If I were a boy...

I haven’t blogged on this site for quite some time, however, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been blogging. I just went underground, or more to the point, I confined my blogging to the Blackboard website we utilize in my pop culture course. I’ve decided to hand over that blog to students in the pop culture class, and I will return to blogging on this site. So, I’ve been thinking about what I want to write about as I reintroduce this blog. Because of my interest in gender studies—in particular my research on masculine gender identity—I could not help being struck by the gender issues addressed in Beyonce’s new song “If I were a boy.” Indeed the title is quite telling as it is based on a contradiction: Beyonce physically cannot be a boy (well, that’s not wholly true, I know). But for all intent and purpose what she demonstrates by declaring, “If I were a boy,” is empathy for the “other.” This reminds me of a totally unrelated song by Shania Twain – “Man, I feel like a Woman.” Empathy is traditionally a feminine trait, and so the song sets up the listener (or reader of the lyrics) to see what deconstructionists refer to as a binary opposition: women are empathic/men are stoic. It is the space between these two variables—empathy and stoicism—that culture does it work. You can check out the full set of lyrics on any number of web sites. Below, I go over them and provide my considered opinion of what I think they mean. I fully recognize that meanings are variable, and so I expect that you (the reader) may interpret the lyrics differently. That difference, hopefully, will become the point of discussion:

When Beyonce begins the song she declares, “If I were a boy…Even just for a day,” she is pointing out that her voyage into gender switching is temporary. She can, however, walk—metaphorically speaking—in a boy’s shoes. In this way she demonstrate her ability to empathize—if only for a short period of time—with the “other.” By raising the point about being a boy or acting like a boy, if only for a day, opens up the question: what does it mean to be a boy? Implicit in that question is a further one: What does it mean to be a man? The difference between the two is where the cultural play begins. What’s the listener—at least the one that’s paying attention to the lyrics (and I readily admit few people do)--to do?

So, when Beyonce continues to sing, “I’d roll outta bed in the morning…And throw on what I wanted then go” she is suggesting that boys don’t have to take responsibility: they can wear what they want; and, they don’t have to please anyone else. She continues this line of thinking when she sings, “Drink beer with the guys,” which is a hallmark of masculinity – (not just the beer drinking, I’m referring to camaraderie). Take away camaraderie from men and they are like isolated animals.

Boys are socially powerful, as Beyonce sings: “And chase after girls…I’d kick it with who I wanted…” This suggests that boys can be the aggressor. Implied in this binary is that girls are passive participants as it is boys who get to “kick it.” Furthermore, the line, “And I’d never get confronted for it. Cause they’d stick up for me” indicates that boys can “hook up” without responsibility and boys are unimpeded due to the protection and camaraderie of other guys.

So, in the chorus, when Beyonce sings, “If I were a boy…I think I could understand…How it feels to love a girl…I swear I’d be a better man,” she is positioning herself as one who understands relationships – a characteristic that is traditionally feminine. Also, to “be a better man” also means, not to be a boy. We, again, see that binary: boys (irresponsible) vs. men (responsible). This is echoed in the next refrain: “I’d listen to her…Cause I know how it hurts…When you lose the one you wanted…Cause he’s taken you for granted…And everything you had got destroyed.” Simply put, what it means to be a man, in Beyonce’s view, is to be empathic. In other words, men have to operate within traditional feminine boundaries; otherwise they are acting like boys.

The song continues….”If I were a boy, I could turn off my phone. Tell everyone it’s broken, So they’d think that I was sleepin’ alone. I’d put myself first. And make the rules as I go. Cause I know that she’d be faithful. Waitin’ for me to come home (to come home).” In this verse Beyonce describes how the “boy” may seek the camaraderie and protection of others, but a man will jettison himself from the pack. In isolation, the man can act responsibly, in this case offering empathy and staying faithful.

In this verse the boy has crossed her: “It’s a little too late for you to come back. Say it’s just a mistake. Think I’d forgive you like that. If you thought I would wait for you. You thought wrong. And, Beyonce is not in a forgiving mood. Perhaps there’s too much social and psychological pressure for the boy to act like a man. So, Beyonce then laments in the chorus: “But you’re just a boy. You don’t understand.” This confirms her belief that boys will be boys. And, this position is amplified when she declares, “Yeah you don’t understand…How it feels to love a girl someday,” that as she stated at the beginning of the song, boys lack the ability to be empathic.

We’re not sure when Beyonce sings, “You wish you were a better man” whether she believes the “boy” can indeed be a man or whether she concedes that, as I said before, boys will be boys. We also might raise the question what does it mean to be a better mean? What does it mean to be a lesser man? Is a lesser man a boy?

Beyonce is confirming her original position when she declares: “You don’t listen to her. You don’t care how it hurts. Until you lose the one you wanted. Cause you’ve taken her for granted. And everything you have got destroyed. The ending of the song suggests that it is only through personal loss that the boy will learn to be a man. Perhaps it is only through the trauma of loss that change is forged. In the end, she sings, “But you’re just a boy.” Conclusion: you’re not a man.

One of the things I like about Beyonce’s “If I were a boy” is the larger shape shifting in which she is engaged. Not only is Beyonce transformational in this song, the album from which it comes is titled, I am Sasha Fierce, her alter ego. In this way Beyonce is signaling that she is not one thing. This ability to shape-shift oneself is a hallmark of postmodern existence. Madonna is the master at this pop culture game. So there you have it…my first post on this blog in quite a while and a short interpretation of Beyonce’s song, “If I were a Boy.” It’s a place to begin a discussion about the work that pop culture does and the work we do with it.