Blurred Lines: Women say provocative parody sends positive message

CTV Atlantic: Controversy over parody Two local women have produced a parody of one of the summer's biggest hits, saying its sexually suggestive lyrics cross the line.

Two Halifax women have produced a parody of one of the summer’s biggest hits, saying its sexually suggestive lyrics cross the line.

While some people say the women’s parody “Ask First” is just as explicit as the song they take issue with – Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” – the women say their version sends a much different message.

“In the lines ‘you know you want it,’ I think it reproduces an idea that women may say no, but they might mean yes,” says Kaleigh Trace, who created the provocative parody with her friend Mary Burnet. The pair work at Venus Envy, a sex shop and bookstore in downtown Halifax.

They say "Blurred Lines" glorifies rape and sexual assault, while their video sends the message that sex is fun when it’s consensual and that people need to check with their partner before getting intimate.

“The difference for me is that in our video, we represent women talking about what they want a partner to do to their bodies, versus in the original video, one of the performers talks about what he is going to do to a woman’s body in pretty violent, explicit language,” says Burnet.

Jacqueline Warwick, an associate professor of musicology, agrees that “Blurred Lines” degrades women in numerous ways, including showing them topless in the music video, while Trace and Burnet’s provocative parody empowers women.

“It’s a very light-hearted, clear response to that video and I think an excellent way to get people thinking of the issue of consent,” ways Warwick.

The parody, which was produced in Halifax, hasn’t played on the radio but it has become a hit online.

Warning: video contains explicit images

Ask First from Brendan Anckaert on Vimeo.

“I think it is a really effective way to get a message out to make a fun music video and so I think we’ve done a great job at pushing our ideas in a great little package,” says Trace.

Trace and Burnet say it took them about four hours to shoot the video, which they posted earlier this week.

They also say the video is their first Internet hit, but it may not be their last.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl