Baby, It's Cold Outside


                    
                    
                

                

                

            

        
    







            

            
            

                

                    
                

                

                    

                        


	

	
    

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    Baby, It's Cold Outside: emilysidhe
 Baby It's Cold Outside discourse is the same as Macbeth discourse
 dont-spoop-yourself
 Explain?
 emilysidhe
 OK, so one of the big debates in Macbeth involves the scene in
 which Lady Macbeth talks Macbeth into killing King Duncan. People
 debate strenuously over whether it's a scene of Lady M pressuring
 her reluctant husband into it, or whether it's a scene of her sensing,
 due to their emotional intimacy, that this murder is something her
 husband secretly wants and has partially internally decided to do,
 and is arguing him into it in order to help him give himself permission
 to do it, in the same way that people see their loved ones wavering
 over the dessert menu and jump in with things like, "Go on, get the
 cheesecake, it's your birthday!" Readers and scholars disagree
 strenuously about this - we even studied an incident in college in
 which two 18th century illustrators attended the same performance
 and happened to draw the scene the day after, producing two images
 that advanced opposite interpretations even though they'd seen the
 exact same actors do the exact same performance. It's a big deal
 In the same way, the Baby, It's Cold Outside discourse is about
 whether this is a song about sexual harassment, or whether it's a
 woman singing about how she wishes she could spend the night with
 the guy she just had an excellent date with if only the neighbors
 wouldn't talk, and him responding, "Stay, baby, it's cold out! No one
 could expect you to go home in this!"
 ms-demeanor
 I really don't know (baby stab his side)
 King Duncan's a bro (baby cut through his hide)
 I like him a lot (That decrepit old sot?)
 This plan ain't so great (But what a king you'd make!)
 The guards might worry (Darling, do it in a hurry!)
 His sons will rush the door (So knock them on the floor.)
 I'm not such a knave (Bash his head with a stave)
 But l'd be a good king (Now you're starting to think)
 The dukes might all talk (But their chatter means naught)
 Say, love, what do you mean (You'd make such a king)
 I simply must go (baby cut through his hide)
 There's a war on you know (baby cut through his hide)
 But what of his wife? (And what of his life?)
 It feels like bad luck (But that don't mean much)
 l've got a bad premonition (And l've got a mission)
 But that's just superstition (My love, you're a vision)
 The witches said l'd rule (If they lied they were cruel)
 So babv let's stab
 Stab his siiiide!
I figure someone mightve posted this before, but its still appropriate for Christmas.
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: emilysidhe
 Baby It's Cold Outside discourse is the same as Macbeth discourse
 dont-spoop-yourself
 Explain?
 emilysidhe
 OK, so one of the big debates in Macbeth involves the scene in
 which Lady Macbeth talks Macbeth into killing King Duncan. People
 debate strenuously over whether it's a scene of Lady M pressuring
 her reluctant husband into it, or whether it's a scene of her sensing,
 due to their emotional intimacy, that this murder is something her
 husband secretly wants and has partially internally decided to do,
 and is arguing him into it in order to help him give himself permission
 to do it, in the same way that people see their loved ones wavering
 over the dessert menu and jump in with things like, "Go on, get the
 cheesecake, it's your birthday!" Readers and scholars disagree
 strenuously about this - we even studied an incident in college in
 which two 18th century illustrators attended the same performance
 and happened to draw the scene the day after, producing two images
 that advanced opposite interpretations even though they'd seen the
 exact same actors do the exact same performance. It's a big deal
 In the same way, the Baby, It's Cold Outside discourse is about
 whether this is a song about sexual harassment, or whether it's a
 woman singing about how she wishes she could spend the night with
 the guy she just had an excellent date with if only the neighbors
 wouldn't talk, and him responding, "Stay, baby, it's cold out! No one
 could expect you to go home in this!"
 ms-demeanor
 I really don't know (baby stab his side)
 King Duncan's a bro (baby cut through his hide)
 I like him a lot (That decrepit old sot?)
 This plan ain't so great (But what a king you'd make!)
 The guards might worry (Darling, do it in a hurry!)
 His sons will rush the door (So knock them on the floor.)
 I'm not such a knave (Bash his head with a stave)
 But l'd be a good king (Now you're starting to think)
 The dukes might all talk (But their chatter means naught)
 Say, love, what do you mean (You'd make such a king)
 I simply must go (baby cut through his hide)
 There's a war on you know (baby cut through his hide)
 But what of his wife? (And what of his life?)
 It feels like bad luck (But that don't mean much)
 l've got a bad premonition (And l've got a mission)
 But that's just superstition (My love, you're a vision)
 The witches said l'd rule (If they lied they were cruel)
 So babv let's stab
 Stab his siiiide!
I figure someone mightve posted this before, but its still appropriate for Christmas.
                
