I've kind of given up on that whole "shouldn't like" thing. I like what I like, and I've long moved away from thinking that a taste for/enjoyment of something for whatever interesting qualities it may have (even if it has other, repulsive qualities) is a valid indicator of cultural politics. If that were the case, it'd be me sitting in an empty room with a phonograph of Holly Near records, and oh God no I can't do that.

My 25yo co-worker just made a playlist of 90s dance favorites for a work event. She was pretty much an infant when most of these songs were popular, but I grew up with them. We had a discussion about whether to include "O.P.P" because it is misogynist and sleazy. I was like, of course you include it. It was a monster hit. Like its 70s version, "Love The One You're With," it expresses a shitty relationship ethic - but who cares? It's a pop song, it's got a good beat, you can dance to it. Similarly, Blurred Lines, or Under My Thumb, or Baby It's Cold Outside - songs that have had their fair share of controversy recently.

Talk about what it means and reflects in a wider conversation, but really, don't fault anyone harshly for enjoying what they enjoy on a light level, especially when it's already tongue-in-cheek cultural performance and not actual policy. We're not going to have a glorious human-potential revolution by telling people that the energy they're responding to in their favorite art form sucks.

This one.

We have a little girl now, but my husband is 100% not the football-throwing type. But he did want a little girl.

Every Breath You Take. I can't believe I still love this stalker, domestic violence perpetrator theme song. Bad, bad brain!