WARNING - THIS IS A POST FOR THOUGHTFUL ADULTS ONLY:
So, I heard this song on the radio a few weeks ago and it was super fun and catchy. I couldn't really understand the words well though. The next time it came on, I used my Soundhound app to get the name of it. Then I bought it on iTunes and listened a few times. The song is Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. The more I listen to it, I realize the Blurry Lines to which he refers must be what he perceives as consent for sex versus no consent. I knew the lyrics weren't quite "Kosher" once I realized he calls the woman in the song, "the hottest bitch in this place." What a compliment - being called a euphemism for a female dog. Then I knew, no matter how catchy that song was and the fact that I paid $1.29 for it, that I needed to find out what he was really saying. So I looked up the lyrics and watched the video online..........yes, damnit, I was offended. I didn't want to be. I wanted to keep liking this song. Once I read the lyrics all the way through it sounds to me as though this "bitch" he is referring to is giving him, in his mind, mixed signals, because she is a good girl but she acts as though she wants to have sex and I guess he thinks that the her words are not as important as what he feels are signals....... "the way you grab me, you wanna get nasty." Not to mention in the video, the male singers are fully-dressed and the women are scantily clad/nude, much younger, are at times drug around and are simply man-handled throughout the video.
I could write a whole article on this. I did in college, about rape, date rape, what may seem like consensual sex to a man, but feels like a violation to a woman. With songs like this, it is no wonder young people are confused about sex, violence as a part of sex, control, women and men and their roles...... Frustrating. Infuriating. I mean it has only been less than 100 years since women were given the right to vote in a so-called democratic society, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
I really wanted to chill out and quit being so damn politically/socially aware of everything in popular culture like I was in college. It's exhausting, especially when you figure out how deep set the sexism, racism, hate, classism, etc is ingrained in our society. But, I can't ignore it and stay true to myself and what I think is right.
I think I may just change the lyrics to the song to something more fun. In the meantime, do you think iTunes will give me a refund?
