Blurred Lines or Black and White

I love my 'quick office polls', not sure if anyone else does though.


This is the time of day when I decide to ask work colleagues and friends a random question abut something I've read in the news.
Anyway, my latest quick poll was 'Do you think that the Robin Thicke tune is sexist or at least a bit creepy?' Bearing in mind I keep reading articles and blogs about how misogynistic both the video and song are.

You see, the video (if you didn't already know) for 'Blurred Lines' has 2 versions, a completely NSFW version that had even been banned by YouTube and a tree-hugging-hippy version that is still an bit on the dodgy side but at least the models wear some clothes (emphasis on some).

Add in some suggestive references to drugs, bestiality, a gigantic cigarette lighter and some '#' words being flashed across the screen and that's the long and short of Diane Martel's video.
The general consensus of opinion was that no one had actually noticed (possibly as they hadn't actually seen the video)

They thought it was nothing more than a summery anthem type tune by some guy no one had heard off, singing with Pharrell Williams (who some knew) and TI, though the majority of my 'test' subjects had no idea who the hell he is, (especially when I called him Clifford Harris Jr)


When I explained how the lyrics sounded like it was justifying rape and pointed out that when combined with the video it made women appear like sex objects, degraded them and  pushed the whole feminist movement back 100 years, my guinea pigs looked at me like I was on drugs.

'Really?'
'How's that?'
'Seriously?' And 'hahahaha, shnortle, guffaw' were the most sensible answers I got.

So, I spoke to my version of Yoda at work. She pondered a while and pointed out that it was all a bit 'Benny Hill'


It depends on how you look at it really. It does play a bit on the 'men-are-stupid-when-pretty-girls-are-there' theme. It maybe doesn't quite 'empower' them, but it certainly does appear to suggest that even though the women are carrying fluffy animals, (real and fake) and outrageously huge cigarette lighters, sitting on bicycles with added height that they aren't quite submissive or threatened by 3 guys.

It did appear to change the opinion of women I spoke to when they watched the video though. Maybe I'm too liberal these days, but I will admit, I do get really nervous when my 9 year old asks me what Ke$ha is singing.....