Video clips from Bad Boy Of Feminism at Soho Theatre

I have uploaded some clips from the final performances of The Bad Boy Of Feminism at the Soho Theatre in June this year.

On studying Women's Studies and the origins of Black Feminism:



On Danny Dyer:



On taxi drivers:



DVD of this show filmed at London's Etcetera Theatre is available from here:

http://www.rip-productions.co.uk/ArtistMullinger.html

How to save the world by helping girls and women

The amazing Sheryl WuDunn delivering a profoundly honest speech on the world's greatest injustice at the annual TED conference:

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_wudunn_our_century_s_greatest_injustice.html

Thank you to my dear friend Anna Nunziata for sending this to me.

Brilliant sketch spoofing the awful female stereotypes in "indie" movies funded by studios

Kira Cochrane on Why Feminism Is Far From Finished

Another wonderful and inspiring piece by Kira Cochrane in The Guardian yesterday on the rise of third wave feminism:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/24/feminism-not-finished-not-uncool

Cochrane is probably the most important broadsheet journalist on the subject as she repeatedly brings the subject to the main pages of every intelligent person's favourite newspaper. Such eloquence, passion and insight are rarely so beautifully presented in mainstream media as in her writing.

I've read almost everything she's ever written. You should too:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/kiracochrane

The Bad Boy Of Feminism at the Soho Theatre

Many thanks to everyone who came to the two final ever performances of The Bad Boy Of Feminism at the Soho Theatre on 25 and 26 June. Despite the heat in the theatre, they were my two favourite ever gigs and I was truly delighted that both shows were sold out.

It was lovely to perform the show to such a like-minded audience. As you can see from the picture above I had more converts to the cause at the end of the show than from any other!

I start previews for my new show James Mullinger's Schooldays this week on Thursday at the Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham. I have a lot of work to do on it but it should be nice and polished by the 6th and 7th August at The Camden Fringe.

Time Out article

I was most honoured to be asked by Time Out's enormously respected Comedy Editor Tim Arthur to write a piece about the final two performances of The Bad Boy Of Feminism. The piece generated a lot of interest and lots of like-minded feminists who hadn't heard of me before came to see the show off the back of the article.

Understandably, Time Out's lawyers insisted on some moments of ranting to be removed so please find below the full, uncut, unexpurgated version that I submitted:

Why the stand up circuit needs feminism more than ever by James Mullinger

Misogyny has been making something of a comeback of late, both on the stand up circuit and in society in general. It seems you can say what you like about all women being slags and they are all just supposed to take the joke. Even the most mainstream of comedians are making rape jokes but we’ve all got to laugh along because it’s all just a bit of fun, right. Wrong.

Obviously the wealth of superb female stand ups on the circuit right now are redressing that balance, but it is often shocking how much misogyny you hear in clubs up and down the country every weekend. Things aren’t as bad as they used to be in the 1970s when Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning were on primetime but with Neanderthal scum like Danny Dyer telling readers of weekly rapist training manual Zoo magazine to slash their ex’s faces and Comedy Central’s marketing department cashing in on Charlie Sheen beating his wife to a pulp on Christmas Day by distributing adverts for the new series of Two And A Half Men with the tagline: “Charlie’s no angel!” we still have a long way to go.

It is staggering to me that even in 2010 violent crime against women is still treated as a bit of a laugh by a supposed comedy channel. At least there was uproar over Dyer’s comments and he was promptly fired. Sheen meanwhile was whooped and cheered by the studio audience of said lame-com in his first post-arrest appearance.

So third-wave feminism should in theory be flourishing at a time like this but instead it seems more people than ever are afraid to call themselves feminists. People assume that a feminist has to look like Jeremy Clarkson’s uglier sister. Part of the problem is perhaps the word ‘feminist’ itself. The ‘ist’ at the end of too harsh - after all, no-one wants to be a racist, rapist with a cist do they?

Another reason is the stupid people that think only women can be feminists. After a gig at the Leicester Comedy Festival, a woman came up to me and accused me of being a misogynist for using the ‘c’ word in my act. I tried to explain that I was using the term in the English way as a term of endearment, not the misogynistic North American sense. When she continued to shout I shamefully resorted to proudly revealing that I had a degree in Women’s Studies as if that gave me carte blanche to say what I like. Her response? “You can’t be a feminist, you’re a man.”

