Stop the ban: Blurred Lines is a feminist anthem

Before you recoil in sheer horror, and before UBU debate a ban at Student Council next week, let’s take a deep breath and practise a little open-mindedness. In my opinion, there’s nothing really wrong with Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’. Some lines actually sound quite, dare I say it, feminist.

Thicke’s song is about trying to charm a girl away from a man who’s “tried to domesticate [her]” against her “nature”. In response he sings, “let me liberate you, you don’t need no paper, that man is not your maker” – and exactly! It’s about sexual freedom and having the right to choose what suits you best.

Shouldn’t people be sexually liberated in the way they want to be rather than follow some convention which categorises them either as boring virgins or sluts?

That is what he means by “blurred lines”. It’s not about rape. It’s about the confusion and struggle between doing what you’ve been told is right (being a “good girl”) and what feels right despite social disapproval (being a “bad girl”). He’s saying to forget these blurred lines and to go ahead, challenge these unhealthy social taboos that demonise us.

So what if he wants to “tear [her] ass in two”!? It’s not meant to be taken literally and, more importantly, what’s so offensive about anal sex!?

Whether or not you like or agree with the song, at least be concerned that your union is dampening what is left of free speech. Ironically, a ban itself would be kind of sexist.

It plays into the notion of the hysterical sensitive female who must be protected from this “offensive music” as well as the male who shouldn’t be encouraged because he can’t control his sexual urges.

It also suggests women are automatically degraded by appearing half-naked in a music video and that there is actually a problem with girls consenting to sex. And screw men, we’ll call them rapists for flirting. Only Beyonce can say, “I know you want it”, apparently.

A ban would justify censorship over harmless and pointless issues, not to mention look silly. Taking offence to something does not permit to righteously dictate to people who don’t share your opinion. It doesn’t mean they’re immoral if they don’t agree with you, and it doesn’t mean all the people who shake their butts to the song are sexist assholes who condone rape.

Let’s stop dabbling ferociously and meaninglessly at surface issues and just let people enjoy harmless pop songs if they want to.