Tucker Carlson demands that a Vox writer explain how 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' is 'rapey'

Tucker Carlson and Emily Crockett spar over "Baby, Its Cold Outside"
(Image credit: Fox News/YouTube)

Some people hear the line in the Christmas standard "Baby, It's Cold Outside" about, "Hey, what's in this drink?" and can't help but think of Bill Cosby. Tucker Carlson hears playful flirtation. The song was written during World War II, he said on his Fox News show Tuesday, "but some people are now finding offense with some of those lyrics. The song has been characterized as 'rapey.'" Carlson justifiably rolled his eyes over a new, "bowdlerized" version of the song, then brought on Vox writer Emily Crockett to play counterpoint to his defense of a Christmas song about a man pressuring a woman to have sex.

"Now feminists, maybe unfairly, have had this reputation as humorless scolds," Carlson began, and "I'm not sure attacks on this song do much to fight that perception." Crockett said her article wasn't an "attack" on the song, explaining that when she listens to the song, she can hear both the "rapey" and "romantic" sides. When the song was written, she noted, women "had to play hard to get, or had to just allow themselves to be seduced," rather than say they were interested in sex. At the same time, "putting pressure on a woman to have sex is just not cool for a variety of reasons," she said. "There's a difference between a negotiation and, you know, a predation." In the original version of the song, the man's part is labeled "wolf" and the woman's part is labeled "mouse," she said, which is "kind of creepy." "Why is that creepy?" Carlson asked.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.