The same thing you do when "Hey Joe" is on.

There's nothing inherently "rapey" about that stupid Christmas song. (Dean Martin did a good rendition however, as always). They could have easily just snuggled, giggled, drank, and kissed all through that cold and snowy night by the crackling fire.

Those (like Rich) whom have purient thoughts about the romantic assignation, and then extrapolate sinister scenarios, are just grandstanding.

Ah, the holiday Season. The simple-minded right engages in their pretend "War" on Christmas and the simple-minded left wrings their hands over "Baby, it's cold outside"

The song is not about rape. It's about foreplay. The woman is concerned about her reputation if she stays, and is saying to the man that he'd better be a good lay if she's to endure the wrath of her father, brother, maiden aunt, etc. for staying out all night. The line about "what's in this drink" could be about anything. Maybe she's a cocktail enthusiast wanting to know what's in the drink. Maybe she's a hardcore alcoholic who is unhappy it's not boozy enough. Maybe they are both teetotalers discussing a good cup of Postum. Who knows? Who cares? Just play the song or don't play the song and stop trying to make it about rape culture. There's more than enough real rape culture without dragging a corny old duet into it.

You know where it's NOT going to be cold outside? Steamworks this weekend. Lots of heat in there boys! LOTS of heat!

@5: People will always be coy about sex. That's part of the fun of the foreplay. You're extrapolating when you say "guy pressuring a woman to do something she repeatedly says she doesn’t want to do" when it simply could be about spending the night and she's concerned about worrying her family.

I thought the left disparaged pearl clutchers.

If I can find a boy singer to help, I'll sing along. We'll just gender reverse the parts.

Exactly. Saying it's about rape is shoehorning.

auntie.ir0ny dear, that's already been done......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpDLpz88V-I

@10: You can't have it both ways. There are disgusting and offensive rap lyrics and I dare say that you don't give deference to the folks who take issue with them like you do with folks who take issue to this 40's Christmas carol.

Blip dear, if you actually look at the lyrics, she's staying of her own voliton for another drink, and then basically says "oh what the hell. They're going to talk about me anyway, so I might as well stay". That's a lot of "sexual agency" right there.

Women have always been pressured or forced into sex, but women also had the opportunity to say no, and a good many men respected that (as a good many men do now) in part because of lack of societal norms and economic situations. My parents always said that they never had premarital sex because they couldn't - Dad lived at home (supporting his widowed mother and little brother while going to law school on the GI bill) and mom lived in a boarding house for "career gals" that didn't allow men upstairs. They didn't have a car, and they couldn't afford a hotel room - and they weren't the kind for a back alley quickie. Thus they had to hold out.

Oops, that should read "because of societal norms", not because of a lack of societal norms.

Mrs. Vel-DuRay regrets the errors.

@11- Oh Red!

People hear what that want to hear in songs. I have a friend who swears Lou Reeds, Waiting For My Man, is about homosexuality. Um ok I guess I can understand how he came up with that. LOL

Happiest of Holidays to you as well, Mellow dear. After all, we're a family here on Our Little Slog, and even the finest of families don't always see eye-to-eye.

Yes, the song is a little date-rapey by modern standards, but so is Connery's James Bond. Ok, Connery's Bond is straight-up rapey, but the point remains: a lot of USA popular media from that time was sorta rapey - we all know that. I mean, "Brown Sugar?"

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the only reason certain "lefties" are so vocally opposed to BiCO is that it's actually all an elaborate scheme to trick the right into playing it on repeat all the time (which apparently a few stations actually did) as a sort of self-inflicted Salt And Pepper Diner prank.

Or maybe there's something about the twee cutsey-ness of it all that annoys people, in the way Bond or Brown Sugar (which are more adult) doesn't. But yeah, mainly it's a massive Salt And Pepper Diner prank.

I guess it is a touch rapey if you completely ignore the lyrics, the time it was written, who is was written by and for, and who it was originally written to be performed by. Also, you have to ignore the joking subtext on several lines, and how it ends too.

@3: What is funny is I have only heard/read the term "War on Christmas" twice this year, it was was liberals complaining about how dumb it was. I am unsure if anyone really goes for that anymore outside of a small segment of aging boomers.

Theodore dear, you're essentially correct, except for the small segment part. Apparently lots of boomers are quite concerned about the War on Christmas. And President trump is still using it as a fundraising point.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/4-in-10-americans-say-war-on-christmas-a-reality-poll.html

If you have been invited to someone's house and the song is playing (remember you're a guest) you either

A- endure the 2 minutes and 21 seconds of the song, enjoy the rest of the party then cry about to your holistic therapist or your Tumblr blog.
B- leave immediately because no one wants to listen to you blather on.

@3 Catalina is spot on. So sick of this "debate".

Do the same thing every black person does whenever a white person says "the Godfather is the greatest movie ever" (Ignoring or excusing the blatant racism and implication that the drug war was acceptable and black people dont have souls): Remind them that their take on the thing is dependent on their culture and only their culture and that others see it differently.