How did we get from “50 Shades” selling 125mil copies to “Baby it’s Cold Outside” being offensive?

Donator wrote:

I recently donated to Wikipedia so that people like you could read pages like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence

Somebody redirect OP to this wikipedia page, next.

Gonna let you in on a little secret : no one actually cares. That evil elite liberal media you always rail against and claim to hate but apparently read non stop and get baited by on a daily basis is just telling you everyone does. Kinda like the Kevin Hart thing. No one cares but desperate for money blogs and twitter accounts will blow it out of the water proclaiming it's such a big deal.

I’m waiting on the Leave it to Beaver and Little House on the Prairie scandals to hit

Wonderin' wrote:

In terms of people's opinions, probably nothing has changed. What has changed is that we now give attention to the smallest voices as if they should matter.

William Peyton wrote:

Wonderin' wrote:

In terms of people's opinions, probably nothing has changed. What has changed is that we now give attention to the smallest voices as if they should matter.

I meant to say that YES I agree with you.

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

It's simple: consent vs. coercion

In "50 Shades", the female protagonist willingly consents to a relationship she knows to be based on power and the man's fetishes.

"Baby.." is about a man using guilt/shame to pressure a woman into a potentially sexual situation while plying her with intoxicants.

I don't think I'd heard the full song before. I've just had a quick look and I'm not sure I agree. There are several lines which suggests the worry was about people think:

"The neighbors might think"

"I ought to say, no, no, no sir"

"There's bound to be talk tomorrow"

"At least there will be plenty implied"

50 shades shouldn't get a pass. The female protagonist consents, but why? Feminists and metooers ask this sort of question, so it's odd if it hasn't been applied to 50 shades.

The liberals lost the election and they are trying to ruin it for the rest of us.

Clint Eastwood and the real men wrote:

This week from PETA

Can’t say bring home the bacon offensive to pigs

Hahahahahahaha

Had to be a joke

They are probably more offended by the treatment of pigs in factories. Google "Piglet bashing" or "Pigs buried alive" for a taste.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Your comparison is apples to oranges. I don't give a sh*t about either, but to be exposed to "50 Shades" you have to read the book and/or watch the movie, but people are forced to listen to "Baby it's Could Outside" at Starbucks and other places where customers are abused with Christmas music.

Under what circumstances could you be forced to go to Starbucks? If we accept people are forced to go to Starbucks we might also accept that people are forced to read "50 shades" (perhaps it was chosen by their book group).

To be honest I thought it was a load of fuss over nothing until I read the lyrics. It doesn't tell a pleasant tale.

It's a man pressuring a woman. Even if the woman does want to stay and have sex, the whole way it's talked about is vile. Some people have defended it saying it was a different time, etc. Yes of course it was a different time, but that doesn't mean it was OK. Even if it's about no not really meaning no, that's a dangerous message in itself.

A teacher defended it strongly online saying "basically the song only makes sense in the context of a society where women are expected to reject men's advances whether they want to or not, and therefore it's normal and expected for a lady's gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests" he goes on to add "because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it".

That's messed up.

Do I think it should be banned, I don't know, but lets not argue that the lyrics are pleasant - they're not. Surely it's good that people are examining these things and attitudes are changing? Do you think what's written in the lyrics is an OK way to act with a woman? Would you like your son to act that way with his girlfriend? If not, why not?

Here are the complete lyrics from the 1944 version of the song:

(woman in brackets) man not in brackets.

(I really can't stay) But, baby, it's cold outside

(I've got to go away) But, baby, it's cold outside

(This evening has been) Been hoping that you'd drop in

(So very nice) I'll hold your hands they're just like ice

(My mother will start to worry) Beautiful, what's your hurry

(My father will be pacing the floor) Listen to the fireplace roar

(So really I'd better scurry) Beautiful, please don't hurry

(Well, maybe just half a drink more) Put some records on while I pour

(The neighbors might think) Baby, it's bad out there

(Say what's in this drink) No cabs to be had out there

(I wish I knew how) Your eyes are like starlight now

(To break this spell) I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell

(I ought to say no, no, no, sir) Mind if I move in closer

(At least I'm gonna say that I tried) What's the sense of hurting my pride

(I really can't stay) Baby, don't hold out

[Both] Baby, it's cold outside

(I simply must go) But, baby, it's cold outside

(The answer is no) But, baby, it's cold outside

(The welcome has been) How lucky that you dropped in

(So nice and warm) Look out the window at the storm

(My sister will be suspicious) Gosh your lips look delicious

(My brother will be there at the door) Waves upon a tropical shore

(My maiden aunt's mind is vicious) Gosh your lips are delicious

(But maybe just a cigarette more) Never such a blizzard before

(I got to get home) But, baby, you'd freeze out there

(Say lend me a coat) It's up to your knees out there

(You've really been grand) I thrill when you touch my hand

(But don't you see) How can you do this thing to me

(There's bound to be talk tomorrow) Think of my life long sorrow

(At least there will be plenty implied) If you caught pneumonia and died

(I really can't stay) Get over that hold out

[Both] Baby, it's cold outside

Clint Eastwood and the real men wrote:

This week from PETA

Can’t say bring home the bacon offensive to pigs

Grab the bull by the horns offensive to bulls

Hahahahahahaha

Had to be a joke

PETA was just trying to show us that there's more than one way to skin a cat.

PETA was just horsing around but they're as dead as a dodo bird now.

theJeff wrote:

2011- Fifty Shades of Gray sells 100,000,000+ copies.

2018- “Baby it’s Cold Outside” is taken off the radio and Little Mermaid’s “Kiss the Girl” is banned from a collegiate a capella performance.

How spoiled are we that we have time to be concerned with this crap? I don’t think I like post-industrialism.

It's because 50 Shades is about consensual (albeit kinky and rough) sex. Baby it's Cold Outside is about a dude drugging and raping a girl. (YES, YES IT IS... no, no listen to the WORDS... yes, it IS about drugging and raping a girl. YES IT IS... )

This issue is not liberal versus conservative (I'm a moderate conservative for what it's worth). It's about not having songs that make drugging and raping a girl seem quaint. Or having a president that grabs girls by the pv$$y.

And as a proud man, who is a husband and father to two little girls, I can confidently say that you are NOT A REAL MAN if you don't stand up and defend women.

I want to pee on you gurl! wrote:

This whole thread reminds me of this classic Chappelle show skit...

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/jwmvxd/chappelle-s-show-love-contract

Nah, bruh. It’s way more similar to the consent discussion during Borat’s driving lesson.

What about "Santa Baby"? Was Santa the victim of a sexual predator? For how many decades should its singers be imprisoned?

I've just read the lyrics for Santa Baby and don't have any problem with them. It seems totally different.

ROFL at the notion that the Crooners were singig about slipping ruphies to girls 60 years ago. Much more likely that the man in the song simply has good alcohol.

Holy Revisionism, Batman. Some of y’all have to get a grip.

We are simply in the process of replacing one set of cultural mandarins in America with another. This process has taken several decades and is nearly complete. What we’re seeing now is the emergence of those new mandarins, with their unique biases and bigotries, which they will force on everyone else to the extent they possibly can. It’s no different, really, than television showing Elvis Presley from the waist up. Today we consider that to be bizarre, maybe quaint, but it was a different set of cultural mandarins.

For decades the left claimed to be radically in favor of free speech. We were told that we must except everyone’s speech and lifestyle and protect them equally. Of course this was all a sham, something the left hell to only until they were able to assume the levers of cultural power. Now that they have them, they’ll be every bit as exclusive and repressive as any McCarthyite. It’s just human nature.