Recently, an article was written claiming "Baby It's Cold Outside" pushes rape culture. I read it probably 6 times. The author makes her point by combatting five usual arguments for the song to keep being played. What I realized after finishing reading was that she had the right intent but the wrong conclusions.
For one thing, the context is very important. Certain lines like "Say, what's in this drink" and "The answer is no" sound bad out of context, but this is a song about a woman wanting to stay but thinking she should leave because she is afraid of appearing promiscuous to others.
Sure, not everybody knows the context right away, but when you read all the other lyrics in the song besides the few that are bad out of context, anybody could put the story together. Songs that suggest date rape should not be approved of, but this song isn't suggestive of that when you look at the big picture rather than three lines.
The original version does not have anything wrong with it besides an uncomfortable tone. It sucks that she feels like she can't be with the guy because of social pressure, trying to find reasons to leave even though she really doesn't want to (i.e. "I ought to say no" and "Well, at least I'm gonna say that I tried.") But this doesn't indicate date rape culture.
And it even sucks for the man, having his feelings hurt that the woman is more focused on social norms (i.e. "What's the sense in hurting my pride?") But this doesn't indicate date rape culture. Context may not be evident right away to every single person, but it matters.
The other issue I have is this: several times in her article, she makes statements such as, "We need to cancel this song." Even if the song was 100% about date rape and/or suggested women being dominated is okay, discarding a song entirely is not only a difficult solution, it's nearly impossible.
One reason it's so impossible is that it's such a classic that everybody does listen to, which was even one of the points the author made. Yes, people shouldn't hold onto a song just because it's a classic, but convincing everybody to let go of it is just not practical.
If you truly believe this song pushes date rape culture, then change your solution. Rather than "cancel" the song, take it off the radio, and frown upon those who enjoy it, she can encourage the newer version of the song that alters some of the lyrics (which she also acknowledged).
Let's all take a deep breath and remember that we all want the same things here.
It's crucial that we call out anything promoting heinous acts, but this is not one of those cases. Though if you'd like to talk about the culture of shaming women's sexuality that creates the context of the song, then we can have a real conversation.
