Baby, It’s Cold Outside

When I left Walmart the air temperature was about 30°F. Light snow had just begun falling. Perhaps that was the reason the popular holiday song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” popped into my head.

The song was written in 1944 by Frank Loesser for him and his wife to sing at Christmas parties. The song has always been popular. But recently, radio stations have pulled the song from their holiday playlists. Their reasoning is that the song is guilty of commending, if not promoting, sexual harassment.

As I walked across the parking lot to my car, I reflected upon the fact that in those olden days when the song was written and performed, it was possible for a man to suggest to a woman that she stay the evening without the suggestion being considered sexual harassment or, worse, sexual assault.

There are legitimate cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault. But the politically correct crowd seems bent on promoting the idea that anything suggestive of sex must be harassment or assault. That perception dilutes the legitimate claims of harassment and assault.

Maybe I’m being old-fashioned here, but I believe claims of sexual intimidation should be confined to actual acts of intimidation and not a suggestion that a woman should stay the evening because “it’s cold outside”. If we make that suggestion into sexual harassment then I can truthfully say that I’ve been sexually harassed by women on multiple occasions, and I didn’t even know I was being harassed. It works both ways.