So I hit her. Which was fair enough. After all, she was asking for it.

Just a joke! Right?

For all of these reasons I decided what the circuit needed was a proud feminist male comedian. I’m the first to admit that a stand up show about feminism sounds about as funny as being fingered by John Leslie. But everything about ’James Mullinger Is The Bad Boy Of Feminism’ is intended to defy expectations and I have worked hard to make it as funny as it is preachy.

The title is a swipe at the way that the media call these wife beating scumbags ‘bad boys’ when really they should be called homicidal thugs. But the title is deliberately ambiguous so as a result, I have attracted audiences from both sides of the political spectrum. The first time I performed it at the Camden Fringe last year, half a dozen men from a men’s rights group bought tickets, assuming they were in for an hour of feminist bashing. I haven’t seen so many frowning cavemen since the BNP lost the Barking seat in May.

I decided to reclaim my feminist roots in 2008 after four years on the circuit, having been branded something of a laddish comic, some reviewers even going as far as accusing me of misogyny. I had also appeared on a TV panel show called Street Cred Sudoku and found myself accused of misogyny. The subject of Jordan came up and what I wanted to convey was that that I don’t buy into the idea that she is a successful businesswomen, I think she is an appalling example to young women prostituting her life, as proven by the horrifying fact that 95% of visitors to her website are women. Unfortunately, in the cut and thrust of a laugh a minute panel show, what came out of my mouth was the more succinct and less righteous: “I think she’s a slag”. Robin Ince and Sue Perkins rightly turned on me for using such a word. Ince even pointing out that he and I had been discussing the work of Andrea Dworkin in his dressing room prior to filming and that I was clearly some kind of charlatan.

As well as comedy punters and some misogynists, the show has also attracted some hardcore feminists, some of whom are big heroes of mine. Performing the show for them filled me with nerves because as well as being a filth filled gag fest, I wanted it to hold up as a feminist argument. Once well known feminist writer came to the show and I sheepishly asked her afterwards which bit she liked best expecting her to invoke the segment on bell hooks (sic) and the origins of Black Feminism or the insight into the way radical feminism evolved in the latter part of the twentieth century, but instead she thought about it for a moment, looked me in the eye and in all seriousness said: “The corpse fucking joke.”

Which proves I have maintained my feminist ideals after all because that’s my favourite bit too. My wish is that more comedians will shy away from using women as their comedian punch bags and instead target those deserving of our wrath such as Danny Dyer and Charlie Sheen.

James Mullinger will be performing ‘James Mullinger Is The Bad Boy Of Feminism’ for the very last time at the Soho Theatre on 25th and 26th June

www.sohotheatre.com

ENDS

Why are modern crime novelists so obsessed with the torture of women?

I have just returned from a 2-week holiday and am feeling rather disgusted with the state of modern book publishing.

I have always enjoyed crime novels on holidays for the trashy fun that they should be but over the past fortnight found myself disgusted with the abundance of rape and violence that pepper almost all the mass market novels in the bestseller lists.

Why do Kathy Reichs, James Patterson (and his numerous "co authors"), Karin Slaughter, Patricia Cornwell all assume that the only crime their readers are interested in is the rape, murder and mutilation of young women?

They revel in it. I just finished Swimsuit by James Patterson (or rather written by Maxine Paetro but bares Patterson's name to ensure it shifts millions of copies) and it is by far one of the worst examples of this. Dozens of rapes and murders described in graphic details for no reason. No plotting or tension, just a list of rapes. The ending? The murderer gets murdered in a snuff film. Or he doesn't. We don't know. The book is utterly pointless unless you are aroused by the idea of a woman being raped before being decapitated with her head attached to a ceiling fan so that the head spins around the room. Or how about a women being strangled to death while she is being raped?

I have not made any of this up. These are just two of the many atrocities Patterson / Peatro describe with no skill whatsoever. The entire book is sick, unnecessary, offensive and made me feel rather ill and spoiled my sunbathing.

Which would be my own fault if I had purchased a book packaged like a torture porn film like Hostel or Last House On The Left. But I had not. I had purchased a book by the world's most successful author (he churns out so much of this garbage that he sells more books than Dan Brown, Stephen King and J.K. Rowling put together) from WH Smith sporting one of the covers illustrated above. Does anything about the cover above say to you 'Rapey head chopping'?

