Baby It's Cold Outside: Classic or Cringe?

With Halloween behind us, it is finally time to listen to Christmas music, a.k.a the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas may not be my favorite holiday, but it does have my favorite music. One of my favorite Christmas songs is a somewhat controversial pick: Baby It’s Cold Outside, written by Frank Loesser in 1944.

This classic has been recorded by many greats including Dean Martin, Idina Menzel, and so many more. So why, in just over the last decade, has this classic Christmas tune become so controversial?

Critics of the song claim that the lyrics have strong sexual harassment and assault undertones. Now, I am the first to support claims over sexual harassment, I have zero tolerance for it. But, this song, if you look at the actual lyrics and the social history of the time that it was written, you can see that it is not what it is trying to portray.

The main lyrics that critics cite as problematic are “say what’s in this drink,” “I ought to say no” and “I really can’t stay.” At face value they are very problematic, there is no denying that. But this song was written in the 1940s and there is a lot to consider because of that.

Back in the 40s it was strongly looked down upon to stay the night at a partner’s house, if unmarried. A women’s status could be extremely damaged if she stayed with no justifiable reason. The woman in this song socially needs to say she should not stay. If you pay attention most of her reasons for not being able to stay is not because she does not like this man, instead she says “the neighbors might think.” She is thinking about her reputation, but at the same time wants to stay have a good time with her partner.

This song is a sex positive anthem, the only issue is it carries the subtleties necessary in the early 20th century. The woman’s defensiveness is so if asked later why she spent the night she can say she tried to leave, and no one can blame her for staying. The only problematic part of this song is the way that society views women’s sexuality, and the shame that many women were forced to bear because society refused to acknowledge their needs on par with men’s.

All this to say, Baby It’s Cold Outside is a Christmas classic that should be on queue for every holiday party.