To raise it with the school as my dd 5 is dancing to 'blurred lines' by robin thicke in her after school dance club?

[leolion]

Hi there, I would welcome your views on the above. Just found out that they have been practicing a dance to the above song at my dd's after school dance club (5 to 7 year olds). I am very very uncomfortable with this. I know the children will not understand the underlying message of the song, but I still find it wrong on so many levels.

I will likely upset a few people as the dance teacher is a mum at the school, and she is otherwise, a great and popular teacher. I know I could withdraw my dd from the dance class but it just seems wrong that this song is even playing in a primary school at all.

So am I being unreasonable to raise it with the head?

Shit rap bit aside, which is censored to the max, it's all open to interpretation. We still have that ability to interpret things.

Bloody love blurred lines.

I thought something like this would occur, it was bad enough that flaming gangnam still shite was played at my son's school disco last year. I honestly said to myself that if they played the Robin Thicke shite too, I would be down to the school before you could say misogynistic bollocks.

YANBU.

Might be worth mentioning to the teacher that this song has been used in an advert that has now been banned from broadcast before 7.30pm due to the lyrics..... Gives a clear indication that it isn't appropriate!

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/robin-thicke-claims-british-people-dont-get-blurred-lines-following-advert-ban-8871725.html

Love the beat, the tune but the lyrics????
Ethically wrong.

So what are these innocent interpretations of this song then?

In that I don't interpretate it as rape. But that's not the point of this thread. The OP asks if she should raise it. My point was that although personally I don't interpreted it in that way (to show not everyone would) It's worth mentioning.

Canthisonebeused what did you make of GiveItYourBestShot's rather marvellous link posted yesterday at 17:46:02?

I don't think it's about rape (I'm a feminist and supporter of 'We believe you' campaign btw). The Blurred Lines are about infidelity and about this woman being with a man that suppresses and oppresses her. However I abhor some of the lyrics -esp the tearing ass in two bit which makes me flinch every time.

So, you see the lyrics, including tearing the woman's anus in two you mention, are about a man wanting to rescue a woman from being oppressed by another man?

I disagree. I think that it's more than just infidelity and being with a man who oppresses her -

I hate these blurred lines
I know you want it
I know you want it
I know you want it
But you're a good girl
The way you grab me
Must wanna get nasty

it's that insinuation that she's obviously asking for it that makes me feel sick - it's that age old accusation that no doesn't actually mean no.

The T.I line is just a boast about his massive dick (and if anyone has seen the pic that went viral a few years ago, they'll know it's true!)

I agree with Celia. There are loads of songs from my childhood with questionable lyrics. I sang along but didn't understand them until I was much older - even blatant ones - Gett off by Prince for example.

The T.I line is just a boast about his massive dick (and if anyone has seen the pic that went viral a few years ago, they'll know it's true!)

Yes, but why the need for the horrible violent imagery against a woman?

That's revolting what a horrible song

Exactly imofftolisdoonvarna

If he thinks he's got a big dick (rather than actually being a big dick) and feels that he must sing about it then fair enough , but to use it in this context is hideous. These men are married and some of them must have daughters - are they happy for women to be objectified in this way??

I remember hearing robin thicke talking about his interpretation of the song. He was like 'yeah, it's um about the blurred lines between women and men and how they are like the same, and the blurred lines between being a good and bad girl, yeah that's it'.

He also claimed that after having gone to all of the trouble of making the naked girls video (which must have been torture for him ) he was adamant that that was all a waste of time and that they should only put out the clothes version. That was until his wife and her girlfriends absolutely insisted that they simply must put out the naked version because it was just so cool and sexy. Riiiiiiiiiiggggghhhht.

The man lives up to his moniker, that's for sure

And it's actually fairly irrelevant that the rap is heavily censored in the mainstream. The fact that it goes with the song and the producers/artists were all fine to include it in the original version just reinforces the horrible message of the song.

To be honest I don't think robin thicke specifically thought 'right, I am going to sing a song about rape'. It's all the concepts of being a good girl, knowing she wants it even though she is saying no, the way she grabs him meaning she must want to have sex with him, blurring lines, a women being an animal and needing liberating by getting a good shagging, and of course the delightful rap, all being in one song that is just so misogynistic.

I am sure robin thicke genuinely see it as being demeaning to women - but that's kind of the point - it's so minimised and ingrained that people really do miss it.

Sorry, I am sure robin thicke doesnt see it as being demeaning to women.

It is not 'rapey'

This sums my feelings up well.

www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/06/27/robin_thicke_s_blurred_lines_is_cocky_yes_but_rapey_and_misogynistic_no.html

It's a horrible song on many levels and I wouldn't let my kids dance to it but it is NOT about rape.

If you want more proof that the repetitive "I know you want it" chorus isn't creepy, let's do a closer reading of the other lyrics. The end of the chorus goes: "The way you grab me/ must wanna get nasty/ go ahead, get at me." The last part, "go ahead, get at me" very clearly kills any "rapey" vibe. In fact, he's putting the ball in her court by telling her to make the move and not the other way around. He's saying, "You're clearly turned on by me. Go for it." (Again: Douche? Sure. Rapist? Probably not.)

Is Thicke being kind of a dick by assuming he could "liberate" her? Yes. But is he forcing her to do anything? No. Is it possible that a woman would be turned on by the prospect of what he's explicitly offering to her? Absolutely. Is this all about fun, consensual, kinky sex? Yep. As XOJane's Grace Rasumus put it, "these lyrics seem more like temptation after a lame relationship as opposed to impending sexual assault."

And as for the "blurred lines" lyric? The lines here aren't between rape and consensual sex. As others have pointed out—and as Thicke mentioned in an interview with Billboard—it could definitely refer to the tired, overused good-girl-with-a-freaky-streak fantasy. Or, perhaps it really is about getting mixed signals from a lady who you think might be interested in doing the deed—and then letting her know exactly where you stand so she can make the next move—if she wants.

It is clearly NOT about rape. It's all shades of wrong, but not about rape.

Sorry, the quotes were from the blog I linked, not from me.

He knows exactly how demeaning it is:-

If you ask Robin Thicke, the video is absolutely degrading to women. In an interview with GQ, he said, "We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, 'We're the perfect guys to make fun of this.'"

The singer makes that painfully clear when he explains: "People say, 'Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?' I'm like, 'Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before."

Yanbu!! Lots of more appropriate songs out there like One Direction and S Club 7.

It isn't, "man is not your maker", it's "this man is not your maker"

I've always thought he was talking about the guy he isn't going to "take" her from, because he knows she wants it.