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Baby, It’s That Time of Year
Continuing the conversation about consent and social norms
Somewhere in my internet wanderings, I saw a poll asking whether the (depending on your point of view) classic Christmas song or Date Rape Anthem, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” should be allowed to stay.
As you may know, this classic holiday song has become a source of often contentious debate in the past few years, with its detractors noting the potentially coercive nature of its lyrics as the two singers banter back and forth over whether she will stay the night:
You’ve really been grand (I thrill when you touch my hand)
But don’t you see? (How can you do this thing to me?)There’s bound to be talk tomorrow (think of my lifelong sorrow)
The aforementioned pollster did not give specifics about what they meant by “stay.” Allowed to stay where? Allowed to exist at all? Should there be an outright ban? Should all radio stations stop playing the song? Should listeners not listen, or should they put some sort of pressure on the powers-that-be to eliminate the song from radio, Spotify, Sirius (wherever it is that people listen to music these days)?
Criticism centers upon the song’s back-and-forth between the man and woman. The woman repeatedly and politely refuses his offer. The…
