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?

And yes, of course, that was a mistake I did mean promoting rape. There are songs about rape. Me and a gun by Tori Amos for example.

We argue backwards and forwards - the fact is that this is a violent rap song dressed up as an innocuous little pop song, and I think that's where it's crossed the line - intentionally or otherwise. As a society I think we've accepted the hypersexualisation and pornification of the music industry for too long, to the point where young people seem unable to distinguish between the 2.

When we start seeing mainstream pop songs featuring violent anal penetration, rape (depending on your viewpoint), 'blurred lines' between what a woman says and what she actually means, using drugs to get what you want from a woman, and the objectification of women as we saw in the video and as Thicke and co were happy to allude to, then I think it's time to say enough is fucking enough - it's 2013, we're supposed to be moving forward FFS.

can argue

This here is the reason I embrace the plastic One Direction.

It's so hard these days to find suitable bland pop for kids....the whole "female singers dressed in underwear writhing around to fully dressed men grabbing their crotches and singing about ho's" is so actually MAINSTREAM nowadays!

The robin twat song is just the next level - let's face it, if it weren't for the revolting lyrics, would there be this fuss? The role of women in these songs and videos is just accepted now that they will be wearing next to nothing and writhing around. Whilst the male singers are dressed. Why is that?

It's not a fact though. It's an opinion and an interpretation. Songs about sex are not new. Each generation tries to be more shocking than the last. I had never considered the song to be about rape or violence until reading this thread. I had however, considered it to be highly sexual, inappropriate for children and utterly shite!

I hope my kids never listen to bland pop music! I couldn't bear it!

Don't get me wrong DC loves bowie, blondie, Joni Mitchell, the clash, the jam...... But wants to also be part of the junior school playground chat and this is all about chart music.

Rather bland pop than anal rape.

It is a fact is that this is a violent rap song dressed up as an innocuous little pop song - how can you not see that?! It's got nothing to do with opinions or interpretations as the myriad of posts upthread have explained

On that note, I'm bowing out

Is that to me SirChegin? You haven't read my initial post - I'm agreeing with you. Not sure how anyone else can think the sing is anything otherwise! Only read the OP though, if people do think this is not about rape then they must be a little odd IMO.

It's an opinion and an interpretation. Songs about sex are not new. Each generation tries to be more shocking than the last.

That's true. But don't you think someone, society, parents, whoever has a responsibility to notice when the general opinion and interpretation has moved so far away from what's healthy that we need to act?

I'm extremely reluctant when it comes to censorship, and think that people can over-react to all sorts of things. For example, I have enjoyed GTA. For me, as an adult, it's not corrupting me in any way to watch graphics of violence, porn etc etc, because I already have healthy attitudes to those sorts of things, developed in my formative years, so of course I don't see cartoon images of people as real. Up until a few years ago I wouldn't have expected anyone else to, either.

If children's/teenager's formative years these days are spent looking at pornography, violence, listening to messages about sexual permissiveness, submissiveness, lyrics full of bitch/ho/ass etc. Listen to the news, though. Read the papers. A LOT of young people have very warped views about sexuality. Think that young women ought to be behaving like porn stars, because that's what they've been exposed to, think they can call women things like bitch, ho, 'whorebag' (!!) and it's meaningless. And the girls believe it too!!! Because it's all around them. And peer pressure is powerful. Girls who protest get put down, victimised, etc. like that Facebook campaign a little while back.

I don't want my children to listen to bland pop music either. Bit thoughtful and thought-provoking music that I grew up with, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Pulp, The Cure, The Smiths, etc etc was NOT like this.

*But

YANBU. It is completely unacceptable. Makes me actually feel sick to think young kids are innocently dancing to that.

You will be doing the dance teacher a favour to point it out as if they ever performed that to an audience she would get plenty of complaints.

That sentence that starts If children's.. etc. was supposed to end then it seems obvious it's going to start affecting their attitudes.

Got carried away.

sorry just wanted to use one of the hallowe'en smileys

I can't stand the song, the "Good girl" bit is so annoying. I thought it was sexist crap, like a lot of other songs (and DEFINITELY NOT only recent stuff, in fact I would say there is less now than 15/20 years ago (bloody Chakademus and Pliers, Snoop Dogg, Shaggy etc used to make me cringe in my late teens/early 20s).

