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Would you ask those questions like me?
Jaclyn alerted me to this gutsy new video from Ciara, entitled “Like A Boy.” My initial reaction (Whoa! Ciara knows whats up!) has given way to deeper thoughts, many still inconclusive:
First, is this video radically questioning gender roles or actually just reinforcing them? Ciara dawns the stereotypical trappings of gender, such as baby-doll dress, man’s suit, male “thug” attire, and she does so with a powerful attitude. Her aggressive crotch grabs reinforce the message - what if a woman acted this way: masculine, careless, unapologetic?
But let’s not forget, even in the baggiest jeans, even staring down the camera with her legs unapologetically spread, Ciara’s also lookin’ like a hot lady. She’s sporting glossy lips. Her long, sleek hair is blowing in the wind, and her bellybutton peeks out from her trim waist. Of course, this video wouldn’t sell in pop culture otherwise… but that’s exactly why “Like A Boy” remains important and troublesome - isn’t now the time to break down the stereotypes in real ways? Ciara herself opens the video with a call to action: “2007 - Ladies, I think it’s time to switch roles.”
Now, what do we make of these lyrics?
If I act like you,
Walk a mile in your shoes,
Mess with your head again,
A dose of your own medicine
If I played you, would you like that?
Have friends, would you like that?
If I call, would you like that?
No, no, you wouldn’t like that, no.
What, you mad? Can’t handle that?
What if I had a thing on the side,
Would you like that?
Made you cry, would you like that?
Would the rules change up or would they still apply?
What if I played you like a toy,
Sometimes I wish I could act like a boy.
What, you mad? Can’t handle that?
Her words obviously point to male power in relationships. Ciara blatantly - refreshingly - says that men treat women like objects (“What if I played you like a toy”). But there’s also an affirmation of female strength, as Ciara insinuates that, in a role reversal, men “Can’t handle that” - so, yes, we might be considered the weaker sex, but we are stronger, fellas, than you know. You’d only know it from living our life for a second or two (after all, navigating a life under oppression and control breads a different kind of brawn). And, of course, there’s the idea of the “healthy” relationship: a “good” relationship wouldn’t need role reversal… right?
Another interesting piece of the Ciara puzzle: near the close of the video, there is an odd dance interlude, during which Ciara balances backward in an gravity-defying backbend, and stares down the camera. Seems to me that this bit is meant to play at the flexibility of gender and roles in society; the video overall encompasses that idea - the changeability of women, our keen sense of adaptation under the male influence (for better and for worse).
Nonetheless, the ending leaves me confused: a final clip of Ciara, quite literally standing behind her man, who is seated in a comfy leather chair (very throne-esque). She leans over him, arms around his shoulders, and kisses his cheek. Hmmm. Is Ciara saying that change is possible (gender-bending interlude) but that women choose their roles (end kiss) or that we, simply, can be all in one - carelessly grabbing our crotches like men and tenderly kissing cheeks like women?
Maybe she’s getting at something else entirely?
Help me out… what’s your interpretation of this thought-provoking video?
Comments
i always felt that someone should take one of those pop albums and break it down like that, music videos and all. A lot of people spend time deconstructing lit and film, but music is the media of the masses and it's what is mainly being fed into the youth market. Well done,smalls.
=k=
Posted by: kevin | September 22, 2020 01:40 PM
I think that this is an interesting gender-bending video, in a genre (hip-hop) that hasn't tackled this issue much in the past. I especially like the part where Ciara is doubled and, on one side, is dressed in a baby doll dress, and on the other, is wearing a suit and hat that completely covers her femininity. I think this represents how women can have both a feminine and a masculine side. Not sure how to interpret the last bit - perhaps by her kiss, she is reassuring her man that she is in fact a woman and won't be morphing into a crotch-grabbing man anytime soon. But she's said her piece, however, and perhaps made him think about how the world and relationships would be if the genders were reversed, or rendered meaningless. A thought provoking video from a surprising corner of the music world.
MSR
Posted by: Margaret | September 25, 2020 12:23 PM
Since the Center for New Words is dedicated to using the power of words to strengthen the voices of women, this music video seems appropriate and ripe for discussion. I viewed it as a challenge to male authority, of course, but even more, I think it's a subtle, almost tongue-in-cheek comment on how easy it is to imitate male power. Slip on the right clothes, talk the talk, do the walk, and voila, you're a man. The heart-throbbing beat, the marching sequence, the people falling down around her, all speak to me of imitation of male actions. She "captures" it and then lets it go, returning to herself and her man, because...she can. She's in control the whole time, just having a little fun with the concept.
Posted by: susan | September 25, 2020 05:59 PM
The German-style march into the formation of an "X" with the wind blowing, spoke volumes to me. The strength and force of the march and formation contrasted with the invisible strength of the wind, seems to symbolize the differing powers that men and women possess. Both strong, yet very different. I think your analysis of Clara's video - "there�s also an affirmation of female strength..so, yes, we might be considered the weaker sex, but we are stronger, fellas, than you know"- is right on!
Posted by: Linda | September 28, 2020 08:56 PM