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Well, they’re back at it. Reminiscent of congressional committee hearings in 1985 featuring the then-Sen. Al Gore’s wife, Tipper, lawmakers are once again flexing their political muscle and demanding that the music industry stop selling music that contains misogynistic, violent and offensive language.
The hearings are part of the fallout of the Don Imus debacle earlier this year, when the popular radio show host uttered several derogatory terms in reference to the Rutgers women’s basketball team and was fired from his job.
Music industry executives met with members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee last week and said that while they can appreciate lawmakers’ concerns, they aren’t willing to start censoring lyrics. Most of the attention has been on rap and hip-hop music, although let’s face it, plenty of white-boy metal bands use the same kinds of words in their lyrics.
Music executives argue that outlawing the use of the words altogether won’t change the culture that spawned them.
And they’re right.
Any time the government tries to censor creative or cultural [removed]although, I’m not sure there’s much creative or cultural about some of the lyrics), I start to squirm. Whether we like it or not, this offensive language comes out of a “street” culture that’s very much alive in this country. Freedom of expression is a foundation of this country. And really, what needs changing are the problems and frustrations that create the violent, racist, misogynistic culture some of these musicians are singing about.
If you don’t want to hear that language, don’t buy the music — turn the channel and police what kind of music your children listen to.
So, just whose job is it to police lyrics? Parents? The music industry? The government? What do you think?