The fourth song I will be analyzing is “She’s Not Afraid” off of the Take Me Home album. This song is about a girl who is bold and outgoing, but doesn’t seem to want to fall in love with the boy.
Evaluating Masculinity
This is an interesting song in that basically all of the lyrics are describing this girl and what she is like. We can tell that the guy really wants her and doesn’t seem to want to take no as an answer. Take a look at this lyric:
“Maybe she’s just trying to test me
Wanna see how hard I’m gonna work”
This is kinda like the “playing hard to get” trope where a girl (or guy) acts like she isn’t interested in a guy (or girl) but actually really likes them. In this case, the guy thinks the girl is making him work for her love, which I guess could be the case. I believe that it is more likely that she has turned him down and he just keeps persisting.
Evaluating Femininity
The super interesting thing about this song is that the girl here is described in a way that aligns with stereotypically masculine traits and it’s a pretty stark contrast. Here are some examples:
“She sneaks out in the middle of the night, yeah
Tight dress with the top cut low
She’s addicted to feeling of letting go, oh, ohoo, let it go”
“She’s not afraid of all the attention
She’s not afraid of running wild”
“She’s not afraid of scary movies
She likes the way we kiss in the dark”
All of the things described here are bold, risky, and independent and not soft, shy, or tender.
Something important to keep in mind here is that while this girl isn’t afraid of all of the things described above, she is afraid of one thing: love. One trait that is stereotypically feminine is loving and this girl just isn’t about it.
Shared by: Gabby Kohn
Image Credit: We Heart It