I may be weird, but I've never been a huge fan of Christmas music. It's the same songs every year, repeated time and time again for a couple months, mostly centering around a make-believe story most parents use as a lie in order to manipulate their kids into being "good" for 365 days, whatever that word really means. Having said that, though, after hearing about Cleveland's WDOK radio station banning the classic Christmas song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" due to its potentially sexist/ableist messages, even I said, "Isn't this going a little far?"
After announcing its decision, host Glenn Anderson wrote this on the station's website:
"I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong. The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place."
First thing's first, like Anderson noted, the song was written in 1944, a full 74 years ago. A few things have changed since then. Secondly, one of the best things about art is that it's open to interpretation. This doesn't make one interpretation more accurate than another, but it also doesn't mean an artistic product should be banned because one interpretation is extremely disturbing or negative. If we start banning Christmas songs like "Baby, It's Cold Outside," where will the slippery slope end?
Even if there are some disturbing messages presented in the classic Frank Loessner-written song, how does it benefit us to ignore history? If we ignore history, aren't we more prone to repeating it? Instead of looking at this song as a potentially sexist/ableist tune from near three-quarters of a century ago, perhaps it'd be healthier to look at how far we've progressed as a society since that time. No, I'm not a big fan of Christmas music, but I'm even less of a fan of censoring art and ignoring history. Some of what's suggested in "Baby, It's Cold Outside" wasn't okay in 1944, let alone 2018, but unlike in 1944, society has actually recognized that in 2018 (well, for the most part), and it'd do us some good to, instead of cringing in embarrassment and shame at the negatives of yesteryear, simply acknowledge said negatives as a means for societal progression to the present and future. As the saying goes, "The first step to solving a problem is admitting one exists." If we refuse to admit a problem was ever present, we'll run the risk of repeating it in the future.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/673770902/baby-it-s-cold-outside-seen-as-sexist-frozen-out-by-radio-stations
After announcing its decision, host Glenn Anderson wrote this on the station's website:
"I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong. The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place."
First thing's first, like Anderson noted, the song was written in 1944, a full 74 years ago. A few things have changed since then. Secondly, one of the best things about art is that it's open to interpretation. This doesn't make one interpretation more accurate than another, but it also doesn't mean an artistic product should be banned because one interpretation is extremely disturbing or negative. If we start banning Christmas songs like "Baby, It's Cold Outside," where will the slippery slope end?
Even if there are some disturbing messages presented in the classic Frank Loessner-written song, how does it benefit us to ignore history? If we ignore history, aren't we more prone to repeating it? Instead of looking at this song as a potentially sexist/ableist tune from near three-quarters of a century ago, perhaps it'd be healthier to look at how far we've progressed as a society since that time. No, I'm not a big fan of Christmas music, but I'm even less of a fan of censoring art and ignoring history. Some of what's suggested in "Baby, It's Cold Outside" wasn't okay in 1944, let alone 2018, but unlike in 1944, society has actually recognized that in 2018 (well, for the most part), and it'd do us some good to, instead of cringing in embarrassment and shame at the negatives of yesteryear, simply acknowledge said negatives as a means for societal progression to the present and future. As the saying goes, "The first step to solving a problem is admitting one exists." If we refuse to admit a problem was ever present, we'll run the risk of repeating it in the future.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/673770902/baby-it-s-cold-outside-seen-as-sexist-frozen-out-by-radio-stations
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