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    8. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Now with new and improved(?) lyrics

      ~music Text 196 words
      We had a discussion here last year about "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and whether the lyrics to this song encourage rape. This came after a radio station pulled the song from its playlist after...

      We had a discussion here last year about "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and whether the lyrics to this song encourage rape. This came after a radio station pulled the song from its playlist after people complained it was too "rapey".

      Well, John Legend has re-written this song "to remove the 'date-rape' lyrics". Here is the song and here are Legend's new lyrics.

      What do you think? Did the song need to be re-written? Is this an improvement? Is this the "Christmas" song we need for a post-#metoo era?

      Two asides:

      This isn't really a "Christmas" song.

      This isn't a Christmas song. The lyrics never mention Jesus or Christmas or Santa or Yuletide or the festive season. They don't even refer to Winter! There's just one lyric saying "it's cold outside" - and, as I mentioned in my analysis of the song last year, it's not even snowing in the movie scene where this song was first used.

      This is ironic timing, considering Australia's weather.

      Here in Australia, half the country is on fire and we're breaking all-time heat records - and here I am, writing about a song which says it's cold outside.

      16 votes

    46. After a year in Bangladesh camps, Rohingya women are finding their feet

      ~life Text 225 words
      Summary A look at the situation of Rohingya women living in Bangladeshi refugee camps, with a focus on health, medicine, and education. Extracts Before coming to a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar,...

      Summary

      A look at the situation of Rohingya women living in Bangladeshi refugee camps, with a focus on health, medicine, and education.

      Extracts

      Before coming to a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Rashida had never seen a foreigner.

      [...] the biggest shock she had was when a community health worker suspected Rashida was pregnant again and took her to the clinic for an examination.

      "What I found out that day was that you can stop having babies if you want to," she says. "I had never heard of family planning."

      Rashida has since thought hard and discussed this with her husband. Their shelter is cramped, and their future uncertain.

      "Three children is a nice family size," she says. "After that, I don't want any more. What I want is to learn something. When we go back home I'd like to be able to work, not just look after children."

      Bakoko [a midwife from Uganda] teaches new mothers how to wrap babies and put on nappies. She examines pregnant women to check for signs of eclampsia, the biggest threat to pregnant women's lives. And she teaches women to check for multiple pregnancies, and to care for women before and after they give birth. She has saved numerous lives.

      Link

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-25/bangladesh-rohingya-young-women-coxs-bazar-refugee-camp/10161260

      8 votes