but you're just a boy [?]

Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy” is essentially a story with poetic elements thrown into it that is meant to appeal to listeners who are stuck in the situation that is described. The speaker, whom we are supposed to assume is a woman in a relationship with a less than faithful man, describes how she could understand better how men think if she “were a boy.” The speaker begins with what she would be able to do as a boy, such as “drink beer with the guys” and “kick it with who [she] wanted.” These lines of the song seem to be assumptions of how guys act (and if we’re talking about my guy friends, then for the most part she’s right), however, not all do; they’re merely assumptions of how men act in a women’s view. In fact, it’s a very biased view of men which is shown as the song is continued.
The chorus is more of a girl’s anthem to show that men are really hurtful and how women could do so much better in the understanding department. The speaker describes how she could be a better man than the one she ultimately is describing in the song as an unfaithful wanderer. The song tends to repeat itself [as in the chorus as most songs do] about how this man cannot understand how his actions are making the speaker feel.
The verse that describes it being “too late for you to come back, say it’s just a mistake think I’d forgive you like that” shows the turn in the song of how the woman is now empowering herself over the man that has caused her so much pain. This turn continues on into the last chorus where the “I” speaker changes to “you” to show that the speaker is now directly addressing the man that caused her painful emotions. It looks contradictory to itself though when the speaker says “you don’t care how it hurts until you lose the one you wanted” but then ends with “but you’re just a boy.” This to me basically says, that yes, this person finally figures out that they’re wrong and now they’re in pain, but they still don’t understand because they’re just a boy. Frankly, I believe there are men out there who are not this stupid and do understand women. The speaker and those that listen and follow the song are just women who don’t understand how there are other men out there.