come to that place."
Jay-Z and West reminded America that what happened to Rihanna had nothing to do with celebrity or entertainment and everything to do with a woman being beaten. Lost amid the coverage of lost endorsements, cancelled concerts and asinine justifications for the violence that transpired was Robyn Fenty going home to her father in Barbados covered in bruises. She also joined the nearly 1.3 million women who are abused by an intimate partner each year, according to the Department of Justice.
Rihanna and other women aren't the exclusive targets of domestic abuse, but they make up 86 percent of those on the receiving end of dating partner abuse. If they're lucky, they won't be among the more than 1,200 who are killed by their partners each year. While Fenty may have greater financial resources than many abused women, they do not immunize her from the emotional effects of domestic abuse.
In a column that appeared on this site on February 12, health and wellness expert Deborah King implored Rihanna to press charges against Brown "for the sake of all the young women watching" the NAACP Image Awards that neither ended up attending. King had plenty of company in both suggesting this course of action and in forgetting that this is a difficult decision for any abused person to make. There is no question that Rihanna's actions from this point on will send a strong message about domestic abuse in this country. However, those looking for Rihanna to step up are asking someone who has built an entire career as a headstrong, independent individual to accept the role of a victim. They're also asking someone to share their feelings of disgust toward her alleged abuser and to act as they believe anyone looking at the situation objectively should.
If Rihanna decides to speak out and to press charges, it will be because Robyn Fenty has decided to do so. She is the one who looks at her face in the mirror and sees the welts and discoloration left by a man she had and still may have strong feelings toward. She is the one who will be facing cross examination by the defense and will have the most intimate moments of her life put front and center in what promises to be a very public trial. She is the one who will have to listen as the loud cheers to which she is accustomed turn to whispered pity and hushed condolences.
"At some point, she will speak out," her father Ronald Fenty told People.com last week. "I hope she will stand up for women all over the world."
Rihanna may eventually do just that. As Jay-Z, Kanye West and other sympathetic celebrities have already discerned, Robyn Fenty may just need someone to stand up for her right now.