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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

What love songs are not sexist?

97 replies

DeviTheGaelet · 09/12/2016 12:51

Discuss....

OP posts:
Original poster
DeviTheGaelet · 09/12/2016 12:55

Not really. My DH has just been playing "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton on his guitar. I hate that song. Complete twaddle where the woman is wonderful because a) she looks after him when he's being a drunk/stoned idiot and b) she's hot and he likes the reflected glory of having arm candy. Everything in the song is about him.
Anyway DH asked me what love songs were not sexist. What do you think?
(I said lady in red by Chris de Burgh, I don't love the song but at least it's actually about the woman rather than him!!)

OP posts:
ScrambledSmegs · 09/12/2016 13:00

I like Trouble Me by 10,000 Maniacs. Don't know if it's a love song in the traditional relationship sense, it could be a relationship between friends or family. But I like it because she (Natalie Merchant) seems to be offering love and comfort in its purest sense - for no reason but to support the subject of the song.

ScrambledSmegs · 09/12/2016 13:05

The unplugged version is my favourite, the original on Blind Man's Zoo is a bit too boppy IMO.

ScrambledSmegs · 09/12/2016 13:06

Can't think of any love songs written by men that aren't sexist though. There must be some, right?

myoriginal3 · 09/12/2016 13:08

The rose.

Lottapianos · 09/12/2016 13:12

Absolute Beginners by David Bowie - one of my favourite love songs
Til There Was You or Here There and Everywhere - Lennon / McCartney
She Makes My Day - Robert Palmer

Wonderful Tonight is total puke, you're right

CorporalNobbyNobbs · 09/12/2016 13:16

'At my most beautiful' by R.E.M.

myoriginal3 · 09/12/2016 13:19

And this will make me sound like a complete eejit but it's by one direction and it's called All those little things

MysticTwat · 09/12/2016 13:22

Beautiful south, Lots of there songs.

SelfCleaningVagina · 09/12/2016 13:23

For a song to be considered sexist, are you making the assumption that the lyric is about a woman, sung from the POV of a man? Would the same lyric be considered sexist if it was a same sex relationship?

In most songs you don't necessarily even know from the lyric exactly what sex either the subject or the singer is. It's often an assumption.

SelfCleaningVagina · 09/12/2016 13:25

Can't think of any love songs written by men that aren't sexist though. There must be some, right?

Can you expand on what you mean by sexist in that regard though, because although it's sometimes very blatant and obvious when a lyric is sexist, I am honestly not sure what you mean by saying you can't think of any non-sexist songs. Confused

SelfCleaningVagina · 09/12/2016 13:27

And most of the truly outrageous and obviously sexist lyrics are from the 60's or earlier, or from the gangster rap and urban genre.

cadnowyllt · 09/12/2016 13:27
Gram Parsons She

Well, its a bit of an antidote to 'wonderful night'.

ScrambledSmegs · 09/12/2016 13:32

I mean I couldn't think of any, not that there aren't any. I'm sure that my brain was just letting me down hence why I said there must be some.

SelfCleaningVagina · 09/12/2016 13:35

Okay, fair point, but I am genuinely interested to know what constitutes a sexist lyric, other than the glaringly obvious.

Happyoutlook · 09/12/2016 13:37

Evenescance: My heart is broken, and Whisper are the only ones I can think of

SelfCleaningVagina · 09/12/2016 13:39

off the top of my head I am going to pluck five well known and well loved 'love songs' out of the ether and then examine the lyrics for sexism now.

Lady in Red - Chris De Burgh

I'm not in love - 10 cc

Wonderful tonight (as it's been mentioned)

I can't live (if living is without you) Harry Nilsson

Nothing Compares 2 U (sung by Sinead O'Connor most famously but written by a man, Prince.)

BroomstickOfLove · 09/12/2016 13:40

My favourite love kings are by Patrick Wolf, and they aren't sexist, but are from a man to another man.

I really love House. There aren't many beautiful and passionate love songs about domesticity, so it stands out.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=SCoJXqGn_kg

HalfShellHero · 09/12/2016 13:43

God only knows , beach boys?

unweavedrainbow · 09/12/2016 13:45

"Funny how love is" by Queen

"...funny how love is coming home in time for tea..."

Smile
MysticTwat · 09/12/2016 14:07

Ok so not really a love song this one, but after mentioning the beautiful south it reminded me how much I loved this song. A duet written by a man, but really it's all about her.

Man being caught being a twat, thinks only about himself.....

www.dailymotion.com/video/x301mcp_the-beautiful-south-a-little-time_music

JillyTheDependableBoot · 09/12/2016 14:18

The Cure - Pictures of You

Original poster
DeviTheGaelet · 09/12/2016 14:25

I thought of my own Grin
"Sunshine of my life" by Stevie Wonder

Other great suggestions on here, thank you!

self in the case of wonderful tonight it's literally because I get no sense whatsoever of the woman as a person, she is wonderful purely because she does things for the man. Sexism may be the wrong word but it seems very symptomatic of a society where women are judged as to how nice, pretty etc they are.
I actually cannot imagine a woman singing that song about a man.

OP posts:
FizzBombBathTime · 09/12/2016 14:27

There's a light that never goes out by the smiths

Original poster
DeviTheGaelet · 09/12/2016 14:31

cadno gram parsons has a beautiful beautiful voice

broomstick house is awesome! Perfect song, thank you

Off to Google 10000 maniacs now

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