Rosalind Wiseman

“Like a Boy” was one of several hits off of Ciara’s album Ciara: The Evolution, which debuted in late 2006. But even though “Like a Boy” is several years old at this point, it’s still one of our favorite videos for starting a discussion about gender roles and cultural expectations for young men and women. As a teacher (or a parent) one of the best things about this video if you want to use popular culture in the classroom is that it contains no explicit content. The dancing, lyrics, and clothing are all pretty PG, but it is by no means puritanical or uninteresting. 

When you play it for your students you will likely notice that it makes some of them uncomfortable–particularly the guys. This is okay, and it’s a great place from which to start a discussion. Here are some talking points that we use with this video that you might find helpful in getting started:

• Does this video make you uncomfortable? Why? (If they say no but are laughing or look uncomfortable, you can press this by saying, ‘So if this is not uncomfortable it must be because what Ciara is saying is normal or accurate. Do you agree with what she says in the video? Why?’)
• When Ciara says “sometimes I wish I could act like a boy,” is she saying that because it sounds like fun or because she’d want boys to know how it feels?
• Are the things Ciara is complaining about realistic?
• If they are, why do girls have these kinds of relationships? 
• Why do you think Reggie Bush was cast in the video? What is it communicating by having him sit in the chair? 

We love this video for its blatant challenge to gender roles and how girls and guys think they are supposed to behave in relationships. Let us know how the discussion goes when you get your kids talking. We’ve embedded the video below:

Like a Boy Video