A Scary Time

Submission 31,376

Part of a series on Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Nomination. [View Related Entries]

About

A Scary Time is a song by YouTuber Lynzy Lab, which satirizes comments made by United States President Donald Trump, who seemed to imply the issues regarding sexual violence were more threatening to men than women during the Brett Kavaunaugh United States Supreme Court confirmation process, which seemed to imply false accusations of sexual assault were a serious threat to men. The video for the song, in which she plays the song on the ukulele directly to the camera, became a viral video within days of its posting.

Origin

On October 2nd, 2018, when asked about the sexual assault allegations made against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump said, "It’s a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of. You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life, and somebody could accuse of something."^[1]

Five days later, on October 7th, YouTuber Lynzy Lab uploaded a video satarizing Trump's comments, detailing the experience of being a young woman in America, while saracastically implying that being a young man is more dangerous. The video received more than 1 million views in five days (shown below).

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 its the only one I own

I can’t use public transportation after 7 pm,
I can’t be brutally honest when you slide into my DMs,
I can’t go to the club just to dance with my friends,
and I can’t ever leave my drink unattended.

But it sure is a scary time for boys.
Yeah, gentlemen! Band together, make some noise
it’s really tough when your reputation’s on the line
and any woman you’ve assaulted could turn up anytime.

Yeah, it sure is a scary time for guys.
Can’t speak to any women or look them in the eyes.
It’s so confusing, is it rape or is it just being nice?
So inconvenient that you even have to think twice.

I can’t live in an apartment if it's on the first floor.
I can’t be wearing silk pajamas when I answer the door.
I can’t have another drink even if I want more.
I can’t make you feel invalid, unseen, or ignored.

I can’t jog around the city with headphones on my ears.
I can’t speak out against my rapist after 35 years.
I can’t be taken seriously if i'm holding back tears
and I can’t ever speak earnestly about all my fears.

But it sure is a scary time for dudes.
Can’t text a girl repeatedly asking for nudes.
Can’t make her have sex when she’s not in the mood,
and what gives her the right to give you attitude??

Yeah, it sure is a scary time for men.
Girls like to act like you’re to blame and they’re the victims.
Her dress was short and she was drunk, she’s not so innocent
thank God your dad’s the judge and you won’t be convicted.

Oh wait…that’s right…

It’s not such a scary time for boys.
They’ve always had the upper hand, they’ve always had a choice.
It’s time for women to rise up,
Use our collective voice
The day to vote’s November 6, so let’s go make some noise.

Spread

That day, Lynzy Lab shared the video on her Instagram. ^[2] The post received more than 68,000 likes in five days. On October 9th, Redditor ^[6] CurmudgeonlyBlaggart posted the video in the /r/TwoXChromosomes subreddit. The post received more than 10,000 points (64% upvoted) and 3,800 points in three days.

As the video grew in popularity, some conservative men took issue with the song, accusing it for fear-mongering. In some videos, detractors claimed that the actions described in the video could be performed by women, but the singer chooses not to. (examples below).

[This video has been removed]

Others praised the song. The Guardian^[5] writes that the song "satisfies that definition of a protest song with some precision." They continue:

"Trump’s rightwing mythology of confected male victimhood is ruined by the song’s procession of false equivalencies. 'It’s really tough when your reputation’s on the line and any woman you’ve assaulted could turn up anytime,' she sings."

On October 11th, Lynzy Lab performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Within 24 hours of the performance being uploaded to YouTube, the video received more than 79,000 views.

Various news outlets covered the song, including Vanity Fair,^[2] Mashable, ^[3] The Washington Post, People^[4] and more.