UEA’s Student Newspaper
Issue 287 • Free • Tuesday 22 October
Want more? Find us online at concrete-online.co.uk! @Concrete_UEA /ConcreteNewspaper ConcreteUEA
Inside... Halloween Horrors
“I know you want it”: Union Council to debate Blurred Lines ban
The best scary films to get you in the mood for fright night Film V. 20
Are we grown ups? Does coming to universtiy make you into an adult? Comment P. 7
Andrew Ansell and Lara Ellice News Editors
They’re back Spencer returns in the new series of Made In Chelsea TV V. 17
The Union of UEA Students (UUEAS) will this week debate a motion to ban Robin Thicke’s controversial song Blurred Lines. If the motion is approved, the UUEAS will become the ninth student union to ban the song since its release earlier this year in July. Since the song’s release it has reached number 1 in the charts of 80 countries. The motion has been proposed by the Student Union’s Women’s Officer, Rachel Knott, and seconded by Louisa Kennard of the feminist society. The motion believes that by the Union of UEA Students banning the song, it would make a statement of solidarity with other feminist movements throughout the country. It further notes that the Union have a zero tolerance approach to
sexual harassment, and the song is not appropriate. The motion’s proponents believe that songs with a ‘clear theme of sexual harassment and lack of sexual consent do not promote a safe environment for UEA students’. The students’ association of Edinburgh University similarly believed that Thicke’s controversial hit promotes an unhealthy attitude towards sex and consent. In defence of his song, Robin Thicke has claimed that the meaning has been misconstrued, and that it was written to celebrate his 20 year relationship with his wife Paula Patton. Thicke further claimed that the music video accompanying Blurred Lines was tongue-in-cheek. Nonetheless, the NUS Women’s Officer, Kelley Temple considers the song “deeply offensive and dangerous”. While Student Unions such as Edinburgh and Leeds Universities enforce a ban against the song, The University of Durham’s Student Union have
voted against banning it, as the debate was deemed a time consuming distraction from more important feminist issues. Rachel Knott commented: “The song Blurred Lines has created international controversy and promotes themes of sexual violence and lack of consent that do not comply with the Union’s policies on consent or our Zero Tolerance policy on sexual harassment”. The move comes after conversations Knott has had throughout the year with students concerned about the song being placed in Union facilities. If the motion is carried, the song Blurred Lines will no longer be played by any Union media. Subseqeuntly, a vote in favour of a ban will act as a barometer for the consideration of the themes of future songs. Any non-Union radio station that plays the prohibited song will be required to be immediately changed.