The cover of the edition I purchased at Toronto Pearson airport also states that it is his 'most satisfying book since Kiss The Girls'. Satisfying? Interesting choice of word. Not only would Patrick Bateman himself be sickened by this book, it has also alienated Patterson's own fans with 120 Amazon reviews granting it a 1-star review and only 38 a 5-star review. More of his fans hate his lazy output than actually enjoy it.

Surely he and other crime novelists can broaden their horizons a bit? There are other crimes out there. The mob are a pretty exciting bunch, how about featuring them? Or bank robberies. Or diamond smuggling.

Or anything other than sexual assaults and mutilation of young women.

Most disturbingly, the majority of these books are written by women so I am extremely confused as to their motivations. Are they under the misguided view that by graphically describing rapes in pornographic detail they are highlighting the awfulness of sexual assault?

These hack trash pedellers need to check out the work of genuinely thrilling crime novelists such as Simon Kernick and Mark Billingham. These masters of the genre do not need to resort to crude lists of atrocities as they have refined literary chops and the understanding of narrative.

I gave up reading Patterson's book a few years ago when he stopped not only writing his novels but in all liklihood, reading them also. I thought I'd pick this one up because it looked like it might be a bit of pulpy fun.

I will not be making this mistake again.

Marks & Spencers decide misogyny is the best way to sell bras

M&S just can't seem to get it right. Since 1884 until about a decade ago they were adored for their simple, well priced clothing. But then they tried to do that terrible thing that befalls many a retailer.

They tried to be cool.

In today's Metro is the most tragic and appallingly offensive decision in their history. Presumably a decision made by the new Chief Executive Marc Bolland (formerly of Morrisons), there is a full page ad featuring a pair of breasts with a large font stating: "Perfect fits".

See what they've done there?

How hilarious... How witty...

No, how Razzle of them.

Bolland is the man who thought Nick Hancock would be a good ambassador for his previous brand. Put that decision in Room 101.

I would argue that this advert is a betrayal of every woman who has ever shopped at M&S. To reduce their branding to an advert that looks more like a spread in Zoo or Nuts magazine than an advert for a high street retailer

And what exactly are M&S trying to achieve? The only possible repercussion of this is that they might sell a few more over-sized lacy bras to perverts for them to masturbate into.

Was that the intention M&S? If it is, then I would ask that Bolland be the one charged with mopping up the changing rooms at closing time.

Please withdraw these ads as soon as possible, M&S. I know there's a recession but resorting to the objectification of women and pathetic porn-y stunts is beyond desperate. I for one will not be purchasing any more of their lunchtime snacks until these appalling ads are a distant memory.

But let's be honest about M&S' real problems. If their fashion designs were half as tasty as their ready meals, they'd be on the cover of U.S. Vogue every month.

Danny Dyer

There won't be many of you that haven't already heard about the uproar over Danny Dyer's column in Zoo magazine last week but for the sake of posterity, here is what happened. Dyer writes an advice column for the magazine, in which men write to him with their woes. In last week's edition, 23-year old Alex from Manchester wrote in to ask how he should get over his girlfriend. Dyer's thoughtful advice was as follows:

"You've got nothing to worry about, son. I'd suggest going out on a rampage with the boys, getting on the booze and smashing anything that moves. Then, when some bird falls for you, you can turn the tables and break her heart. Of course, the other option is to cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her."

Seriously, what the fuck?

In some ways I am glad this has happened because it has brought into the public forum, what many of us have known for years. That these magazines are designed solely to promote hatred of women.

Just to be clear, this is not 'lad culture' or 'Loaded culture'. That was about drinking and football and the worship of women. I was a Loaded reader in the 90s and it was a truly great magazine. It was the reason I wanted to get into magazines. And if you think the original Loaded was anything like the current filthy rag of the same name, think again.

90s lad culture was not necessarily always a positive thing but neither was it dangerous. Nuts and Zoo are not capturing the zeitgeist unless you count the fact that rapes and domestic violence are on the up and here are two magazines devoted to ensuring they continue to rise. Porn is bad but porn is on the top shelf. Zoo and Nuts are next to Country Life and Heat. Now I know the latter is most likely read by misogynists and the former is determined to make every woman feel like shit about her body but they are not the same as the two manuals for trainee rapists. Porn objectifies women. Zoo and Nuts promote the hatred of women and the belief that they are second class citizens.