            

            
            
I figure someone mightve posted this before, but its still appropriate for Christmas.

            
            
        

    



        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            







    Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
 teachingwithcoffee
 It's time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem
 Masquerading As Christmas Carol
 bigbutterandeggman
 Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here
 Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s
 So. Here's the thing. Given a cursory glance and
 applying today's worldview to the song, yes,
 you're right, it absolutely *sounds* like a rape
 anthem.
 BUT! Let's look closer!
 "Hey what's in this drink" was a stock joke at the
 time, and the punchline was invariably that
 there's actually pretty much nothing in the drink,
 not even a significant amount of alcohol
 See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned,
 at a dudes house. In the 1940's, that's the kind
 of thing Good Girls aren't supposed to do-and
 she wants people to think she's a good girl. The
 woman in the song says outright, multiple
 times, that what other people will think of her
 staying is what shes really concerned about
 "the neighbors might think" "my maiden aunt's
 mind is vicious," "there's bound to be talk
 tomorrow." But she's having a really good time,
 and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing
 her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to
 the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink
 -unaware that the drink is actually really weak,
 maybe not even alcoholic at all. That's the joke
 That is the standard joke that's going on when a
 woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th
 century says "hey, what's in this drink?" It is not
 a joke about how she's drunk and about to be
 raped. It's a joke about how she's perfectly
 sober and about to have awesome consensual
 sex and use the drink for plausible deniability
 because she's living in a society where women
 aren't supposed to have sexual agency
 Basically, the song only makes sense in the
 context of a society in which women are
 expected to reject mens advances whether they
 actually want to or not, and therefore it's normal
 and expected for a lady's gentleman companion
 to pressure her despite her protests, because he
 knows she would have to say that whether or
 not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay
 she won't be able to justify doing so unless he
 offers her an excuse other than "I'm staying
 because I want to." (That's the main theme of
 the man's lines in the song, suggesting excuses
 she can use when people ask later why she
 spent the night at his house: it was so cold out,
 there were no cabs available, he simply insisted
 because he was concerned about my safety in
 such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent
 and definitely not about sex at all!) In this
 particular case, he's pretty clearly right, because
 the woman has a voice, and she's using it to
 give all the culturally-understood signals that
 she actually does want to stay but can't say so
 She states explicitly that she's resisting because
 shes supposed to, not because she wants to: "I
 ought to say no no no..." She states explicitly
 that she's just putting up a token resistance so
 she'll be able to claim later that she did whats
 expected of a decent woman in this situation:
 "at least I'm gonna say that I tried." And at the
 end of the song they're singing together, in
 harmony, because they're both on the same
 page and they have been all along
 So it's not actually a song about rape in fact it's
 a song about a woman finding a way to exercise
 sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed
 to stop her from doing so. But it's also, at the
 same time, one of the best illustrations of rape
 culture that pop culture has ever produced. It's a
 song about a society where women aren't
 allowed to say yes..which happens to mean it's
 also a society where women don't have a clear
 and unambiguous way to say no
 Source: matchingvnecks #baby it's cold outside
 #not about rape #so tired of having to explain this on
 238,267 notes
 Dec 3rd, 2016
Its that time of year again
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
 teachingwithcoffee
 It's time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem
 Masquerading As Christmas Carol
 bigbutterandeggman
 Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here
 Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s
 So. Here's the thing. Given a cursory glance and
 applying today's worldview to the song, yes,
 you're right, it absolutely *sounds* like a rape
 anthem.
 BUT! Let's look closer!
 "Hey what's in this drink" was a stock joke at the
 time, and the punchline was invariably that
 there's actually pretty much nothing in the drink,
 not even a significant amount of alcohol
 See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned,
 at a dudes house. In the 1940's, that's the kind
 of thing Good Girls aren't supposed to do-and
 she wants people to think she's a good girl. The
 woman in the song says outright, multiple
 times, that what other people will think of her
 staying is what shes really concerned about
 "the neighbors might think" "my maiden aunt's
 mind is vicious," "there's bound to be talk
 tomorrow." But she's having a really good time,
 and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing
 her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to
 the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink
 -unaware that the drink is actually really weak,
 maybe not even alcoholic at all. That's the joke
 That is the standard joke that's going on when a
 woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th
 century says "hey, what's in this drink?" It is not
 a joke about how she's drunk and about to be
 raped. It's a joke about how she's perfectly
 sober and about to have awesome consensual
 sex and use the drink for plausible deniability
 because she's living in a society where women
 aren't supposed to have sexual agency
 Basically, the song only makes sense in the
 context of a society in which women are
 expected to reject mens advances whether they
 actually want to or not, and therefore it's normal
 and expected for a lady's gentleman companion
 to pressure her despite her protests, because he
 knows she would have to say that whether or
 not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay
 she won't be able to justify doing so unless he
 offers her an excuse other than "I'm staying
 because I want to." (That's the main theme of
 the man's lines in the song, suggesting excuses
 she can use when people ask later why she
 spent the night at his house: it was so cold out,
 there were no cabs available, he simply insisted
 because he was concerned about my safety in
 such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent
 and definitely not about sex at all!) In this
 particular case, he's pretty clearly right, because
 the woman has a voice, and she's using it to
 give all the culturally-understood signals that
 she actually does want to stay but can't say so
 She states explicitly that she's resisting because
 shes supposed to, not because she wants to: "I
 ought to say no no no..." She states explicitly
 that she's just putting up a token resistance so
 she'll be able to claim later that she did whats
 expected of a decent woman in this situation:
 "at least I'm gonna say that I tried." And at the
 end of the song they're singing together, in
 harmony, because they're both on the same
 page and they have been all along
 So it's not actually a song about rape in fact it's
 a song about a woman finding a way to exercise
 sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed
 to stop her from doing so. But it's also, at the
 same time, one of the best illustrations of rape
 culture that pop culture has ever produced. It's a
 song about a society where women aren't
 allowed to say yes..which happens to mean it's
 also a society where women don't have a clear
 and unambiguous way to say no
 Source: matchingvnecks #baby it's cold outside
 #not about rape #so tired of having to explain this on
 238,267 notes
 Dec 3rd, 2016
Its that time of year again
                
