Pressure mounts on ULSU to ban Blurred Lines

Pressure is mounting on the University of Leicester’s Students’ Union to ban ‘Blurred Lines’ as two more Students’ Unions take action against the misogynistic song.

So far the executive team have kept any discussion they have been having about this issue to themselves, despite repeated requests by students and student groups on Twitter to follow in the footsteps of unions such as Edinburgh, Leeds, West Scotland and Derby.

The one words to come from the Students’ Union at the time of publication are from the President, Dan Flatt, in response to a tweet.

@Queenof_Hell @LeicsFreshers @PercyGee if that is the will of students!

— Dan Flatt (@ULSU_President) September 19, 2013

Despite this quiet stance, the Union has committed itself to a policy of Zero Tolerance to sexual harassment in order to make the Union a safe space for students free from sexual harassment.

A position that is somewhat juxtaposed to the playing of ‘Blurred Lines’, which promotes misogynistic attitudes and goes so far to normalise the concept of non-consensual sex and violent sexual acts (“I’ll give you something to tear your ass in two”).

Regardless of your personal stance on whether banning things actually works or not, there is no way the Union can continue to see itself as committed to Zero Tolerance and have this particular song playing on a night out in the O2.

It’s not as simple as telling an individual to ‘just leave’ if the song comes on in a club and they are uncomfortable – why is it that someone who has simply gone out to have a good time with their friends must compromise their personal safety in order to do so, especially in a place marketed as ‘against sexual harassment’?

Beyond being a mere ‘feminist issue’ (as it is so often dismissed as), the Union should be considering the impact that this song has on survivors of sexual violence at our university. Lyrics such as those in ‘Blurred Lines’ can be incredibly triggering, as shown in Project Unbreakable where Robin Thicke’s lyrics were noted to be uttered during real instances of sexual violence.

At a time where 68% of women students experience sexual assault, our Union cannot simply ignore the links between the two. This doesn’t mean to say that other songs do not contain triggering content or lyrics that normalise certain attitudes – however, as the fastest-selling song in digital history and the longest-running No.1 single of 2013 in three countries it clearly has the most widespread cultural impact compared to other popular music.

As the recently crowned winners of NUS’s Higher Education Union of the Year award, the Percy Gee should be setting the example for other unions to keep students safe and prevent it’s students from not only becoming victims of sexual violence, but any sort of gendered discrimination and feeling generally unsafe in a space which is designed to enhance the experience of students at our university. Hopefully by the beginning of term, the sabbatical officers will have come to a decision that benefits the students they’re elected to represent rather than taking the easy route out by avoiding the decision and staying silent.