All three major political parties failed to put women's issues at the forefront of their campaigns. Whoever decides to do so in time for the inevitable reelection in six months, will get my vote. Well, provided they agree to curb the excesses of these rotten rags under the incitement to violence act that is.

The Bad Boy Of Feminism comes to the Soho Theatre

I will be performing Bad Boy Of Feminism for the very last time at the Soho Theatre in June:

http://www.sohotheatre.com/pl1883.html

This will be an extended and updated version of the show to the performances I did last year. Feminism really could not be more relevant than it is today so the show is constantly evolving as ore things make me angry about the treatment of women in 2010.

Please do come and join me. I will be handing out free copies of my favourite feminst literature at the end of the show (along with free drinks!) including Natasha Walters's powerful new work, rare vintage copies of the wonderful Spare Rib magazine and my favourite texts by bell hooks.

Hope to see you there!

The Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism by Ellie Levenson (Book review)

I have been a fan of Ellie Levenson's wise, witty and well informed writing for some time. Her journalism in The Guardian and The Independent has often proved to be the most insightful commentary of modern feminism in the mainstream press. Do check out her wise words here:

http://www.ellielevenson.co.uk/page2.htm

As anyone who has seen my show will know, I believe that feminism is more important in 2010 than ever before. Yet less people are proud to call themselves feminists. People grossly misunderstand what the movement is about which is why Ellie Levenson's wonderful book is such an important piece of work. She is an excellent writer and she expertly weaves every point to a naturally funny and informative conclusion. She ingeniously takes this very important subject and makes it fun and enjoyable which is precisely what is required. I adore this book and have bought copies for many people to spread the word.

The best praise I can give, is that many people will have started to read this book not thinking they were feminists, but by the end of the book changed their minds. I obviously attempt the sam ething with my show by asking people to raise their hands at the beginning and end if they would consider themselves feminists. My aim is every night to double the figure but of kate I have been failing.

This book is a great deal of fun but argues a very important point very persausively. In short, it is required reading for all.

Living Dolls: The Return Of Sexism by Natasha Walter (Book review)

Natasha Walter's The New Feminism came out in 1999, when I was months away from completing my Women's Studies degree at Kingston University. It was required reading for everyone on my course because it provided a profound and enlightening insight in to the state of feminism at the end of the twentieth century and provided a conclusion to all we had learned over three years.

So, I have been excited to read Living Dolls since its publication a month ago. Walter is arguably the most important feminist in the public eye today. She has a remarkable way of brining important issues of oppression in to the forefront of public debate while never allowing media outlets to paint her as a controversialist. Highly intelligent, she is always careful to not convey her points in a hectoring manner which is what makes this book such an important work. I was fascinated by every word and devoured it in three days. It makes grim, depressing reading at times but ultimately the mere existence of this work is enough to bring hope for the future.

Anyone doubting the importance of feminism in 2010 must read this book without fail. I am actually planning on bulk buying copies to give to audience members who fail to raise their hands as proud feminists at the end of my show at the Soho Theatre in June. In short, what I often fail to achieve in 70 minutes of stand up, she does so expertly over 238 pages.

She is passionate about her views but never appears radical, which is very important as this book is clearly aimed at those who do not normally choose to read feminist literature. She is always empathetic with her subjects, an incredible feat considering the belligerence of some. The opening chapter makes for disturbing reading when she attends a Nuts Magazine event to recruit new glamour models. Speaking with contestenst, agents and promoters she is never judgemental, only inquisible and this style reaps hugely telling responses from those who initially claim to being 'liberated' by flashing their breasts at baying mobs of men.

Those of us with an interest will already know the appalling statistics for rape convictions in the UK (6%) and be horrified by the glamourisation of prostitution by the mainstream media but Walter gets to the root of the problem and this work as as impressive a piece of investagative journalism as it is a work of feminist literature.

My only complaint would be the cover of the book. As a Photo Editor I can obviously appreciate that it is a very clever image depicting the appalling way in which women are pressured by society from childhood to the grave to be doll-like but why does it have to be so salacious? Surely Walter's publishers are not using sex to sell her book? I do not read men's magazines in public due to the female nudity on the cover. Yet I did get some judgmental looks from people who glanced at the Barbie doll in the vaginal area and clocked the word 'sexism' in the title as if I was reading some kind of training manual for misogynists. Which is funny, because I remember being concerned about the same thing when reading Naomi Wolf's provocatively covered, disappointing follow-up to The Beauty Myth, Promiscuities came in 1998.

