Gender Roles In 'If I Were A Boy'

Many of the songs out there are filled with derogatory lyrics. They are directed mostly towards women, but a few are directed towards the role of men. Beyonce, a prominent female artist, did a very popular song, ¨If I were a Boy,” with millions of YouTube views. This song is about double standards on both genders. ¨If I were a Boy¨ was just the song where men are viewed as the bad guys, and women are taken advantage of. The representation of the male gender is negatively expressed throughout the song, as well as, women. Furthermore, women are not positively represented well in many songs, they are still conveyed as the ones who suffer at the hands of men. Overall, upon hearing “If I were a Boy” by Beyonce, the listeners may think this is in favor of women, but both genders are being disliked. Through, their interactions and switching of roles, you can catch on to the theme that neither gender is favored. …show more content…
Role reversal occurs throughout the song. It the position of a woman onto the role of a man, and portrays what Beyonce would do if she was a man. Cheater, selfish, liar, clueless, all words that describe stereotypical men. Furthermore, Beyonce says, “I’d kick it with who I wanted/ And never get confronted for it” (Beyonce), additional information on what makes a man a man. In the song, men come across as an extremely dominant male who has all the money and can get whoever they want while his girlfriend stays at home being faithful. There’s two different descriptions of what makes a woman a woman. There are those gold diggers who fall for a man, and the “Naive” girlfriend. “Chase after girls/I’d kick it with who I wanted/ And never get confronted for it” (Beyonce), showing that the women in a relationship choose to be ignorant of what the man does. All pointing to a negative representation of both