Gender Schemas in Song Lyrics Series (1 of 3)

In this series, I analyze three songs that examine and challenge the pervasiveness of traditional female gender schemas or norms in American culture.

I also explore how the larger national culture schema drives behaviors in the workplace and how the outcomes of these behaviors might be different for women than men.

Schemas Defined

I have approached this analysis using schema theory, which is a way to explain how our minds organize information, knowledge, and memories. A schema is a cluster of related pieces of information that is stored in the mind: a cognitive framework that helps us make sense of the world. Functionally, schemas allow us to take shortcuts and help us to comprehend large amounts of new information. However, because schemas work by helping us relate new information to our existing knowledge base, they can also lead to confirmation bias, contribute to stereotypes, and make it difficult to retain new information that does not match our pre-existing ideas about the world. They are long-lasting and difficult to change, although they can and do evolve over time.

All humans have schemas or preconceived ideas about people, places, objects, cultures–almost everything.

Schemas in Songs

Songwriters depend on schemas in order to efficiently convey their ideas to audiences using mere phrases and snippets of language to conjure ideas and images in their listeners’ minds. Their word choices​​ are telling about the schemas we collectively hold as a society. By looking at songs through the lens of schemas we can come to better understand prevailing societal norms and attitudes and more deeply appreciate how artists craft their music to push the boundaries of our collective cognitive frameworks.

Songs In This Series

I have chosen the following three songs because they represent three different phases in women's lives: a young woman starting out in the world, a mid-career woman, and a woman who is successfully earned her own money:

JUST A GIRL by No Doubt

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

RESPECT arranged and performed by Aretha Franklin, written by Otis Redding

In this post, I analyze Just a Girl by No Doubt. I've included the lyrics for easy reference.

JUST A GIRL by No Doubt:

Take this pink ribbon off my eyes

I'm exposed, and it's no big surprise

Don't you think I know exactly where I stand?

This world is forcing me to hold your hand

[Chorus]

'Cause I'm just a girl, oh, little old me

Well, don't let me out of your sight

Oh, I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite

So don't let me have any rights

[Post-Chorus]

Oh, I've had it up to here

[Verse 2]

The moment that I step outside

So many reasons for me to run and hide

I can't do the little things I hold so dear

'Cause it's all those little things that I fear

[Chorus]

'Cause I'm just a girl, I'd rather not be

'Cause they won't let me drive late at night

Oh, I'm just a girl, guess I'm some kind of freak

'Cause they all sit and stare with their eyes

Oh, I'm just a girl, take a good look at me

Just your typical prototype

[Post-Chorus]

Oh, I've had it up to here

Oh, am I making myself clear?

[Bridge]

I'm just a girl

I'm just a girl in the world

That's all that you'll let me be

[Chorus]

Oh, I'm just a girl, living in captivity

Your rule of thumb makes me worrisome

Oh, I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?

What I've succumbed to is making me numb

Oh, I'm just a girl, my apologies

What I've become is so burdensome

Oh, I'm just a girl, lucky me

Twiddle-dum, there's no comparison

[Outro]

Oh, I've had it up to

Oh, I've had it up to

Oh, I've had it up to here

Analysis

No Doubt’s catchy punk-grunge tune, Just a Girl, is a sarcastic rebellion against the relentless gender schemas that belittle young women in American society. The first thing to notice about this song is its title, which is dripping with open hostility towards the patronizing behaviors and attitudes women endure in society. The introduction of the word “Just” ironically classifies all women into a “typical prototype” and serves to call out how the actual use of this phrase in the real world is degrading.

The lyrics are chock full of references to traditional, sticky gender schema priming— repetition of a schema that puts it into the forefront of our minds—that is still associated with girls today like “pink ribbons” and the gender ideal of being “pretty and petite.” The protagonist of this song is clearly angry over the restrictions of a patriarchal society, complaining that “this world is forcing me to hold your hand” and live “in captivity.” She mocks the societal schema of male-protectors-in-chief but admits that she has “succumbed to” the pressure of these norms out of fear of rejection and laments what she has “become” because of her choices.

Gender Schema Theory, first introduced by Sandra Bern in 1981, asserts how these types of schemas, indeed, can have considerable power over people. Within this construct, children learn about the gender roles of their society from observing the culture around them and then adjust their behavior to align with cultural norms. According to Bern, not only do children make sense of the world through gender schema, but they also observe the prevailing attitudes towards gender roles. Gender schemas speak to the value and potential of an individual in a society and they tend to drive conformity.

Unlike Gwen Stefani who can use art as a means to express her exasperation, others are faced with more difficult circumstances when butting up against gender norms. For example, people who do not feel like they fit into tight societal gender roles at all may reject gender binaries altogether. Also, non-cisgender individuals may experience a distressing condition called gender dysphoria—a type of cognitive dissonance— where they perceive a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity and how people treat them. These attitudes are consistent with Gender Schema Theory which outlines three distinct gender categories—beyond the dominated “sex-typed” category—where individuals do not clearly identify with their birth gender. These categories are cross-type, androgynous, or undifferentiated.

While critics of Gender Schema Theory claim that it paints an oversimplified picture of individuals as passive bystanders in the complex development of gender schema, Bern asserts that the forces around gender schema are highly limiting to society. No Doubt’s Just A Girl clearly ascribes to Bern’s thinking and acts as an important wake-up call to society as to just how stifling gender schemas can be. Many can empathize with the last refrain: “Oh, I've had it up to/Oh, I've had it up to/ Oh, I've had it up to here.”

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Next up: An analysis of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5.