"If I Were a Boy"

Loren Householder
“If I Were a Boy”
Beyonce


In her song “If I Were a Boy,” Beyonce argues that many women are trapped in bad relationships and never take the time to question how they truly desire to be treated. To confirm this, Beyonce is attempting to look at her unhealthy relationship as if she were in her significant others shoes. She makes an effort to develop an understanding of what it is like to be the man in the relationship, and see how he can just passively mistreat a girl. Beyonce later discovers that she would treat others how she would want to be treated because she understands how it is to be hurt by someone. She also finds that most guys do not care whether or not their significant others are suffering because of their actions. Beyonce establishes credibility for her lyrics by using the three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logos. These appeals are utilized to influence her audience, not let a man control their lives, but live there lives the way they want, and find a man that can treat them better than they have been treated in their past. Also, the use of repetition and form are used to establish her points within the song. Lastly, she wants her listeners to visualize how it could be if they were the other person, and question whether or not their outlook would be different.
Beyonce uses pathos, the first of the three appeals in her song by using very descriptive phrases. When she states, “I’d listen to her, `cause I know how it hurts,” Beyonce is telling her audience that she understands what it is like to be hurt, and that if she were a boy, she would treat her women better because she could understand where she was coming from. This tugs at the listener’s heart because you can see that she has been emotionally hurt from a past relationship. Also, many people can relate to what she is disclosing. It is human nature for people to get emotionally damaged in a relationship and therefore her feelings are empathized. She also uses syntax by the way she orders her words by telling a story. If the song was not in story form, it would not produce the great impact that it does.
Furthermore, Beyonce utilizes ethos or the appeals based on the writer’s authority and credibility to influence her writing. Because Beyonce is a universally known pop superstar, she posses the ability to influence many people. She establishes her credibility by showing her respect and honesty to her audience. She makes reasonable claims by singing about a topic that most relationships can relate to. This song like many others she has sung, posses the ability to make a difference in the lives of her listeners.
Beyonce also uses the third appeal, logos, based on facts and hard evidence.. As someone who went through a rough time in a relationship herself, she makes it known in her lyrics. She is using reason and common sense in her song also, “I’d kick it with who I wanted and I’d never get confronted for it,” because some men are not concerned whether they are unfaithful or not.
Other than using pathos, ethos, and logos in her song, Beyonce uses rhetoric to persuade her audience. By stating, “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 got it all wrong,” Beyonce is persuading her listeners to take control over their love lives and find someone that is reliable and worth their affection. On the other hand she is persuading us to understand how a man thinks and accept that is just how they are by saying, “But you’re just a boy, And you don’t understand, How it feels to love a girl someday, You wish you were a better man, You don’t listen to her, You don’t care how it hurts.” This could also mean that no matter how much she tried to be in his shoes he’ll never understand where she is coming from, and she’ll never understand why he will not change. Beyonce could possibly be using these words to tell her audience no matter how hard you try to rationalize the situation in your head; a man is a man, and some just can not be changed.
In her video, Beyonce places herself in the man’s shoes by switching roles as she plays the position of a cop and he plays a secretary in an office. She is out all night and he begins to call looking for her, while he is at home being faithful. She never answers her phone because she is out with another man. This goes with her lines, “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 the rules as I go, Cause I know that she’d be faithful, waiting for me to come home.” She is using rhetoric to persuade her audience that a man does not care whether he is out all night with another girl because he knows that his significant other will be waiting at home for him. At the end of the music video, they switch roles again and he could care less that she did not like him being out all night with another girl, “But you’re just a boy, And you don’t understand.” Beyonce’s song “If I were a boy” is important because it gives a voice to women that I believe needed to be heard for many years. It is important to bring these types of situations to listeners so they sense they are not the only ones.

Lyrics:

If I were a boy even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted
And go drink beer with the guys
And chase after girlsI'd kick it with who I wanted
And I'd never get confronted for it
'Cause they stick up for meIf I were a boyI think I could understand
How it feels to love a girlI swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
If I were a boyI would turn off my phone
Tell everyone it's brokenSo they'd think that I was sleeping alone
I'd put myself first
And make the rules as I go
'Cause I know that she'd be faithful
Waiting for me to come home, to come home
If I were a boyI think I could understand
How it feels to love a girlI swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her'Cause I know how it huts
When you lose the one you wanted'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
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
But you're just a boy
And you don't understand, ohHow it feels to love a girl
Someday you wish you were a better man
You don't listen to her
You don't care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted'Cause you're taking her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
But you're just a boy