            

            
            
Its that time of year again

            
            
        

    



        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            







    Baby, It's Cold Outside: I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
 teachingwithcoffee
 It's time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem
 Masquerading As Christmas Caral
 bigbutterandeggman
 Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also
 a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s
 So. Here's the thing. Given a cursory glance
 and applying today's worldview to the song.
 yes, you're right, it absolutely 'sounds' like a
 rape anthem.
 BUTI Let's look closerl
 "Hey what's in this drink" was a stock joke at
 the time, and the punchline was invariably that
 there's actually pretty much nothing in the drink,
 not even a significant amount of alcohol.
 See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned
 at a dude's house. In the 1940's, that's the kind
 of thing Good Girls aren't supposed to do -
 and she wants people to think she's a good girl.
 The woman in the song says outright, multiple
 times, that what other people will think of her
 staying is what she's really concerned about:
 the neighbors might think," "my maiden aunt's
 mind is vicious," "there's bound to be talk
 tomorrow." But she's having a really good time
 and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing
 her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to
 the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink
 - unaware that the drink is actually really weak
 maybe not even alcoholic at all. That's the joke.
 That is the standard joke that's going on when a
 woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th
 century says "hey, what's in this drink?" It is not
 a joke about how she's drunk and about to be
 raped. It's a joke about how she's perfectly
 sober and about to have awesome consensual
 sex and use the drink for plausible deniability
 because she's living in a society where women
 aren't supposed to have sexual agency
 Basically, the song only makes sense in the
 ext of a society in which women are
 expected to reject men's advances whether
 they actually want to or not, and therefore it's
 normal and expected for a lady's gentleman
 companion to pressure her despite her protests
 because he knows she would have to say that
 whether or not she meant it, and if she really
 wants to stay she won't be able to justify doing
 so unless he offers her an excuse other than
 "I'm staying because I want to." (That's the
 main theme of the man's lines in the song
 suggesting excuses she can use when people
 ask later why she spent the night at his house: it
 was so cold out, there were no cabs available,
 he simply insisted because he was concerned
 about my safety in such awful weather, it was
 perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex
 at all!) In this particular case, he's pretty clearly
 right, because the woman has a voice, and
 she's using it to give all the culturally-
 understood signals that she actually does want
 to stay but can't say so. She states explicitly
 that she's resisting because she's supposed to,
 not because she wants to: "l ought to say no no
 no..." She states explicitly that she's just
 putting up a token resistance so she'll be able
 to claim later that she did what's expected of a
 decent woman in this situation: "at least I'm
 oonna sav that I tried. And at the end of the
 that she's resisting because she's supposed to
 not because she wants to: "l ought to say no no
 no..." She states explicitly that she's just
 putting up a token resistance so she' ll be able
 to claim later that she did what's expected of a
 decent woman in this situation: "at least I'm
 gonna say thatI tried." And at the end of the
 song they're singing together, in harmony
 because they're both on the same page and
 they have been all along.
 So it's not actually a song about rape in fact
 it's a song about a woman finding a way to
 exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society
 designed to stop her from doing so. But it's
 also, at the same time, one of the best
 llustrations of rape culture that pop culture has
 ever produced. It's a song about a society
 where women aren't allowed to say yes...which
 happens to mean it's also a society where
 women don't have a clear and unambiguous
 way to say no.
 Source:matchinovnecks #baby it's cold outside
