Dear Ryan Murphy, I have been an avid fan of Glee from the beginning. I was twelve when the first episode came on air and as I watched it, it made me feel like maybe I, the underdog at my school, the outcast, wasn’t alone; that there were other people who shared my love and passion for music. You presented characters which I could and still can relate to. I’ve been on the edge of my seat, standing beside the characters for every moment. From when Rachel had insecurities about her nose to when she got Funny Girl; from when Finn was scared about his future to when he enrolled in college; from when Santana was struggling with her sexuality to when she danced with Brittany on Valentine’s day; from when Mercedes didn’t feel at home in her body to when she was singing Stevie Wonder in a small dress, loving herself. I’ve been there through it all, and I’ve felt their every emotion so strongly, and that’s the power you gave out. It’s the power you’ve given out to so many people. Another thing that I’ve always admired about Glee was its intolerance for discrimination. It’s always seemed like an accepting show for any kind of person, may they be black, white, straight, gay, transgender, no matter what their religion is or how they look, and that’s been so inspiring for me and for the many people across the world that your show has touched. This intolerance for discrimination also stretched out to gender equality, a topic that Glee has touched on in several episodes, notably The Power Of Madonna, and has given out strong female characters for younger watchers to look up to, such as Quinn or Mercedes. As someone who feels so strongly for women empowerment, that message resonated powerfully. You have written in Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines into Season 5, Episode 5: The End Of Twerk. This song, written by a man who is commonly considered a misogynist, is about, quite frankly, the objectification of women. The music video itself shows droves of women wearing next to nothing being pulled and pushed around by fully clothed men. The song also encourages rape culture and lad culture, and promotes the idea that if someone says no, they really do ‘want it’, which is obviously a horrible message to send to the young people of the world. Therefore, with this in mind, I am urging you to please not include Blurred Lines in this episode. What Glee stands for is the empowerment of everyone through music; however, this song only encourages the empowerment of men, and the subsequent disempowerment of women, which is exactly what you were trying to discourage about four years ago when you created the fantastic Power Of Madonna episode. That episode brought so many girls and women, such as myself, up from feeling that they are less than men to feeling that they are as good as men, that we are strong and powerful as well. Performing Blurred Lines in an episode is going fifty steps back from where the Madonna episode. It’s telling all those girls that their feelings of empowerment that they had was for nothing, that they are the property of men, as Thicke very crudely demonstrates in that video. This isn’t what Glee stands for at all. Glee’s a safe place where everyone’s equal and it’s full of love and care, and I’m just so concerned that blaring out a song about rape and the objectification of women is going to destroy that moral. Please, Ryan Murphy. I understand that Blurred Lines is popular right now, and I can understand that as a reason for Glee covering it, but it’s so not worth supporting the horrible theme and the soiling of the work that you have achieved with your continued and incredible messages of equality. I hope you take into consideration my opinion and suggestion, as I believe it is the opinion of so many people, men and women, girls and boys, who have loved Glee as I have for so long. I thank you in advance. Kind regards, Francesca Cendana Miotto

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