"If I Were a Boy" By Beyonce

"If I Were a Boy" By Beyonce
Beyonce makes an effective argument centered on a clear thesis. Her tone is gentle and slow but catchy with a good point. She starts this with her first words, “If I Were a Boy” she repeats this lyric throughout her song keeping her audience focused that this song is about “If I were a boy” Beyonce’s purpose is to draw in her audience right away to feel what it is like to be a boy, even for a day. These words hook you into the song and you wonder where she is going with it. Her lyrics tell us the story of role reversal. She explores what it would be like if she did all the things her man did to her every day. The woman in the song has been taken for granted. There's a fairly strong message here for guys that they should pay close attention to “you don’t listen to her, you don’t care how it hurts until you lose the one you wanted ‘cause you have taken her for granted and everything you had got destroyed” “but you are just a boy.” If a man could have a woman's sense of empathy, things would be different. Beyonce tells us she is able to love a woman better because she knows how it feels to have her heart broken. It is a commentary on the double standards that that often exist between men and women.
Through Beyonce’s lyrics we can feel her ethos. She persuades her audience through her creditability by releasing numerous hit songs, acting in big-time films and being ever-present in the media and on stage. She is certainly an influential powerhouse in her own right. She has an awesome voice and original songwriting. The character appeals to us because she is representing all the women who have ever been hurt or disappointed. The girl is confused because she does not understand why the boy she loves is treating her poorly by doing what the stereotypical male does in a relationship. She's not referring to all men referencing only to ones who do not pay attention or treat their lady the way she should be treated. She persuades us to experience and perceive from a boy’s perspective. “I’d roll out of bed in the morning and throw on whatever I wanted and go drink beer with the guys and chase after girls, I’d kick it with whom I wanted and I’d never get confronted for it cause they’d stick up for me.”
The song utilizes the logical appeal to help encourage its audience to buy into the idea that we could fantasize ourselves as the other person. She presents herself as her boyfriend. She starts her story by rolling out of bed and living her day as him. She can be the average person on an average day. She suggests that the problem is universal. This isn't a breakup song; it's a song for female empowerment. We know that no amount of money, fame or skill can solve the basic injustice between her man's heart and her own.
By using pathos Beyonce appeals to our heart. She gives us a controlled but emotional vocal performance. Her lyrics make us feel for her and for ourselves. I know what it feels like to be involved with someone who takes me for granted. This song could be my song. The line that hit me the hardest was “If I were a boy I would turn off my phone, tell everyone it’s broken so they think that I was sleeping alone. I’d put myself first and make up the rules as I go ‘because I know that she would be faithful, waiting for me to come home.” Beyonce’s last verse starts with “It’s a little too late for you to come back say it’s just a mistake, think I’d forgive you like that? This tells us no matter what, she is a survivor and it may have taken time for her to realize but she is no longer going to be taken for granted.
Beyonce’s video takes us on her journey as she experiences being a boy for a day. The video is shot in black and white and portrays a narrative about an ordinary day for a couple in a role reversal. It begins with Beyonce and her man reciting words such as "honesty", "intimacy", and "commitment." The song starts as her man prepares breakfast and she takes off to her job as police officer with an attractive male police partner. Her man is at the office looking at earrings for her online. He calls her and she ignores him because she is out having a beer with her friends. She is later caught dancing intimately with her partner. He confronts her at home. It is all about the little things that mean so much in a relationship and at the end of the clip; the reversal is known and restored. You realize that she was acting out his life, and it all starts over again. He was the cop and everything that happened was really him doing the same thing to her. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVTyLqkez6A
By Dee Guarino