Ben Taylor: Purveyor of Rape Culture

Primary tabs

Submitted by Charlotte Miller on Tue, 2013-07-02 11:54

Do you know this guy?

 

Need a hint? He's a perpetuator of rape culture.

 

On Friday, June 28th, eight Rochester activists met musician Ben Taylor outside The Little Theatre during the tail end of the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Taylor, the son of famed musicians James Taylor and Carly Simon, in recent years, has been attempting to find a place in the spotlight by writing inflammatory lyrics without substantial artistic merit. The activists aimed to meet his audience at the door to educate them and passersby about the glorification of rape culture present in Taylor's lyrics, specifically in his song "Wicked Ways.” Their goal was to ultimately influence people to avoid his show and stand in solidarity with those affected by sexual violence.

Taylor appeared on WXXI's 1370 Connection radio show on Thursday the 27th, where he played his song, "Wicked Ways.” In this song, Taylor explicitly illustrates his desire to get an attractive woman intoxicated so that he can "have [his] wicked way with [her]." He even warns the woman; "don’t you fight it/ 'cause I know you’re gonna like it.” A female caller raised her concern about the references to date rape in the song, and Taylor dismissed the concern by stating that the song is "only a joke,” and that he was using sarcasm. He told the caller that if she saw him playing the song, she'd see him laughing as he sang, which should verify to her that it's just a joke. The caller pointed out to him that an audience can't see him through the radio, and Taylor quickly dismissed her by saying that it isn't his fault when an audience interprets his lyrics differently from the way he intended. The host followed up by announcing that the interview was over, never having taken a critical approach to Taylor.

 

Taylor's dismissal of the caller's concern, as well as his apparent ignorance to his perpetuation of rape culture in his lyrics, inspired a Rochester activist to organize a protest outside Taylor's two Friday evening shows at The Little Theatre. The activists took to the street with lyrics sheets to pass out to ticket holders who waited in line as well as passersby, and signs with rape statistics and messages to directly address Taylor's misogyny. After reading the lyrics, about 25 people told the activists they had reconsidered their choice to see Taylor's show. Many people the activists spoke with outside the theatre were surprised at Taylor's material, while a small minority heckled the activists.

Shortly before the second show began, a highly intoxicated Taylor came out of the theatre to confront the activists, calling out, "Tell me how I'm a misogynist!" The activists explained to him that, given the current statistic of 1 in 6 women falling victim to rape in her lifetime, making jokes about or glorifying rape is intolerable. The activists explained that he had entered a community with a rich history of women's rights and that he needed to respect that by leaving "Wicked Ways" out of his set list. Taylor expressed that women are his "stars and moon," and that rape is a "disgusting" tragedy, but that the activists were misunderstanding him and his lyrics, and that he is not responsible for that misunderstanding. The confrontation turned slightly aggressive when Taylor grabbed lyrics sheets out of the hand of one activist and declared that he would pass them out and turn people away from his show, himself. He then insisted that his staff take a group photo of himself with the activists. The activists uncomfortable accepted, then Taylor ended the conversation to play his second set.

 

According to a member of the audience who was present for his second show, Taylor expressed that he was saddened that people had interpreted his lyrics too literally instead of viewing them through the lens of popular culture. Taylor is just one of many members of popular culture who perpetuate rape culture without understanding what that really means, or why it's a problem, but the fact that his act was called upon for the Rochester International Jazz Festival, which is typically viewed as a family event, is truly questionable.

 

Protest / Resistance
Miscellaneous
Media
Theory and Information
Arts and Entertainment
Cultural Criticism
Anti-sexism / Sexism
Feminism

Comments

Submitted by soleado1128 on Wed, 2013-07-03 20:17
This is ridiculous. I heard that radio interview and saw his first show. All of his lyrics (from the set he performed) ARE through a lens of popular culture. His take is his own commentary on our narcissistic, increasingly violent and sexual society. Every song was preceded by a quite lengthy story, including Wicked Ways. He tells a story of how he and his friend were watching MTV and saw an Outkast video and were confronted/amused with the idea that the music out there today is so directly base and carnal. There seems to be no 'beating around the bush' anymore in terms of writing about feelings surrounding attraction/love. They joked that they should write a song in that vein but do it in their style of sensitive songwriters with a folk feel. And the song was just that. It was not about rape at all. It was about going out and getting some liquid courage (gettin drunk) and getting lucky with someone. That is what people are doing out in bars. I own a bar, this is what happens. People aren't subtle anymore about the fact that they want to get laid and go ahead and do so. Like it or not that's a large part of our culture these days and he was commenting on it in what he viewed as a tongue-in-cheek way. I was with two other strong-minded outspoken women and we in no way were offended by that song when we heard his story and watched it performed. We have been involved in many protests ourselves however, we all felt that this protest was an uninformed overreaction. I think it made our city seem small-minded and I can understand why he would be peeved by the whole thing. The female singer Liz Gillies does a cover of Wicked Ways calling it a 'cute song' by Ben Taylor. With all the really incredibly misogynistic songs and artists out there these days I find it laughable that this group chose this one guy and this one song to make a stink about. There is so much incredibly offensive crap out there to take a stand on that is being played on the mainstream airwaves and polluting the minds of our young people. Put your energies into that. Please. And I would love to support that one.

Submitted by KarenFT on Sun, 2013-07-07 23:24
I've heard Ben perform this song several times & it's always one of the most popular numbers of his set. It's a light-hearted tune about a man who wants to have sex with a woman he finds attractive without playing games To get to that point. It's a refreshingly honest song. I was stunned to hear that. people believe he is advocating date rape--this never crossed my mind in all of the times of hearing it. Anyone familiar with Taylor & his body of work would not look at the song with this warped perspective. Sad to have such a promising young musician maligned in this way. And the picture & captions with this article--just insulting!