0:00:05.233,0:00:09.664
It’s that time of year again when regardless of whether you celebrate, enjoy, participate

0:00:09.664,0:00:16.879
or even care about Christmas you’re constantly inundated with painfully cheery, sappy and repetitive Holiday music,

0:00:16.879,0:00:21.541
everything from the Bing Crosby classics to the latest pop star’s rendition of jingle bells.

0:00:21.802,0:00:26.656
Every store you go into, every mall you enter, and all over our television screens and radios

0:00:26.656,0:00:30.610
these songs are stuck on repeat for a solid month, if not more!

0:00:30.610,0:00:37.564
Those of us who happen to live in the West, probably know all the words by heart and find ourselves unintentionally singing along.

0:00:37.726,0:00:40.283
But have you ever really paid attention to what’s going on in these lyrics?

0:00:40.498,0:00:43.201
Some of the messages are just down right creepy

0:00:43.201,0:00:45.031
and they’re passed off as holiday cheer

0:00:45.031,0:00:47.801
with hardly a comment year after year.

0:00:47.931,0:00:51.716
Here is my list of the top 5 creepiest and sexist Holiday songs.

0:00:52.216,0:00:54.862
At number 5 All I want for Christmas Is You

0:00:54.870,0:01:04.270
“Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you”

0:01:04.270,0:01:05.904
While it might sound like an old time classic,

0:01:05.904,0:01:10.289
it’s actually a contemporary Holiday song, produced for Mariah Carey in the 1990′s.

0:01:10.289,0:01:15.043
On the surface it may seem cute and romantic but there’s a nasty little message embedded in the lyrics.

0:01:15.043,0:01:18.512
It’s the tired old, all women need is a man myth.

0:01:18.512,0:01:21.351
We see this disturbing message embedded in Hollywood movies,

0:01:21.351,0:01:26.520
especially in romantic comedies where it essentially serves as the back bone of the entire genre.

0:01:26.628,0:01:30.581
In these stories we’re taught that women’s primary goal in life is to find Mr Right

0:01:30.581,0:01:35.281
and without him, apparently our lives are all unfulfilled, boring and meaningless.

0:01:35.281,0:01:47.051
“I just want you for my own, More than you could ever know, Make my wish come true, All I want for Christmas is you”

0:01:47.051,0:01:51.512
With lyrics like: “I just want you for my very own, More than you could ever know

0:01:51.512,0:01:54.997
Make my wish come true, All I want for Christmas is you”

0:01:54.997,0:02:00.781
the singer expresses no desire, needs or interests in anything other then being gifted a man for Christmas.

0:02:00.958,0:02:06.189
While most covers of this song are done by women such as Shania Twain, Miley Cyrus, and Mercedes from Glee,

0:02:06.189,0:02:12.435
it’s not any less creepy when a man sings it because the lyrics could be interpreted as bordering on stalker territory.

0:02:12.497,0:02:15.981
Here are some other things that you might want for christmas in addition to romance:

0:02:16.043,0:02:17.797
quality time with friends and family,

0:02:17.828,0:02:19.843
days off for relaxation,

0:02:19.874,0:02:21.589
good homemade food,

0:02:21.666,0:02:31.343
or an 11 inch, cast zinc, life size, replica of Buffy’s Slayer Scythe complete with authentic ostrich skin wrapped hand crafted wooden handle…

0:02:32.128,0:02:33.508
...just an idea.

0:02:34.424,0:02:38.008
And at number 4 is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

0:02:38.008,0:02:47.593
“I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, underneath the mistletoe last night”

0:02:47.593,0:02:54.547
This song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue in 1952 to sell their annual Christmas Card and was originally recorded by Jimmy Boyd.

0:02:54.547,0:02:58.155
It’s still a widely popular holiday song, covered by a variety of musicians

0:02:58.155,0:03:01.570
from Amy Winehouse, The Jackson Five to Reba McEntire.

0:03:01.593,0:03:06.047
The song starts with “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe last night,”

0:03:06.062,0:03:12.078
and then it goes on to say “I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus underneath his beard so snowy white.”

0:03:12.078,0:03:15.439
The story is about someone’s mom whose cheating on her husband with Santa Claus

0:03:15.439,0:03:17.424
and the poor kid has to watch the whole thing,

0:03:17.547,0:03:21.078
or in the best case scenario it’s his dad dressed up as Santa Claus,

0:03:21.078,0:03:23.293
but either way… bleh.

0:03:24.132,0:03:27.339
Number 3, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

0:03:27.339,0:03:36.416
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go, take a look in the five and ten”

0:03:36.416,0:03:40.924
This Christmas favourite was popularized by Perry Como and Bing Crosby back in 1951.

0:03:40.924,0:03:43.685
And while they sing about candy canes and silver lanes,

0:03:43.685,0:03:48.285
they also celebrate and reinforce harmful gendered stereotypes in children’s toys.

0:03:48.285,0:03:56.470
“A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Is the wish of Barney and Ben. Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk, Is the hope of Janice and Jen.”

0:03:56.470,0:04:05.532
The lyrics go: “A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Is the wish of Barney and Ben. Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk, Is the hope of Janice and Jen.”

0:04:05.593,0:04:09.662
Really? Baby Dolls for little girls and guns for little boys?

