Rihanna: Stop punishing survivors of domestic abuse

In between quips about Rachel Dolezal and her CFDAs dress, Rihanna spoke some candid, powerful truths about domestic violence in her new Vanity Fair cover story.

And she did so by flipping a question about whether she thinks of herself as a "poster child" for victims of domestic abuse, asserting to the interviewer—and everyone reading—that she won't allow herself to be defined by, or punished for, that photo of her face bruised and bloodied by Chris Brown.

 “Well, I just never understood that,” she says, “like how the victim gets punished over and over. It’s in the past, and I don’t want to say ‘Get over it,’ because it’s a very serious thing that is still relevant; it’s still real. A lot of women, a lot of young girls, are still going through it. A lot of young boys too. It’s not a subject to sweep under the rug, so I can’t just dismiss it like it wasn’t anything, or I don’t take it seriously. But, for me, and anyone who’s been a victim of domestic abuse, nobody wants to even remember it. Nobody even wants to admit it. So to talk about it and say it once, much less 200 times, is like … I have to be punished for it? It didn’t sit well with me.”

RIhanna's words illustrate two conflicting realities: as a survivor, who doesn't want to keep talking about her abuse in every interview; and as a celebrity who can make headlines and "raise awareness" for survivors when she does speak about it.

But still, years later, Brown isn't the only one still seeing repercussions from the incident—as recently as this fall, when Australian officials warned Brown he was likely to be denied a visa for his criminal conviction for assault.

Aussies threaten to ban Chris Brown from tour

The Vanity Fair article cites the NFL and CBS reversing course and choosing not to play Run This Town, Rihanna's song with Jay Z and Kanye, during the opening week of the 2014 season, when Ray Rice's domestic violence had just come to light.

Rihanna slams CBS for pulling her song from 'Thursday Night Football' intro

“Her response was appropriate," Jay Z told VF. "The N.F.L. felt it was a distraction, and she was like, ‘You’re punishing me for what happened with Ray Rice?’”

The least we can do is give Rihanna ownership of her own narrative, and certainly, stop punishing her for it.