Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines banned from UK universities

Some allege the song ‘excuses rape culture’.

Robert Thicke’s newly released single Blurred Lines has come under the scanner for being offensive and provocative. Recently, five UK universities banned the song from being played at campus bars, claiming that it “excuses rape culture.”

With Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance and reports that the song was banned on YouTube for being “too hot”, it seems Blurred Lines has more controversy coming. A petition initiated by feminist group ‘University of Nottingam Feminists’ calls on the university to ban Thicke’s song, after Kingston, Derby, Edinburgh, Leeds and West Scotland universities prohibited it.

“The song hugely objectifies woman and excuses rape culture,” Hollie O’Connor, president of the University of Derby Students’ Union, tells NBC. “It is a man suggesting that there are ‘blurred lines’ when it comes to sexual consent and that is unacceptable. We felt we needed to take a stand.”

In a blog for the Huffington Post, a student at University of Birmingham writes, “When you first hear Blurred Lines, it seems relatively inoffensive. Catchy, even. However, when you really listen to lyrics, deeply sinister undertones begin to surface; it features lines such as ‘Do it like it hurt’, ‘I hate these blurred lines’ (a reference to sexual consent), and the now infamous ‘I’ll give you something big enough to tear you’re a** in two”. One lyric that is particularly poignant is the repeated ‘I know you want it’.”

She calls the ban on the song on campus an “admirable” move, adding: “Why should a song be supported that has the potential to trigger victims of sexual assault?”

Another writer for the same publication questions the ban. “At university, people are adults and they should decide what they believe is right and what is wrong,” says journalism graduate Gayathri Kanagasundaram.

Thicke speaks in his defense

Thicke has remained adamant about defending his song. In May, he told GQ magazine, “We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, ‘We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this.’”

He was also quoted by the magazine joking that it is “a pleasure to degrade a woman.” He said: “I’ve never gotten to degrade before. I’ve always respected women”.”

But despite the talk, Blurred Lines was named Billboard’s Song of the Summer, while Kanye West’s Yeezus became one of the best-reviewed albums of the year. The single enjoyed the number one slot on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as topped the Billboard R&B Songs chart. It also became Thicke’s most successful song on the Billboard Hot 100, being his first single to peak the number one position on the chart.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2013.

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