0:04:09.724,0:04:15.985
Continuing to segregate and advertise toys based on gender just works to perpetuate those nasty sexist stereotypes,

0:04:15.985,0:04:19.870
plus it severely limits the development of all young people.

0:04:19.870,0:04:23.932
You can check out my video Toy Ads and Learning Gender for more on all of that.

0:04:25.378,0:04:27.703
Coming in at number 2 is Santa Baby

0:04:27.703,0:04:40.057
“Santa baby, a 54 convertible too, Light blue. I’ll wait up for you dear, Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.”

0:04:40.057,0:04:43.480
Santa Baby was originally recorded by Eartha Kitt in 1953

0:04:43.480,0:04:49.403
and has been covered countless times since then by artists such as Shakira, The Pussycat Dolls, Taylor Swift, Madonna.

0:04:49.403,0:04:53.788
This song might seems cute, and sweet and some have even tried to make it sexy,

0:04:53.788,0:04:58.541
but it’s just another tired old stereotype about how women are materialistic and shallow.

0:04:58.541,0:05:05.234
This woman is urging Santa to hurry down the chimney and bring her a convertible, a yacht, a duplex, and a ring.

0:05:05.234,0:05:10.449
The Gold Digger trope is sadly still pervasive in our popular media from pop songs to hollywood movies

0:05:10.457,0:05:14.618
and this particular holiday song gets dragged out every year again and again.

0:05:16.326,0:05:21.495
And at Number 1 for the most sexist holiday song, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

0:05:21.495,0:05:27.912
“I really can’t stay but Baby it’s cold outside I’ve got to go away but Baby it’s cold outside,

0:05:27.912,0:05:32.082
This evening has been – Been hoping that you’d drop in, So very nice”

0:05:32.082,0:05:38.695
Occasionally referred to as the Christmas Date Rape Song, this duet was written by Frank Loesser in 1936.

0:05:38.695,0:05:43.611
While the song has a sweet melody to it, this style of duet is often referred to as mouse and wolf

0:05:43.611,0:05:48.249
where the mouse part is traditionally sung by a woman and the wolf part by a man.

0:05:48.249,0:05:50.964
The predatory style description is amazingly accurate

0:05:50.964,0:05:55.980
given that the man spends the whole song subtly pressuring the woman into staying with him for the night.

0:05:55.980,0:06:01.611
In the first verse the woman sings “I really can’t stay, I must go away, my mother will worry”

0:06:01.611,0:06:05.357
and the man responds by saying “baby it’s cold outside”.

0:06:05.357,0:06:09.828
“Beautiful, please don’t hurry Well Maybe just a half a drink more – Put some records on while I pour.

0:06:09.828,0:06:16.651
The neighbors might think – Baby, it’s bad out there. Say, what’s in this drink – No cabs to be had out there”

0:06:16.651,0:06:22.410
When she reluctantly agrees to “half a drink more” suspiciously asking “say, what’s in this drink.”

0:06:22.410,0:06:26.717
He responds that she shouldn’t be in a hurry, she wouldn’t be able to get a cab anyway,

0:06:26.717,0:06:29.848
and oh yeah, by the way your lips look delicious.

0:06:29.864,0:06:36.325
He also resorts to the use of guilt, with lines like “What’s the sense in hurting my pride” and “Baby don’t hold out”.

0:06:36.325,0:06:40.194
Throughout the rest of the song he uses deceitful and manipulative techniques

0:06:40.194,0:06:43.802
to constantly pressure her into giving in and getting what he wants,

0:06:43.802,0:06:47.656
and just in case you aren’t clear on this point, what he wants is to get laid.

0:06:47.656,0:06:53.764
Through his slow and sustained pressure he lowers her defenses by refusing to accept her insistence on leaving.

0:06:53.764,0:06:56.294
And he may have even drugged her.

0:06:56.294,0:07:02.371
“I simply must go but Baby, it’s cold outside The answer is no but baby, it’s cold outside”

0:07:02.371,0:07:08.371
I mean, she literally says, “The answer is no” yet he ignores this and keeps persisting.

0:07:08.371,0:07:14.679
The song concludes with her finally giving in with the shudder inducing line, “well I really shouldn’t…. alright”.

0:07:14.679,0:07:22.217
These lyrics are a perfect illustration of the way men pressure women into experiences that they don’t want, aren’t ready for or aren’t interested in.

0:07:22.217,0:07:29.971
Songs like this work to normalize this problematic male behaviour, a behaviour which contributes and perpetuates rape culture in general.

0:07:29.971,0:07:32.625
Yes, most of these songs were written over 50 years ago

0:07:32.625,0:07:38.994
but every year the airwaves are flooded by the old versions as well as new rerecorded ones by the pop star of the hour.

0:07:38.994,0:07:41.979
While you probably won’t be able to avoid any of these songs this month,

0:07:41.979,0:07:47.633
maybe you can use them as a way to engage in a conversation about sexism with your friends and families over the holidays.

0:07:47.633,0:07:51.664
It will make for a interesting and lively conversation, I promise.

0:07:51.664,0:07:54.217
Or you could just show them this video…

0:07:55.364,0:08:00.589
If you enjoy these videos and wanna help keep Feminist Frequency going please donate today!

0:08:00.589,9:59:59.000
Just visit feministfrequency.com/donate