This song is one of the themes that I analyzed for my first paper. I decided to write about a Mexican singer named Paquita La Del Barrio, and she is known for her feminist songs and for her hate towards most men.
The song is about a woman wondering how she would treat women if she were a man. It's kind of like Beyonce's "If I were a boy" song, but Paquita's song is aimed mostly at married women and the way their husbands sometimes treat them like servants.
It is a very old song, and the video is not the best, but I think that the lyrics are very significant in advocating against machismo.
I had personally never heard this song before but I thought it was interesting how different this song was from songs I had previously heard by her. No doubt, all the songs play on this idea of "machismo". I like your comparison to Beyonce's song "If I were a boy" because in essence both of the songs have the same title. Yet in paquita's version, though the song is indeed soft, she never wastes a perfectly good opportunity to bash men. I like the line "solo hay hombres que son hombres por que la partera lo dijo" In this quote she is questioning their manliness and of course in traditional mexican culture that is saying something. Good job on your post :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I grew up listening to Paquita I had never really heard this song before. I feel that when Paquita la del Barrio comes to mind I always think of her song "rata de dos patas." The song was definitely interesting because throughout its entirety she sings about how if she were a man she would be more sympathetic to women's needs. One of the lines that stood out to me is: (translated to English)if I were a man I would let her know that she isn't just a piece of furniture. She is hinting at the fact that most married women are treated as not a human being but an object that is just there. Another thing that stood out to me was when she said that she is a woman because God blessed her with the ability to have children. While I think the comparison to Beyonce's "If I were a boy" comparison I don't necessarily agree. While they do touch on similar themes such as fidelity and symapathy I feel that Beyonce's way of saying it is very dramatic and it victimizes women in a different way then paquita. Paquita makes women seem stronger than men because they endure this, but it would be nice to if men were different. Beyonce is talking about a relationship, while Paquita's is more geared toward a family unit. Overall, the comparison is interesting. Thanks for posing this video I enjoyed it.
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