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Funny or Die Baby Its Cold Outside

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Baby, Information technology'due south Cold Outside is a song traditionally performed as a duet between a human being and woman in which a man is attempting to convince a woman to stay at his place for the evening, using the bad weather as an excuse, while she insists that she has to leave. The song grew into a Christmas standard just has also generated controversy every bit some have argued that the song's lyrics propose sexual taboo, as the man continually insists on the adult female staying despite her multiple protestations, and the song perhaps alludes to date rape.

Origin

"Baby, It'south Common cold Outside" was written past Frank Loesser in 1944. He and his married woman would perform the song at the end of glamorous Hollywood parties in the 1940s.[i] Of notation, in the original score, the part of the male is listed as "The Wolf" and the role of the lady "The Mouse." Loesser sold the film to MGM for the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter, where information technology was performed by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán.


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The song was then widely covered, with popular versions including recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Lady Gaga, and Seth MacFarlane (shown below).

The song has sparked controversy as people take debated about interpretations of the song. Some have argued that the vocal has sexist and sexually abusive overtones. The Daily Fauna[2] called it "Everyone's Favorite Date-Rape Holiday Classic." Salon[3] also argued that the song may exist well-nigh engagement rape, writing:

It describes what may be a engagement rape. Allow'southward examine the state of affairs: A adult female has stopped by to visit a man, and he connives to continue her from leaving. "My answer is no," she states, just he pours on the charm: "It'south upwards to your knees out in that location." His seductions become increasingly smarmy ("What's the sense of hurting my pride?") and eventually sinister. At one indicate she exclaims, "Say, what's in this potable?" Is he being generous with the alcohol, or has he slipped her something stronger? At this betoken, the Wolf and Mouse designations are redundant. It's all too articulate that he's a predator and she'southward prey.

The Washington Mail service[four] covered both sides of the argument, including in their summary an statement by Persephone Magazine which argued that the woman'due south protestations were more about avoiding scandal than rejecting a sexual encounter:

At the time (the lyrics) were written, an unmarried adult female staying the night at her beau'due south was crusade for scandal. It's this fear nosotros come across reflected in the lyrics, more than whatever disfavor on the part of the adult female to staying the night.
She never expresses any personal distaste at the idea,eastward rather pointing out that her "sister will be suspicious," her "maiden aunt'due south listen is vicious." Really, so, we are hearing a battle between his entreaties and her reputation.

Additionally, the critics in defense of the song argued that the "What's in this potable?" line was not a reference to date rape but a common idiom to blaming one's lack of inhibitions on booze. In 2018, radio station Cleveland Star 102.1[v] pulled the song from their rotation, stating:

I practise realize that when the song was written in 1944, information technology was a unlike time, merely now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and incorrect. The globe nosotros live in is extra sensitive now, and people go easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place.

Facebook user James Fell posted an expanding brain parody of the controversy, arguing ultimately the song isn't very good regardless of its lyrical content, gaining over 1,200 likes and reactions.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a Christmas classic! If you think about it, the lyrics are kind of rapey. "What's in this drink?" Probably roofies, am I right?? Context is important! Given the era in which the song was written, it's about two people who both want to stay to- gether, but due to prudish social norms neither of them can say so explicitly. He's offering excuses to stay and she's feigning profest--an expected (and nec- essary exchange in a society where a womań couldn't just say "yes" outright. Context IS important, and to most modern listeners, it sounds an awful lot like a woman trying to leave and a man coercing her into staying. It may have been progressive at the time for allowing a single woman to playfully exercise her sexual agency in a patriarchal society, but nowadays we're a lot more conscious about consent. The subtext and humor are no longer obvious--and without that, the lyrics are uncomfortable. Not all art should be expected to age perfectly, so maybe we shouldn't keep re-recording an easily misconstrued song that relies on an outdated conception of sexual politics It's just kind of a crappy song text organism

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