Raise your hand if you love the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" but also find it creepy.
Since Frank Loesser wrote the song in 1944, famous people have been clamoring to cover it — from Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (separately of course, not as a duet, though that would've been something) to Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell in the Christmas classic "Elf."
It's not hard to imagine why. The tune is super catchy.
Through 1940's eyes, the lyrics may have all the warmth and romance that you'd want in a holiday classic, telling the story about a woman saying she has to leave a man's house while he begs her to stay, saying, "Baby, it's cold outside."
Think a little deeper though, and the lyrics sound pretty darn sinister, with the man at the very least pressuring the woman to stay and outright ignoring her protests, "I ought to say no, no, no, sir/Mind if I move in closer," at the very worst, straight up roofie-ing her, "Say what's in this drink/No cabs to be had out there."
In an age where discussions about consensual sex are at the forefront, it's common to find thinkpieces debating the song's feminist credentials, whether it's 2012 or just last year.
GIF via "Elf."
The good news is that now we have some alternative versions of the song, in the form of amazing feminist remixes.
There's this version by YouTube user caseymh2010, which is from 2013, but has started making the rounds again as the holiday season approaches.
In the updated version, the lyrics start out the same as the original:
"I really can't stay/But, baby, it's cold outside. I've got to go away/But, baby, it's cold outside. This evening has been/Been hoping that you'd drop in ..."