 #not about rape
 #30 tired of having to explain this one
 196,155 notes
 "C
But Baby It’s Cold
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
 teachingwithcoffee
 It's time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem
 Masquerading As Christmas Caral
 bigbutterandeggman
 Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also
 a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s
 So. Here's the thing. Given a cursory glance
 and applying today's worldview to the song.
 yes, you're right, it absolutely 'sounds' like a
 rape anthem.
 BUTI Let's look closerl
 "Hey what's in this drink" was a stock joke at
 the time, and the punchline was invariably that
 there's actually pretty much nothing in the drink,
 not even a significant amount of alcohol.
 See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned
 at a dude's house. In the 1940's, that's the kind
 of thing Good Girls aren't supposed to do -
 and she wants people to think she's a good girl.
 The woman in the song says outright, multiple
 times, that what other people will think of her
 staying is what she's really concerned about:
 the neighbors might think," "my maiden aunt's
 mind is vicious," "there's bound to be talk
 tomorrow." But she's having a really good time
 and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing
 her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to
 the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink
 - unaware that the drink is actually really weak
 maybe not even alcoholic at all. That's the joke.
 That is the standard joke that's going on when a
 woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th
 century says "hey, what's in this drink?" It is not
 a joke about how she's drunk and about to be
 raped. It's a joke about how she's perfectly
 sober and about to have awesome consensual
 sex and use the drink for plausible deniability
 because she's living in a society where women
 aren't supposed to have sexual agency
 Basically, the song only makes sense in the
 ext of a society in which women are
 expected to reject men's advances whether
 they actually want to or not, and therefore it's
 normal and expected for a lady's gentleman
 companion to pressure her despite her protests
 because he knows she would have to say that
 whether or not she meant it, and if she really
 wants to stay she won't be able to justify doing
 so unless he offers her an excuse other than
 "I'm staying because I want to." (That's the
 main theme of the man's lines in the song
 suggesting excuses she can use when people
 ask later why she spent the night at his house: it
 was so cold out, there were no cabs available,
 he simply insisted because he was concerned
 about my safety in such awful weather, it was
 perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex
 at all!) In this particular case, he's pretty clearly
 right, because the woman has a voice, and
 she's using it to give all the culturally-
 understood signals that she actually does want
 to stay but can't say so. She states explicitly
 that she's resisting because she's supposed to,
 not because she wants to: "l ought to say no no
 no..." She states explicitly that she's just
 putting up a token resistance so she'll be able
 to claim later that she did what's expected of a
 decent woman in this situation: "at least I'm
 oonna sav that I tried. And at the end of the
 that she's resisting because she's supposed to
 not because she wants to: "l ought to say no no
 no..." She states explicitly that she's just
 putting up a token resistance so she' ll be able
 to claim later that she did what's expected of a
 decent woman in this situation: "at least I'm
 gonna say thatI tried." And at the end of the
 song they're singing together, in harmony
 because they're both on the same page and
 they have been all along.
 So it's not actually a song about rape in fact
 it's a song about a woman finding a way to
 exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society
 designed to stop her from doing so. But it's
 also, at the same time, one of the best
 llustrations of rape culture that pop culture has
 ever produced. It's a song about a society
 where women aren't allowed to say yes...which
 happens to mean it's also a society where
 women don't have a clear and unambiguous
 way to say no.
 Source:matchinovnecks #baby it's cold outside
 #not about rape
 #30 tired of having to explain this one
 196,155 notes
 "C
But Baby It’s Cold
                
