Just don't listen to it. Nobody's forcing you.

Jon, I don't think the author is calling for censorship but rather a community statement to those who do listen to it that the values are not real.

Like earth hour it was voluntary and had little direct impact on energy consumption but it's a reminder to us that there are things we can do to cut down. Sometimes statements have real value but then maybe we have so many special days now that few manage to grab our attention.

I'd be happier if the proposed day avoided music that debased people regardless of gender. Gender specific targetting of issues tends to become entrenched. I'm not aware of music that concerns me right now on that front so thats an in principle statement rather than a "haven't males got it tough in song lyrics" thing.

R0bert

Danni I completely agree that a lot of musical lyrics are inappropriate, sexual and inescapable. Music videos are on display everywhere for every age group to see.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we all just put our heads in the sand and said, "Hey it's no good for me so I'll just ignore it." NOT!

I'm a middle aged man who grew up in the 1970s with punk, new wave, disco and glam. So I'm a long way from being a prude. But I have to say I find a lot of the music videos these days demeaning not onto to women, but to humanity as a whole.

Fitness First, the nation's largest health club chain, has an internal television network that plays these videos constantly on high rotation as people work out. Without exagerration, nearly every song features women as sluttish pole-dancing, gyrating commodities.

Clearly, the intention of the gym owners is that the videos will make the women customers work out harder in the hope of getting one of those MTV bodies, while keeping the men entertained.

But I suspect most customers find the videos trashy and sleazy. I'm frequently working out with women work colleagues and feel embarrassed on their behalf.

Of course, the liberatarians amongst us will rightly say that no-one is forcing the women in these videos to demean themselves in this way. But we all still have to choice to turn if off. And I think it's time that more of us did.

Jon you missed the point - people are forcing usto you listen and watch these hate filled tunes. Every day, in almost every puplic place. All people should be free to access public places without being intimidated by hate filled rants of people claiming to want to hurt or kill them and their kind. If people want to listen to these foul messages let them, but do not inflict it on the rest of us.

It is the subtitle of the article, not the content which worries.

"What about having one official day when music debasing women is banned from the airwaves?"

What is debasing? How do we define that objectively? Will we require a special committee to determine whether "Thrush and the CXnts" (profanity censored by Online Opinion) are debasing or progressive?

We can take note that the referenced article in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology "it is unlikely that hearing lyrics in a song creates sexist attitudes that do not previously exist". Perhaps not surprising really given the quality of the vocals.

Personally, I already have banned what I consider debasing music and music videos permanently. If I hear a song on a radio station that I don't like, I change channels. Ditto for videos on television. If I like something I will go out of my way to support it. The Radio Log proposal seems to be a step in that direction. If I was musically compenent myself I would produce "good music" to counter "bad music".

Soundtrack of my life? Ahh. That would have to include the political energy of The Clash and The Gang of Four, the otherwordliness of early Ultravox!, The Chameleons, and Shriekback, the ethereal romanticism of Roxy Music, the weirdness of Laurie Anderson, and the fin de siecle with Pop Will Eat Itself.