Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ Banned At 20 UK Universities

The University College London student union have joined some 20 UK higher-learning institutions that have banned singer Robin Thicke‘s smash-hit collaboration with Pharrell Williams and T.I., Blurred Lines, for the song’s allegedly sexist lyrics, which they say glorify rape.

The UCLU now joins the University of London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Kingston, Derby, Chester, Brighton, Exeter and West Scotland in banning the song from being played at functions within union spaces, with UCLU women’s officer Beth Sutton tweeting:

“UCLU have just passed motion to not play blurred lines in union spaces & events. Solidarity with all survivors!”

University of Exeter’s student guild said the song was banned because, “A song that implies a woman is ‘an animal’ who ‘wants it’ because of the way she is dressed is not acceptable…the lyrics and the images within the promotional video are utterly degrading to the female subject.

“Any song that expresses an author’s frustration at ‘being sick of blurred lines’ is beyond unacceptable,” they added. The guild is yet to comment on whether rapper Khia‘s 2002 track I Know You Want It will be next on the chopping block.

Since its release, Blurred Lines has generated controversy for its lyrics and for its video, which features scantily clad models, and has resulted in countless blogs and articles, as well as parody videos, including one by law students at the University of Auckland.

However the man himself has rejected the song’s perception as a rape anthem. The Guardian reports that Thicke told one interviewer, “If you listen to the lyrics, it says ‘That man is not your maker’ – it’s actually a feminist movement within itself.”

(Via The Guardian)

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