Stereotypical Gender Roles

Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and Beyonce's "If I Were a Boy" both comment in different ways about gender roles and how these affect relationships. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" appears to be about trust. The speaker wants to be his girlfriend's best friend and "wash [her] hair" and "make [her] breakfast." He wants to be intimate with her in away that they can share a lot of things. Yes, it is about sex, too, but I believe that he is implying that beyond sex, he wants to share different types of intimacies with his girlfriend that perhaps she is holding back from.
In contrast to this, "If I Were a Boy" is more about, in a very general sense, the wrong ways that men treat women in relationships, and that if women had a chance to be a man, they would do things differently and be "a better man." This is also interesting, because the speaker in the song seems to go back and forth between being a "typical" guy, like going to "drink beer with the guys," and "put[ting] [him]self first," and then being the man that girls want, such as the man who "would listen to her." There is a shift toward the end of the song that takes it from third person to first, where the speaker is speaking directly to the person who has hurt her. Because of the repetition in the song, this shift is noticeable and helps the listener to understand that the speaker is talking about a specific incident.
Both of these songs portray very general, stereotypical gender roles. Beyonce's song alludes to the stereotype that men are not faithful and take for granted what they have. Prince's song talks about many experiences that are stereotyped to be feminine, such as crying at the movies, or having someone wash their hair. These stereotypes in popular American songs demonstrate the role stereotypes and gender roles play in our society--possibly even to the point that men and women feel it is necessary to act a particular way because of the gender they have been socialized to be. These stereotypes have become widely accepted, regardless of whether or not their is foundation for them. Pop culture and figures further broadcast these roles.