Grammy Gripes

I am not a feminist in the climb the corporate ladder, sexual Revolution, keep my own last name kind of way.  But I do have this little quirk where I hate it when a man feloniously assaults a women in public at the pre-party for an event and then 3 years later without explanation or any well-documented come-to-Jesus is invited to return to said event as its darling.

I am hoping against hope that somehow I am in a long dream and that I do not actually live in a world and country where Chris Brown is paraded around the Grammy stage rhythmically gyrating to not only the music but also to the delighted squeals of young girls in the audience who according to one tweeter “would let Chris B beat her anytime.”

Not Okay People.

And I can hear the pathetic responses right now,

1.       Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

2.       There are lots of immoral people that perform at the Grammys

3.       The Grammys is about Music not personal life.

Allow me to briefly address these mid-eye roll and exasperated sigh.

Immoral Performers a Dime a Dozen

Yeah, there probably are.  I mean the Grammys is basically a drugs, sex and rock-n-roll factory and somehow I am cool with stoned, non-virgin, irreverent provocateurs taking the stage.  Because despite our best efforts to be equally scandalized by every individual offense committed, there is for each of a hierarchy of sin.  As a hippy-dippy artsy type I am comparatively less concerned about an artist tokin’ it up in his or her own home before creating his or her next masterpiece or having sex with her or his live-in on a regular basis.  Would I discourage them from these things if we were good pals? Probably, but we could still be pretty good pals either way.  For me, those behaviors are really nothing at all like beating a woman to a pulp and leaving her for dead. That would be harder for me to “be cool with” in a personal relationship and I think it ought to have been much harder for CBS to be cool with on Sunday night.

Second Chances

I am pro- second chances. Who among us has not spoken out of turn, given into our baser desires and at times made the prodigal son look like the “good one”?  I am stepping completely away from the stone much less being the first to throw it. I am a Christian. I am a Social Worker. I oppose the death penalty. Second Chance is my middle name.  But again, isn’t it a little elementary to equate this level of prominence on the most important night in music with a simple second chance? A second chance is allowing Chris Brown to sit in the audience in the back somewhere. A second chance is agreeing to let him give a humble speech should he win in one of his categories.  This was not a second chance, this was the Chris Brown Banquet of Honor held for all the world to see. 

The Grammys are Professional not Personal

I think it is personal and that is the problem, because as a woman, I take this extremely personally. This reminds me of a few years back when Michael Vick was going to be released from prison and welcomed with open-arms into the NFL. Vick had been convicted of running dog-fights and the animal cruelty that comes along with the gig.  Obviously animal lovers were outraged that he would be let back into the NFL even after having served his time. But many shrugged it off saying, “ it was ONLY some dogs”.  And here we are again at a juncture when a man has nearly killed another human being, bruised her, bloodied her,  humiliated and dehumanized her and it is as if I can here the producers saying, “it was only a woman.”

Not cool Grammy Officiants, you have just made what my dad calls the “S” List and “I don’t mean super.”