            

            
            
But Baby It’s Cold

            
            
        

    



        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            







    Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
girlwholovesturtles:

bigbutterandeggman:
teachingwithcoffee:
It’s time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem Masquerading As Christmas Carol
Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s. 
So. Here’s the thing. Given a cursory glance and applying today’s worldview to the song, yes, you’re right, it absolutely *sounds* like a rape anthem. 
BUT! Let’s look closer! 
“Hey what’s in this drink” was a stock joke at the time, and the punchline was invariably that there’s actually pretty much nothing in the drink, not even a significant amount of alcohol. 
See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned, at a dude’s house. In the 1940’s, that’s the kind of thing Good Girls aren’t supposed to do — and she wants people to think she’s a good girl. The woman in the song says outright, multiple times, that what other people will think of her staying is what she’s really concerned about: “the neighbors might think,” “my maiden aunt’s mind is vicious,” “there’s bound to be talk tomorrow.” But she’s having a really good time, and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink — unaware that the drink is actually really weak, maybe not even alcoholic at all. That’s the joke. That is the standard joke that’s going on when a woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th century says “hey, what’s in this drink?” It is not a joke about how she’s drunk and about to be raped. It’s a joke about how she’s perfectly sober and about to have awesome consensual sex and use the drink for plausible deniability because she’s living in a society where women aren’t supposed to have sexual agency.
Basically, the song only makes sense in the context of a society in which women are expected to reject men’s advances whether they actually want to or not, and therefore it’s normal and expected for a lady’s gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests, because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay she won’t be able to justify doing so unless he offers her an excuse other than “I’m staying because I want to.” (That’s the main theme of the man’s lines in the song, suggesting excuses she can use when people ask later why she spent the night at his house: it was so cold out, there were no cabs available, he simply insisted because he was concerned about my safety in such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex at all!) In this particular case, he’s pretty clearly right, because the woman has a voice, and she’s using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can’t say so. She states explicitly that she’s resisting because she’s supposed to, not because she wants to: “I ought to say no no no…” She states explicitly that she’s just putting up a token resistance so she’ll be able to claim later that she did what’s expected of a decent woman in this situation: “at least I’m gonna say that I tried.” And at the end of the song they’re singing together, in harmony, because they’re both on the same page and they have been all along.
So it’s not actually a song about rape - in fact it’s a song about a woman finding a way to exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed to stop her from doing so. But it’s also, at the same time, one of the best illustrations of rape culture that pop culture has ever produced. It’s a song about a society where women aren’t allowed to say yes…which happens to mean it’s also a society where women don’t have a clear and unambiguous way to say no.


I will never get tired of people actually paying attention to the actual meaning of this song.
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
girlwholovesturtles:

bigbutterandeggman:
teachingwithcoffee:
It’s time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem Masquerading As Christmas Carol
Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s. 
So. Here’s the thing. Given a cursory glance and applying today’s worldview to the song, yes, you’re right, it absolutely *sounds* like a rape anthem. 
BUT! Let’s look closer! 
“Hey what’s in this drink” was a stock joke at the time, and the punchline was invariably that there’s actually pretty much nothing in the drink, not even a significant amount of alcohol. 
See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned, at a dude’s house. In the 1940’s, that’s the kind of thing Good Girls aren’t supposed to do — and she wants people to think she’s a good girl. The woman in the song says outright, multiple times, that what other people will think of her staying is what she’s really concerned about: “the neighbors might think,” “my maiden aunt’s mind is vicious,” “there’s bound to be talk tomorrow.” But she’s having a really good time, and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink — unaware that the drink is actually really weak, maybe not even alcoholic at all. That’s the joke. That is the standard joke that’s going on when a woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th century says “hey, what’s in this drink?” It is not a joke about how she’s drunk and about to be raped. It’s a joke about how she’s perfectly sober and about to have awesome consensual sex and use the drink for plausible deniability because she’s living in a society where women aren’t supposed to have sexual agency.
Basically, the song only makes sense in the context of a society in which women are expected to reject men’s advances whether they actually want to or not, and therefore it’s normal and expected for a lady’s gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests, because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay she won’t be able to justify doing so unless he offers her an excuse other than “I’m staying because I want to.” (That’s the main theme of the man’s lines in the song, suggesting excuses she can use when people ask later why she spent the night at his house: it was so cold out, there were no cabs available, he simply insisted because he was concerned about my safety in such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex at all!) In this particular case, he’s pretty clearly right, because the woman has a voice, and she’s using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can’t say so. She states explicitly that she’s resisting because she’s supposed to, not because she wants to: “I ought to say no no no…” She states explicitly that she’s just putting up a token resistance so she’ll be able to claim later that she did what’s expected of a decent woman in this situation: “at least I’m gonna say that I tried.” And at the end of the song they’re singing together, in harmony, because they’re both on the same page and they have been all along.
So it’s not actually a song about rape - in fact it’s a song about a woman finding a way to exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed to stop her from doing so. But it’s also, at the same time, one of the best illustrations of rape culture that pop culture has ever produced. It’s a song about a society where women aren’t allowed to say yes…which happens to mean it’s also a society where women don’t have a clear and unambiguous way to say no.


I will never get tired of people actually paying attention to the actual meaning of this song.
                
            

            
            
girlwholovesturtles:

bigbutterandeggman:
teachingwithcoffee:
It’s time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem Masquerading As Christmas Caro...

            
            
        

    



        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            







    Baby, It's Cold Outside: Baby it's cold outside ❄️🎶 {Courtesy of @gimmesomemort} ireallycantstay themeowlife
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: Baby it's cold outside ❄️🎶 {Courtesy of @gimmesomemort} ireallycantstay themeowlife
                
            

            
            
Baby it's cold outside ❄️🎶 {Courtesy of @gimmesomemort} ireallycantstay themeowlife

            
            
        

    



        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            






        

        
        

            







    Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
<p><a href="http://bigbutterandeggman.tumblr.com/post/154013148291/teachingwithcoffee-its-time-to-bring-an-end-to" class="tumblr_blog">bigbutterandeggman</a>:</p><blockquote>
<p><a href="http://teachingwithcoffee.tumblr.com/post/154010231447/its-time-to-bring-an-end-to-the-rape-anthem" class="tumblr_blog">teachingwithcoffee</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>It’s time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem Masquerading As Christmas Carol</p></blockquote>
<p>Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s. </p>
<p>So. Here’s the thing. Given a cursory glance and applying today’s worldview to the song, yes, you’re right, it absolutely *<i>sounds*</i> like a rape anthem. </p>
<p>BUT! Let’s look closer! <br/></p>
<p>“Hey what’s in this drink” was a stock joke at the time, and the punchline was invariably that there’s actually pretty much nothing in the drink, not even a significant amount of alcohol. </p>
<p>See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned, at a dude’s house. In the 1940’s, that’s the kind of thing Good Girls aren’t supposed to do — and she wants people to think she’s a good girl. The woman in the song says outright, multiple times, that what other people will think of her staying is what she’s really concerned about: “the neighbors might think,” “my maiden aunt’s mind is vicious,” “there’s bound to be talk tomorrow.” But she’s having a really good time, and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink — unaware that the drink is actually really weak, maybe not even alcoholic at all. That’s the joke. That is the standard joke that’s going on when a woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th century says “hey, what’s in this drink?” It is not a joke about how she’s drunk and about to be raped. It’s a joke about how she’s perfectly sober and about to have awesome consensual sex and use the drink for plausible deniability because she’s living in a society where women aren’t supposed to have sexual agency.</p>
<p>Basically, the song only makes sense in the context of a society in which women are expected to reject men’s advances whether they actually want to or not, and therefore it’s normal and expected for a lady’s gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests, because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay she won’t be able to justify doing so unless he offers her an excuse other than “I’m staying because I want to.” (That’s the main theme of the man’s lines in the song, suggesting excuses she can use when people ask later why she spent the night at his house: it was so cold out, there were no cabs available, he simply insisted because he was concerned about my safety in such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex at all!) In this particular case, he’s pretty clearly right, because the woman has a voice, and she’s using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can’t say so. She states explicitly that she’s resisting because she’s supposed to, not because she wants to: “I ought to say no no no…” She states explicitly that she’s just putting up a token resistance so she’ll be able to claim later that she did what’s expected of a decent woman in this situation: “at least I’m gonna say that I tried.” And at the end of the song they’re singing together, in harmony, because they’re both on the same page and they have been all along.</p>
<p>So it’s not actually a song about rape - in fact it’s a song about a woman finding a way to exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed to stop her from doing so. But it’s also, at the same time, one of the best illustrations of rape culture that pop culture has ever produced. It’s a song about a society where women aren’t allowed to say yes…which happens to mean it’s also a society where women don’t have a clear and unambiguous way to say no.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>THANK.</p>
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Baby, It's Cold Outside: Andrew Rannells
 @AndrewRannells
 I don't think any more people
 need to record Baby It's Cold
 Outside. I think we're good there
<p><a href="http://bigbutterandeggman.tumblr.com/post/154013148291/teachingwithcoffee-its-time-to-bring-an-end-to" class="tumblr_blog">bigbutterandeggman</a>:</p><blockquote>
<p><a href="http://teachingwithcoffee.tumblr.com/post/154010231447/its-time-to-bring-an-end-to-the-rape-anthem" class="tumblr_blog">teachingwithcoffee</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>It’s time to bring an end to the Rape Anthem Masquerading As Christmas Carol</p></blockquote>
<p>Hi there! Former English nerd/teacher here. Also a big fan of jazz of the 30s and 40s. </p>
<p>So. Here’s the thing. Given a cursory glance and applying today’s worldview to the song, yes, you’re right, it absolutely *<i>sounds*</i> like a rape anthem. </p>
<p>BUT! Let’s look closer! <br/></p>
<p>“Hey what’s in this drink” was a stock joke at the time, and the punchline was invariably that there’s actually pretty much nothing in the drink, not even a significant amount of alcohol. </p>
<p>See, this woman is staying late, unchaperoned, at a dude’s house. In the 1940’s, that’s the kind of thing Good Girls aren’t supposed to do — and she wants people to think she’s a good girl. The woman in the song says outright, multiple times, that what other people will think of her staying is what she’s really concerned about: “the neighbors might think,” “my maiden aunt’s mind is vicious,” “there’s bound to be talk tomorrow.” But she’s having a really good time, and she wants to stay, and so she is excusing her uncharacteristically bold behavior (either to the guy or to herself) by blaming it on the drink — unaware that the drink is actually really weak, maybe not even alcoholic at all. That’s the joke. That is the standard joke that’s going on when a woman in media from the early-to-mid 20th century says “hey, what’s in this drink?” It is not a joke about how she’s drunk and about to be raped. It’s a joke about how she’s perfectly sober and about to have awesome consensual sex and use the drink for plausible deniability because she’s living in a society where women aren’t supposed to have sexual agency.</p>
<p>Basically, the song only makes sense in the context of a society in which women are expected to reject men’s advances whether they actually want to or not, and therefore it’s normal and expected for a lady’s gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests, because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay she won’t be able to justify doing so unless he offers her an excuse other than “I’m staying because I want to.” (That’s the main theme of the man’s lines in the song, suggesting excuses she can use when people ask later why she spent the night at his house: it was so cold out, there were no cabs available, he simply insisted because he was concerned about my safety in such awful weather, it was perfectly innocent and definitely not about sex at all!) In this particular case, he’s pretty clearly right, because the woman has a voice, and she’s using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can’t say so. She states explicitly that she’s resisting because she’s supposed to, not because she wants to: “I ought to say no no no…” She states explicitly that she’s just putting up a token resistance so she’ll be able to claim later that she did what’s expected of a decent woman in this situation: “at least I’m gonna say that I tried.” And at the end of the song they’re singing together, in harmony, because they’re both on the same page and they have been all along.</p>
<p>So it’s not actually a song about rape - in fact it’s a song about a woman finding a way to exercise sexual agency in a patriarchal society designed to stop her from doing so. But it’s also, at the same time, one of the best illustrations of rape culture that pop culture has ever produced. It’s a song about a society where women aren’t allowed to say yes…which happens to mean it’s also a society where women don’t have a clear and unambiguous way to say no.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>THANK.</p>
                
            

            
            
<p><a href="http://bigbutterandeggman.tumblr.com/post/154013148291/teachingwithcoffee-its-time-to-bring-an-end-to" class="tumblr_blog">bi...