Walter's book is arguably more important that Wolf's seminal debut. Ignorance has left many thinking things are equal in 2010 and they are not. As she points out complacency is the most dangerous enemy so don't delay on purchasing Living Dolls immediately.

Or come to my show at the Soho Theatre in June and I will give you one free!

The Feminist Library in London

I have just been to visit the Feminist Library in Lambeth. Wow, what an incredible resource. I wish I had visited when I was studying for my degree. They have everything you could dream of from classic Emily Dickinson poetry, rare Alice Walker first editions, long out-of-print bell hooks rarities to amazing second wave feminist literature including fanzines, original protest flyers and badges. You name it, they have it. I was shown around by the lovely and hugely knowledgeable Sarah who does an amazing job keeping these historical pieces impeccably stored, catalogued and filed. I could have talked to her all day.

Formerly known as the Women's Research and Resorce Centre, the Feminist Library was set up in 1975 by a group of women keen to record and document the Women's Liberation Movement and safeguard its history. I was blown away by the literature they have in the archive. There ae over 5000 non-fiction books dating from 1900 to present day, 2,500 works of fiction and thousands of rare periodicals including every edition of the much missed Spare Rib magazine. They even have some duplicate copies for sale so I was lucky enough to fill some gaps in my collection at a far more reasonable price than you are expected to pay on eBay for these treasures.

The library is run entirely by volunteers, and is open every Saturday between 11am and 5pm or at other times by appointment. I implore you to visit and when you do, you will be in no doubt that you need to help support the library.

I will certainly be signing up to become a friend of the library and am planning a comedy fundraiser later in the year to help support their excellent work.

It is located on the 1st floor at 5 Westminster Bridge Road, a five minute walk from Lambeth South tube. Get in touch and head there for a visit. You won't regret it.

Email: admin@feministlibrary.co.uk.

Website: http://feministlibrary.co.uk/

What is it with the partners of Best Actress Academy Award winners?

We all know that the majority of men in 2010 are pathetic and would rather marry a submissive woman, than a strong, intelligent one. Most men are fearful of assertive women who know what they want and intend to get it.

But what of the men who commit themselves to high achieving women only to then feel so emasculated that they then cheat on their partners to feel like men again.

I am of course talking about the pathetic partners of almost every women who has ever won an Oscar for her acting achievements. Hilary Swank. Charlize Theron. Halle Berry. Kate Winslet. They were all happily married until they achieved the highest accolade for their chosen career path. Shortly after their marraiges broke down. A coincidence? I think not. I must assert that these pathetic idiots could not cope with being with great women.

And now look at Sandra Bullock. Less than a week after winning her first Oscar, she discovers her husband Jesse has been chaeting on her with a woman who looks identical to him! He rides bikes for a living! He's covered in tats! Surely that made him feel enough of a man? But no, he had to go and fuck... well... himself, just to show his talented wife who's boss. What a doucebag.

I am proud to say that my wife is infinitely more talented than I am. She is a better person, has a far more accomplished career, and is more respected than I will ever be. Those are not reasons for me to feel less of a man. On the contrary, they are reasons to make damn sue I never lose her.

Christina Hendricks by Marco Grob

Last week I met the photographer of this stunning photograph of Mad Men star Christina Hendricks that everyone is talking about. His name is Marco Grob and his work is the most original I have seen in years. This cover has prompted much discussion over the past weeks for its beautiful depiction of a natural woman. No retouching, no fake tan - just the beautiful female form in all its glory. Grob and New York Magazine deserve kudos for this cover and, like much of Grob's work, I think this image is going to be remembered and celebrated in decades to come. I also think that if Hendricks wasn't a feminist icon before, her status should rightly be secured now.

International Women's Day / Kathryn Bigelow

Can I just say how delightful it is to wake up on International Women's Day to hear that Kathryn Bigelow has won the Academy Award for Best Director.

I don't want to make a big deal out of it because that would be defeating the object. But suffice to say, it is a truly wonderful thing that the sturdiest of all glass ceilings has been shattered on this most special of days. But as I say, let's not make too big  a deal of it and calmly look forward to many more women winning the coveted award over coming years.

And, anyway, it's not all good news. Sandra Bullock won for playing a Republican... sympathetically. In what is quite possibly the most racist film since The Birth Of A Nation.

