"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a lovely duet written in 1944 about passion tantalizing the prim and proper.  It has become so politically radioactive that many radio stations refuse to play it in 2018.

WDOK in Cleveland started a Christmas kerfuffle a few days ago.  Announcer Glenn Anderson wrote on the station webpage, "The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place."

In fact, some extra-sensitive listeners got so easily offended by this inane political correctness that they pressured a few stations to rescind the "Baby" ban.  Stay tuned.

Actually, this song should have a prominent place in our world, and people should not be offended.  Many critics, with genuinely good intentions, say that the suggestive song is sexist, smirks at date rape, and should be silenced in this age of sex abuse victims screaming for stiff sentences.  That's odd, because the Oscar-winning strain (1949) about snowbound loving adults doesn't sound much like rap.

The woman is making all the choices.  She comes to visit the man, who clearly is pleased (Been hoping that you'd drop in).  She has a great time (This evening has been so very nice.  The welcome has been so nice and warm.).  He persistently tries to persuade her to stay, presumably for the evening (But, baby, it's cold outside, Baby, it's bad out there. No cabs to be had out there.).  She chooses to consume alcohol (Well, maybe just half a drink more.).  She asks (Say, what's in this drink?), but the lyrics don't even hint that anything was added.

Save the Bill Cosby references for real roofie victims.

And she chooses to continue smoking (But maybe just a cigarette more.).

She is acutely aware of what family, friends, and neighbors will think of her if she stays (My maiden aunt's mind is vicious.). She knows what society expects of a single woman in the 1940s (I ought to say no, no, no, sir.).  However, she already is rehearsing her excuse for the day after (At least I'm gonna say that I tried.).  And this grownup knows what she will weather after she spends the night (There's bound to be talk tomorrow.  At least there will be plenty implied.).

The song ends with both singing, "Baby, it's cold outside," which suggests she has chosen to stay with him, even though she knows she is violating societal norms.

Good for her.  And good for him for telling her, clearly and repeatedly, what he wants.

Some women like being pursued.  They want to hear men pitching woo. It can be flattering, charming, electric.  If she were not one of those women, she would have left long before choosing to have another drink and smoke.

Did he lock a door, force himself on her, or worse?  The only thing he did was declare his unabashed desire for her.  Repeatedly.  And it worked, because she allowed it.

When women free themselves to make choices, they do.  Sometimes – maybe many times – those choices are not what other people think they should be.

Seven decades ago, "Baby" probably sounded scandalous to more than a few straight-laced people.  Back in the day, a woman choosing to ignore convention, especially regarding sex, was almost unheard of in polite society.  The few women who took the road less traveled back then had a walk of shame we cannot even imagine today.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" was the "I Am Woman" (hear me roar) of an earlier generation.  It should be embraced as a feminist anthem, even though the concept of feminism was all but unknown then.

Uppity women, unite behind "Baby, It's Cold Outside."  Please.

Dimitri Vassilaros, The Lovable Libertarian!™ radio talk host, can be heard on 106.3 The River, WCDK.  Follow him on Twitter at @DIMITRI2020LLC and on Facebook.  Email: adimitri2020llcprogram@gmail.com.