What: “A Scary Time”
Who: Choreographer and singer Lynzy Lab
Why we care: The national conversation around sexual assault hit a new fever pitch in the wake of the hotly debated Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh (and his ascension to the SCOTUS happened to fall on the one-year anniversary of the revelations of Harvey Weinstein’s serial sexual assaults). As more and more victims bravely step forward, there seems to be just as much fervor in stifling their voices. What’s often excused as one-off incidents, or areas that are too gray to judge, or even just outright victim-blaming, all speak to a normalization of assault and harassment culture that Lynzy Lab captures so acutely in her song “A Scary Time.”
The Texas-based performer details the ridiculously frustrating hurdles women have to clear in their everyday lives just to stay safe.
I can’t walk to my car late at night while on the phone
I can’t open up my windows when I’m home alone
I can’t go to a bar without a chaperone
And I can’t wear a mini skirt if it’s the only one I own
Lab, who has also uploaded a #MeToo inspired dance performance, gives the song a clever twist by framing what “A Scary Time” it is not for women, but for men whose “reputations” are on the line, or who are dealing with that pesky little word of consent. It’s an effective touch that underscores where some people are placing their priorities when women come forward with stories of sexual assault. Lab ends the song with a call to vote in the decisive midterm elections this November that could either add fuel to this flaming political disaster of Trump’s America or give a sliver of hope to marginalized groups just trying to live. A scary time, indeed.
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