Can't have it all.

Happy International Women's Day.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

James Mullinger on Modern Feminism in new issue of Manzine

Please check out my latest article on the state of modern feminism in issue 3 of Kevin Braddock and Warren Jackson's superb Manzine. To purchase: http://www.themanzine.com/

Review of my DVD from the Mail On Sunday

Heartwarming news about wife beater Charlie Sheen

In today's Metro there was a heartwarming story about how Charlie Sheen was welcomed back with much "support" on first day at work since being arrested for strangling his wife, threatening her with a knife and throwing her to the ground. As previously reported on this blog, the highest paid actor on U.S. television was arrested on Christmas Day after viciously assaulting his wife, Brooke. Poor Charlie is ever so misunderstood and no-one understands just how tough it is being rich and famous so luckily when he arrived back at work in front of the live studio audience they were "incredibly supportive" and broke out into huge applause when he appeared on the stage. As British actors who visit Hollywood often muse, why can't we Brits be so supportive to our stars?Only in the good old US of A would a man who nearly kills his wife be greeted with applause, whoops and cheers by men, women and children on his first day back at work since the assault.

God bless America.

The "bad boys" of domestic violence

The title of my stand up show (and of course this blog) 'James Mullinger Is The Bad Boy Of Feminism' was a satirical reference to the appalling way in which the press frequently refer to homicidal men that inflict vicious assaults on women as "bad boys". Axl Rose is the example I use in the show as he is frequently branded "the bad boy of rock 'n' roll" despite the fact that the shocking behaviour he is most famous for is violence towards women. In my research for the show I studied the many salubrious biographies of this most heinous man and discovered that he has actually assaulted more women in his lifetime than I have kissed. Despite the incredible array of bruised faces, broken limbs, entire bodies being flung down flights of stairs, the music press still brand him a charming, if rather eccentric, bad boy. He is not a bad boy, he is a homicidal lunatic who should have been jailed over a decade ago.

Unfortunately though, the trend for glamourising men who commit acts of violence towards women continues. On the 27th December, The Observer newspaper reported that Charlie Sheen had assaulted his wife on Christmas Day and was promptly jailed. Imagine how bad the beating must have been for the Hollywood police to take notice. After all, this is a town where a man can do as he pleases and be left alone, whereas if a woman does the same she is hounded out of her home. (Case in point: Owen Wilson tries to kill himself after a drugs binge and he is subsequently rightly left alone by the press and the paps to recuperate. But, if a woman such as Sienna Miller consensually screws a man, she is chased and assaulted by male photographers daily and we all shrug and say she was asking for it. Equally, if a poor young woman dies from a drug overdose, her friends and families are hounded by the paps. See last week. And the week before).

And the violence Sheen inflicted was no mere argument. He pushed his wife over and tried to strangle her. Despite this, The Observer saw fit in their headline to brand him a "bad boy". Bad boys smoke a spliff or two. Bad boys shoplift a bag of candy. Bad boys do not commit vicious assaults on women. Before long, The Observer will be referring to Josef Fritz as a naughty boy.

And it's not just supposedly liberal newspapers apologising for these vicious cowards. Glamour magazine features the hugely talented, accomplished musician Rihanna on their cover this month (January 2010). Unsurprisingly they have chosen to ignore all her career accomplishments on their cover and chosen to sell their magazine on the appalling assault she suffered last year at the hands of Chris Brown. The coverline? "Why she still prefers bad boys". Christ almighty, is this not the most insensitive coverline in history? What's worse is that the word "still" is underlined. Even after being beaten senseless in a moving vehicle, this girl just can't get enough of those violent men! This is presumably so that if she ever gets tragically beaten within an inch of her life again, we can all say, "Ahh, well - she did tell Glamour that she loves those violent psychopaths." To read a sensitive, well written and insightful interview with Rihanna, check out the interview with her by the consistently excellent Kira Cochrane in The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/21/rihanna-interview

That, Glamour, is how you profile a superstar.

So listen up all you domestic violence apologists: Charlie Sheen and Chris Brown were not and are not "bad boys"; they are violent psychopaths who should be in jail. And the same goes for every man out there who raises his fists to a women - whether it be his wife or a stranger. Do not listen to Glamour or The Observer, these men are never "bad boys". They are always, always vicious lunatics who must be locked up.