Britney's Banned Single

Nowadays, we have grown accustomed to seeing Britney Spears do crazy things. Whether she’s shaving her head, driving with her children on her lap or lip synching at MTV’s Video Music Awards, nothing really seems to surprise us anymore. But when I heard that her newest single, “If You Seek Amy” was banned from the radio between 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., I have to admit I was shocked. If you say the name of her new single really slow, it spells out something. Say it. It spells out F-*-C-K-M-E. Of course, it was intentional because Britney wanted to say something that would cause a rise out of some people. A lot of artists say that word in their songs and we don’t ban it from the radio. So why do we become so offended when Britney Spears spells it out for us?

There are hundreds of artists who curse or have songs that could be offensive. For example, Black Eyed Peas came out with the song “My Humps”. The song was full of sexual innuendos but it was played on the radio nonstop. Eminem rapped about drugs and violence but we still keep his songs on the radio. Akon had a song entitled “Smack That”. The song was considered to be offensive to women but it was never banned from the radio.

So why is Britney Spears' song banned from the radio? Do we still like to imagine that she is that sweet, innocent virgin from the 1990’s? Do we not like to hear one of our Pop Music Queens spell out a bad word for us? We have to learn that she is grown up and we must accept that she is not the same Britney Spears that danced around in a Catholic School outfit singing “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. When you really think about it, any song on the radio today can send out the wrong message. Music can be influential, but it is not the only influence. And just because Britney spells out a curse word for us, does not mean we must take it off the air. If kids want to hear the song, they are going to find it somewhere else other than local radio stations. If someone is so offended by the song, than the simple answer is just do not listen to it.

Lora Kormos
Wilkes University '10
Communication Studies