I could point out a hundred other dodgy awful lyrics going back 50 years at least. Several by "sainted" people such as John Lennon and Mick Jagger.

I just don't really get the particular fuss with this song. It's like people have just woken up or something.

So I kind of agree with the OP that it's inappropriate, but also I do remember dancing to highly sexualised songs at school discos. Samantha Fox, Sabrina "Let's Go all the Way" (don't know know that was by) and many others.

And the delightful Black Lace - every self-respecting 8 year old owned the album Party Party with Agadoo etc back in the day - also did a song called "We're having a gang bang." Funnily enough that was left off the album.

I don't know if "I know you want it" is used in rape fantasy dirty talk. its not something I've ever engaged in.

I don't either. I do know it features in real actual rape.

Bit thoughtful and thought-provoking music that I grew up with, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Pulp, The Cure, The Smiths, etc etc was NOT like this.

There is plenty of that around now. And there was plenty of absolute drivel around in the 80s and 90s, some of which I referred to earlier. I never heard of most of those bands/artists until my teens and 20s, at school discos it was all pop.

sash, it also features in talking dirty. No rape fantasies involved.

"I know you want it" also features in flirtation. I'm not defending the song but I wonder why in this particular case people are equating the lyrics to rape.

I find the song patronising to women in the extreme - it's really old fashioned I think, women wanting to be a "good girl" and not have sex, or that's how I interpreted it- like some 1950s song. I thought "God, that's annoying!" as did my 8 year old daughter, unprompted, but not "OMG IT'S ABOUT RAPE!"

Also what's wrong with rape fantasy? You can fantasise about anything with a partner, it doesn't mean you actually want to be raped, or that they would actually rape someone.

The earth is spherical. That is a fact. Thinking this song is about anal rape and violence is not.

ducktowater ..... I think we're on the same page here.

Can't find your previous post DuckToWater, I've had a good look. I've read a lot of this thread, skim-read the rest - been waiting for someone to make that point about lyrics in past years.

I think it may be the case too, but I can't think of any examples that even get close to this, from the 80s, 90s. There may well be some, but anything I can think of, like as you say, 'Boys, boys, boys, I'm looking for a good time', or 'Touch me, I wanna feel your body', etc, were fussed over at the time I think, and I'm pretty sure in the minority...

Here is a list of 100 hits of the 80s
www.allmusic.com/album/100-hits-of-the-80s-sony-mw0002217625

and of the 90s
www.allmusic.com/album/100-hits-of-the-80s-sony-mw0002217625

Actually that's quite interesting in itself to see the way there were definitely more that were about sex in the 90s than the 80s. It's been a slow progression, which is why I think it's gone unchecked, and now it's gone way past what's acceptable, imo.

I think this is more rapey:

Girl, I want to make you sweat, sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out, I'm gonna push it some more
Girl, I want to make you sweat, sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out, I'm gonna push it, push it, push it some more

Thanks to this thread I've now read the lyrics to the Robin Thicke song. I think it's about a girl being with a guy who the singer thinks is not satifsying her sexual needs, and that he could do a better job of it. Quite a common theme. I really don't read it as being about rape. But it's still annoying, sexist and patronising.

that's quite interesting in itself to see the way there were definitely more that were about sex in the 90s than the 80s. It's been a slow progression, which is why I think it's gone unchecked, and now it's gone way past what's acceptable, imo

I think there are a lot fewer highly sexualised or any any way risque, politically, morally or otherwise songs these days. Teen bands are hardly the Sex Pistols, Mary Whitehouse would approve.

However music videos are (apparently) more sexualised than they used to be. I wouldn't know as I have rarely seen a music video since TOTP finished, and even then I never saw that many. It's not something I really worry about as I (or DDs) would have to search in the depths of Freesat to even find one. Much easier with You Tube I guess, but if ever they are on there, I am always hovering over their shoulders anyway.

I remember singing along in the car on the way to school to that 'Girl I want to make you sweat' one.

I'm going to have to talk to my mum about this.