My two cents

Just a thought, since I have been watching the news and reading all the gossip on the Chris Brown - Rihanna debacle. Abuse, any kind, is NOT right.
It saddens me to the very core that it happened - it should not happen to any one...man or woman, and abuse needs to be stopped. Now.
My mother was horribly verbally, physically, mentally and emotionally abused by my the man who raised me. I remember one instance where he literally spent ALL DAY beating her up, I came home for lunch from school and he stopped while she fed me. Then when I left, I left to the sounds of her screams. She tried to leave him and went to her parents for help, and her dad gave her an extra whooping and sent her on her way back to the husband "she chose".
I remember times when I had to crawl on my hands and knees as a little girl and begged him to stop hitting my mother. And getting hit in the process. And his laughter and acknowledgment that yes, he was all powerful and was the MAN. Fucking bastard.
Abuse hurts. It tears at you, rips you apart, makes you feel like shit, and debases you, makes you smaller than the dirt man treads upon.
It is vile, filthy, cannot be washed away, and is long lasting.
My mother, to the day she died, could not sit up right for long periods because one time, when the bastard decided that his fists weren't enough, that banging her head on the door wasn't enough, throwing her out on a rail-less verandah wasn't enough, that slamming the door on her fingers so she would lose her footing wasn't enough, he threw her down on the floor and proceeded to kick her.
She was the football and he was the deranged referee. Her disk slipped and she never managed to sit right again.

If anyone who reads this is experiencing any sort of abuse. Perhaps you have been made to feel inadequate, a word has hurt your feelings, or you have caught your partner looking like he/she is experiencing rage, reach out to a friend. Get help. Leave if you must. Do not look back.
Whatever happened that night between those two "stars", is happening all over the world. Re-evaluate your situation. Decide for yourself. Be strong.

If you are an abuser, or borderline - stop. Now. Get help. Break the cycle.

Stop the abuse. It hurts everyone; everywhere.