No More Blurred Lines

I’ve been debating writing this post for a long time.

I try to keep this blog clear of my more ‘feminist’ views as when I get on that soap-box, I find it difficult to get off. And most of the time it is irrelevant to what I want to say or share through this blog.

But I can’t stay silent about this song. Because I care about the young people within the Anglia division, and throughout the whole country and world, that have been exposed to this song without maybe realising the message or culture it promotes; who sing along to the catchy tune and haven’t though about what it says.

‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke is misogynistic and promotes the victim blaming, rape culture we live in. It promotes the view that women are commodities for men to use and abuse as they like because they are ‘good girls’ who ‘want it’.

There. I said it.

Numerous University Student Union bars have already banned the song because of its content. But it still concerns me how I can turn the radio on at any time of day and hear how when a girl says ‘no’, she means ‘yes’, and that it is acceptable for men to pursue women in this way. I’ll admit, the lyrics aren’t as explicit as all that, and many critics of this view of the song say Thicke is actually putting the ball in the woman’s court, you have to really delve into the lyrics to pull out that meaning. The surface message, and most listeners will never get past that level, encourages victim blaming, ‘lad’ culture, and rape culture.

If you think this is something Christians shouldn’t be standing against, then I am concerned about your theology too. This song could encourage the oppression of women, violence and rape. You may think I’m being extreme, but music is a reflection of culture. If this wasn’t a current, cultural issue, then the song wouldn’t exist.

Our culture is full of cases where women won’t go to the police when raped because of being blamed for their own rape. Questions about what they were wearing, how they acted, etc. make them ashamed of what happened. Even when they have been completely sober, completely covered by clothes, and just walking down a street, victims are blamed for their attack and assumed to be the cause of it in some way.

Our culture has adverts in the back of local newspapers for sex chat lines and ‘massage parlours’ that are often fronts for human sex trafficking. I admit that not all sex workers are trafficked or kept there against their will, but human trafficking for the sex industry is very much a reality.

More than 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked every year.

77% are women.

87% of trafficked victims are sexually exploited.

This is a serious and growing concern that The Salvation Army is working hard to combat. More information and resources to join this fight can be found using the links at the end of this post.

The Bible is very clear that there are no ‘Blurred Lines’ regarding sex and relationships. Sex is reserved for marriage; a loving and committed relationship between a man and a woman that God has brought together. It is to be about sharing and expressing love, and not about who has control or who ‘wants it’. Its not about being ‘domesticated’ or what you wear.

I could go on for a long time about the song, it’s meaning, and why it is not something we should promote or encourage. But I feel have achieved what I aimed to in this post; raise awareness of the meaning and that as Christians it is not something we should be consuming.

Our culture is filled with negative ideas about sex, love and relationships. ‘Blurred Lines’ is not the first and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last.

I encourage you to think about what you listen to, watch, and read. Is this something that promotes the Kingdom of God, or the negative ideals of the world? What we consume will eventually change the way we act, think and speak.

“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Mark 7:20 – 23

The Salvation Army's 'Cut It Out' Campaign - alove.salvationarmy.org.uk/cut-it-out-0

Stop the Traffik - www.stopthetraffik.org