I know you want it. You like the attention and you get what you like. I'm just watching and waiting. I hear you saying what you won't do, but you know we probably gonna do.
Creepy, right? No these aren't lines from hit drama "Law & Order: SVU". These are all lyrics from some of pop music's biggest songs.
If anyone were to recite the lyrics of G-Eazy's "Wicked" or Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" to a woman in a regular voice, a police officer would certainly get involved (oh wait, 63 percent of sexual assaults go unreported to law enforcement).
This begs the question as to why such blatant sexually aggressive comments are acceptable under the guise of a good beat and melody. "Blurred Lines"- a song undeniably about a woman declining to have sex with a man who will not take "no" for an answer- topped the pop charts and was even remade by "Kidz Bop".
Let that sink in for a moment. Children covered a sexually explicit song where the sex wasn't even consensual. The precedent has been set that it is okay for our boys to grow up to be sexually aggressive towards someone's clear rejections.
This is why a song is not just a song. Music and the lyrics going along to it make up our culture. Music has permeated every environment, whether it FM radio in the car or on the soundtrack to kids' shows.
Much like Robin Thicke's message, whether you're a willing and conscious participant or not, music finds a way into our minds. More commonly known as an earworm, when the brain hears something especially catchy, spontaneous cognition occurs and saves portions of the song into a memory.
In an age like today where strides are finally being taken to empower sexual harassment/assault survivors to speak out for justice, we need to be especially scrutinizing about what we deem acceptable to be a part of pop culture.
Surely "Baby, it's cold outside" is cemented into the soundtrack of the American holiday season, so it may seem a bit too late to erase the tune. However, we can use it as a jumpoff point to say this era of misogynistic, sexual misconduct promoting music is no more palatable for the world's ear.
It is already a harsh reality for women that if they find the courage to decline a man, he will seldom listen. Even men who identify as feminists and liberals have fallen down the "Baby, it's cold outside" rabbit hole.
Aziz Ansari, a critically acclaimed actor, and comedian, was in the headlines because of a situation with a woman. Ansari- who has even written a book on dating in the modern world- went on a date with a woman who he brought back to his apartment.
According to the woman, she was inclined to leave his apartment when it became late in the evening, but after Ansari's persistent objections, she stayed and did engage in sexual activity with the actor.
These scenarios happen way too often because society has created a gray area about whether or not to respect a woman's rejection.
It is on the consumers to tell the Robin Thicke's, G-Eazy's and Dean Martin's: she doesn't want it; she wasn't asking for it; she can't stay.
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