Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
'Cause it's OK to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly you'd love to know what it's like
Wouldn't you
What it feels like for a girl
Silky smooth
Lips as sweet as candy, baby
Tight blue jeans
Skin that shows in patches
Strong inside but you don't know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak?
Do you know what it feels like for a girl?
Do you know what it feels like in this world
For a girl?
Hair that twirls on fingertips so gently, baby
Hands that rest on jutting hips repenting
Hurt that's not supposed to show
And tears that fall when no one knows
When you're trying hard to be your best
Could you be a little less?
Chorus
Strong inside but you don't know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak?
Chorus
In this world
Do you know?
Do you know?
Do you know what it feels like for a girl?
What it feels like in this world?
This was the third single from Madonna's album Music, peaking at 23rd on the Billboard charts in the U.S., although it did considerably better overseas. It was written by Maddy and Guy Sigworth, and produced by them and Mark "Spike" Stent. The song's message is pretty obvious; however, it is unusual material for Madonna, whose feminism is more often couched in agressive transgression and the defiantly sexual images that made her such fodder for gender-political writings during the eighties. Indeed, the song is pleasant and melodic, but its lyrics say little in their uncomplicated, familiar message. The song is, dare I say it, mellow, and while enjoyable, the sound is soft and almost insubstantial.
The agression is back, however, in the video for the song, directed by British filmmaker and Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie. The video depicts Madonna attacking men, robbing a fellow at an ATM, and visiting an elderly woman at 'Ol Kuntz Guest Home', before crashing into some cops, stealing a muscle car, and finally wrapping it around a telephone pole. Unsurprisingly, the video was banned by MTV and VH1, and one wonders if Maddy misses the more controversial days of "Erotica" and "Justify My Love". Perhaps Mrs. Ritchie wishes to inform her fans that old age and family haven't left her wholly mellow, despite the out-there spirituality and dancy electronica of her latest two albums.
The song, which is mostly a backdrop when the video is seen, follows the familiar theme of men denigrating women; the video's heroine isn't happy with this situation. Indeed, all of the violence in the video is perpetrated onto men, and none of it is directly provoked. Clearly the makers don't intend promotion of such actions, but the parallels to the random violence perpetrated by men on women are obvious. Apparently the media aren't comfortable with this message, but Madonna has never shown any tendency to stay within others' comfort zones.
The video is also replete with not-so-subtly naughty words: the afformentioned "Ol Kuntz Guest Home", her license plate, which reads "Pussy" (with a corresponding rear plate reading "Cat"), her hotel room (number 666) . . . . Vivid colors dominate the video's palette; indeed, the images are fairly ugly and unpleasant.
As mentioned before, the video was banned by the networks, and if you didn't manage to catch it during TV specials about its banning (aired approximately every two hours on VH1 after the album came out) it's available as a DVD-single, and widely pirated on the 'net.