Posted June 2, 2011 by Kinyofu

Listening to Rihanna’s song Man Down on the radio (before seeing the video) made me wonder exactly what she was referring to. Not believing that she was being literal, I stretched my mind to consider the figurative possibilities. However, after the release of the song’s video, there is no question about her intent.

She does kill a man. As the video progresses, we are witnessing events of the day before where a man rapes her. Rihanna’s recourse is to seek out deadly revenge.

Although I think most people can comprehend the horrible, devastating and unforgivable act of rape, I don’t think it is addressed enough in open society; therefore, I commend Rihanna for bringing this out into popular media. The question is now, what to do with it.

What is Rihanna’s message? Is it that when a woman says ‘No’, respect her and leave her alone? That’s a good one. Is it that a woman should find the strength to stand tall to defend herself? That is good also. Or is it that it is OK to take someone’s life? That’s not so good. As a bystander of written and spoken accounts of rape, I get the intense energy around the desire to seek revenge; however revenge carries too much responsibility. It causes one to become the judge and the jury by crossing the line to perpetrator, antagonist, instigator and “criminal” as Rihanna lyrics state.

While Rihanna artfully depicts that rape is devastating, she also, inadvertently or not, maintains that revenge is the answer. However, it can not be the answer. I fear that Rihanna’s video sends a message that it is OK to take someone’s life because they did something horrible to you.

According to Rainn.org, every 2 minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted equaling 213, 000 people per year. They also add that 60% are not reported. If each victim took the action that Rihanna did in her video, we would have chaos on our hands.

Perhaps Rihanna’s message is to abusive men: If you don’t treat a woman right, don’t expect to walk free. I can accept that message. I’d like to also think that the law can step up and take right action so that no man feels that it is his right to hurt a woman – and visa versa.

See video here:

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