I'm not impressed with Chris.

You may not know that I am becoming a grandma. I routinely drink chamomile tea and am in bed by 9 pm. It was a particularly "grandma-y" Sunday the night of the Grammys, and I was already in bed reading when my roommate called me out because Chris Brown was performing. So begrudgingly I got my ass out of bed and went to watch. He almost had me. The guy's got talent and man he can move. But as I'm sure we all remember, he beat the shit out of his girlfriend (remember this?). 

I thought about it as I was watching and am still thinking about it now. Blood is boiling a little bit. First of all, I'll be the first to say I believe in second chances. Does what happened infinitely make him a "bad guy?" No. Is there a chance that he'll never hurt another one of his partners? Yes. Do I hope he learned from this and is a changed person? Yes. But that's not the point. Relationship violence, and violence against women in particular, is a major issue in our society.  By having Chris Brown perform at the Grammys does not help us understand the course of action that should have been taken, nor does it aid a survivor's healing process.

I found a really interesting article on Hello Giggles, that made incredibly valid points. I just want to highlight a couple that had me saying things like, "holy shit, they're so right....oh my gosh, yes!" that are worth thinking about.

• One thing that really frosts me right off the bat that I didn't realize (or simply don't remember), is the response from the celebrity community following the abuse. The fact that people like Carrie Underwood and Mary J. Blige responded by saying things like, "they're both young and beautiful people, and that's that." Or, "I don't think anybody actually knows what happened. I have no advice." WHAT? The second statement is essentially putting doubt on Rihanna's story. The most vital piece to know when something like this happens, is that you believe the victim. Having doubt or placing blame does not aid the healing process and it contributes to the "she must have done something to deserve this," mindset.
• A Grammy producer was quoted saying this: "We’re glad to have him back. I think people deserve a second chance, you know. If you’ll note, he has not been on the Grammys for the past few years and it may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.” 
• WOW. Poor Chris Brown has had to sit out of two whole Grammy awards. Cry me a river.
• The Grammys fell victim to this incident. Rihanna was the only victim of this incident.
• The only message sent to viewers by allowing Brown to perform this year, is that they are complacent with the fact that he abused Rihanna - no big deal. In reality, violence is unacceptable. 

This wasn't mentioned in the article but another result of this incident were that girls and women in the Twitterverse (most likely elsewhere, too), were saying things along the lines of, "Chris Brown can beat me up any day." I could go on, but all I will say in regards to this, is WTF.

Last but not least, what would have happened if Chris Brown wasn't Chris Brown; if he had been some nobody person. Would he have gotten off so easily and back into the good graces of everyone? I'd venture to say no. I think this is something important to bring up. Should celebrities get off the hook just because they happen to sing like an angel or produce dance moves you'd never think were possible? I'm sure you can all guess what my answer would be. 

Having a "forgive and forget" attitude when it comes to Chris Brown is not sufficient and I think we all need to have a second thought. Brown's assault charge left him with 5 years probation and 180 hours of community service. Is he still famous? Still making millions? Still selling music like hot cakes? Yes. Like I said, I believe in second chances. But from my perspective, it doesn't seem like Brown's done enough to deserve one like this.