Here is an excerpt of a column by Los Angeles Times writer Libby Hill. I'm guessing she was named for the late 1960s Women's Lib movement. Hey, Libby, instead of criticizing an Academy Award-winning song written 74 years ago, how about condemning the many thousands of sex-and-violence-filled gangsta rap songs? Huh? Huh?
Radio stations are starting to ban Baby, It's Cold Outside. Good
Libby Hill, Los Angeles Times, Dec 5 2018 3:45 PM
Cleveland radio station WDOK decided last week to remove the classic song Baby, It’s Cold Outside from its holiday rotation over lyrics that, through a #MeToo lens, now seem a little rape-y. Other stations, including KOIT in San Francisco and the CBC, Rogers Media and Bell Media in Canada, quickly followed suit. Good for them.
Of course, the song has been a lightning rod for at least a decade, with Urban Dictionary dubbing it the "Christmas Date Rape Song" in 2006 and the hot takes resurfacing every year since. Written in 1944 by Guys & Dolls composer Frank Loesser, Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a coy, sexy, call-and-response duet between a woman who wants to leave for home and a man who persuades her to stay.
Why is it good that radio stations are starting to blacklist a seemingly innocuous holiday chestnut? Because times have changed and language has evolved and the song is making people uncomfortable. In Denver, KOSI removed the ditty from its holiday rotation, only to reverse its decision in the face of public outcry, using an Internet poll as the basis for its amended position. San Francisco's KOIT is facing similar pushback from listeners.
A lot has changed in the 74 years since Baby, It's Cold Outside was penned. Words that were once used freely are seen through new eyes and deemed no longer acceptable. As the world evolves in the wake of #MeToo, there will be cultural casualties. There will be movies and songs and books that fail to hold up to increased scrutiny. It is the price we pay for a better world. If Baby, It's Cold Outside is one of those casualties, so be it.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...205-story.html
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