Janay Rice spells out an inconvenient truth

Ever since the two videos of Ray Rice decking wife-to-be Janay in an elevator became a sensation, domestic violence experts have portrayed Janay as a victim in denial.

But Janay herself has never accepted that. She made that point again in her controversial interview with ESPN, which got some flack because ESPN gave her final approval of the finished piece.

But that means it serves as her official free-will statement.

What she’s saying is, don’t stereotype me as a weak woman trapped in an abusive relationship.

Jemele Hill, who wrote the ESPN article, after talking with Janay for three hours without her husband present, says she thinks Janay means what she says: what Ray did was wrong. But she also thinks she was wrong to hit him first and she is not going to let one drunken spat end their marriage.

“She doesn’t consider herself a victim of domestic violence. She said that plainly. I think that because she looks at that as something ongoing and per her account, this is the only time that Ray Rice has ever hit her and the only time she’s ever hit him,” Hill said.

Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension from the NFL has now been overturned by an arbitrator.

Janay is clearly hoping that by portraying herself as a strong woman from a strong family, as she says in the article, she and her husband can go about their lives.

It’s a diplomatic way of telling all her self-appointed helpers, ‘Thank you for your concern, thank you for quoting all those statistics, but my marriage doesn’t fit your stereotype. I’m not afraid, I’m not stupid, and I’ve made my choice.’