By Taylor Breckles (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: October 9, 2013
Last week, the worst of popular culture plagued Abbotsford’s Yale Secondary school. The school band selected “Blurred Lines,” the song by Robin Thicke infamous for its controversial lyrics, to perform at a pep rally. However, one student initiated a chain reaction of responses which ultimately derailed the plan.
Though many people are familiar with the song’s lyrics and it has been criticized as glorifying rape, the song was crowned the “song of the summer.” That, and its presence in a high school setting, are nothing short of disturbing.
“Project Unbreakable,” a poignant online photography project by artist Grace Brown, features women who have survived sexual assault quoting their attackers. Two of the photographed quotes, “I know you want it,” are echoed in the chorus of “Blurred Lines.” Thicke’s lyrics are astoundingly insensitive to people who have experienced sexual assault.
Chloe Knull, a student at Yale, and her family reacted immediately to the band’s song selection. Emails were sent to the principal and vice principals, but there was no response, even though more than one parent was disturbed by the issue. Knull printed the lyrics to the song to show students and gather their opinions on the subject. Her sister even stood up and left her band class after announcing that she was “not going to play a song about rape.” However, even after all of this, the performance was not yet cancelled.
Knull herself is a victim of sexual harassment, with lyrics of Thicke’s song having been spoken to her in an “oppressive nature” before.
Clearly it was not the best song choice, but regardless of the harm it could do to students, the principal did not agree to remove the song.
Knull then posted a Facebook status to express her anger at the situation, which generated more awareness outside Yale Secondary students and resulted in a three-day in-school suspension. She also created a petition for students and teachers to sign in order to stop the band from performing the song.
Knull was punished and intimidated for expressing her views, but in the end the song was removed. It took Knull, her family, her friends, and several other concerned individuals to accomplish this. Knull also says “[the principal] had received over 80 emails not only from parents that had kids at Yale, but also students that had graduated the year before.”
The sheer amount of people needed to get the attention of a single man is unbelievable. But it seems many more voices will be needed to raise awareness about rape before messages like Thicke’s (“I know you want it”) are taken seriously.
