Emily Simski
March 20, 2015
Blog Entry
Rhianna’s
“Russian Roulette”
Today
in class we had a group discussion focused around the agency, abuse and sexualized
violence of Hip Hop artist Rhianna’s 2009 hit song “Russian Roulette”. Since
the release of this song, the media has examined the “real” issues that focused
around this song. According to author Esther Jones in the article On the Real: Agency, Abuse, and Sexualized
Violence in Rhianna’s “Russian Roulette”, the song “reveals the
complexities of carving out a space for women’s agency while challenging sex-positive
notions of choice and consent in modes of ostensibly and sexual agency”.
“Russian
Roulette” is based around the abusive incident between her and ex-boyfriend
Chris Brown. The incident happened with Brown punching, biting and even choking
Rhianna while she herself was trying to defend herself. This soon caused the
split between her private life (Robyn Fenty) and her public life (Rhianna) as
people didn't know what to expect any more in my opinion. After this incident,
Rhianna become known as a battered women or someone who is “not believed because
society denies their terrorism or abused women who don’t leave their partners
are believed to be lying about the abuse they suffer” (77-78). This soon led to
a discussion that was brought up about how women are blamed for the incidents
when THEY’RE the victims; because that’s exactly what happened to Rhianna. She
was blamed for being the victim of the incident instead of Brown, the abuser.
So
this is when the idea for the song comes into play. After the incident occurred,
Rhianna wouldn't speak out about it because she was afraid of the consequences
that would follow. However this song allowed her to express the pain and
suffering that she’d experienced as she does in other songs of hers because “Rhianna
compels us to re-examine the rhetoric of choice and interrogate the limits of
consent” (82). This can also be said about the cover art for the song as the
images express the pain and abuse she’d experienced in the incident. When asked
from Diane Sawyer if this could happen to anyone in an abusive relationship,
Rhianna replied: “I am strong; and
this happened to me. I did not cause
this” (84). This is true for any women who has been blamed for an incident in
which they’re the victim.
I hate how women are always being blamed for the relationship and I think Rihanna coming out and talking about it was very brave of her.
ReplyDeleteAlthough she was blamed, i think that a lot of young women look up to her, and she set a really good roll for women. She showed that that women shouldn't have to settle for what they think is okay,and that no one should have to stand around for crap like that.
ReplyDeleteI found the cover art of "Russian Roulette" very interesting! I didn't look too much into the symbolization in the image, referring to her abuse, but now that I understand it, I find it incredibly powerful. I like how you highlight the point that Rihanna understood that this was an act against her not because of her. Too often, women blame themselves for their abuses because of the messages society sends to them, and its important that abused women understand that they are not at fault.
ReplyDelete