Chris Brown after winning a Grammy Sunday

The 54^th Grammy award ceremony on Sunday, February 12,celebrated some of the biggest names in the music industry, and some of the most controversial. Chris Brown, rising out of the controversy of his violent past with singer Rihanna, was awarded best R&B album, and got two performances on the Grammy stage. His prominent presence that night has led to some disturbing reactions, such as this article on BuzzFeed, which displays 25 tweeted reactions to the R&B star, all of which include the general idea that the women would be more than willing to “have Brown beat them, any day.”

“Intimate partner violence is not a joke. The ignorance these girls are displaying disgusts me, and I seriously doubt they would be making those jokes if they, or anyone they cared about, had ever experienced intimate partner violence themselves,” Leora Ben-Ze’ev, freshmen, said in response to the site.

Three years ago, Brown was black listed from the music industry for beating Rihanna. The artist pleaded guilty in court to one count of assault with the intent of causing great bodily harm. The Grammy’s invitation for Brown to perform multiple times was a serious signal that the Grammy community was prepared to full-heartedly forgive him for his mistakes, although it seems the public wasn’t ready.

“I think it’s scary how it should be totally obvious that we should all collectively agree to not give Chris Brown the time of day anymore, but he’s still getting work, and people are falling all over him. What gives?” senior, Chelsea Rebecca said.

“Wife beater” was trending on twitter for part of the Grammys, and the hash tags of the girls included on the site were #lovehim and #womanbeater.

As clearly exhibited, whether or not the women on the site were joking isn’t the matter at hand. The problem is when society believes that three years is enough time to allow a man who beats up women back into the spotlight, to take the glory without so much as muttering an apologetic word. The problem is when the word love is used in the same sentence as “beat me” and that even though the pictures of a woman’s battered face can be found with the simple press of a Google search bar, her abuser is glorified and encouraged.

I encourage anyone who has said, “I’d let Chris Brown beat me” to look at Rihanna’s face after the incident, and think very hard about if that’s how you really feel.