Some Girls *trigger warning*

There are many genres of books; these genres inflict different emotions. Some of these emotions are sadness, loneliness, happiness, fear, and outrage; these are just a few of the emotions evoked by the young adult novel Some Boys by Patty Blount. If you like Some Boys then you will like the song “Can’t Hold Us Down” by Christina Aguilera. Both Some Boys and “Can’t Hold Us Down” question the standards that society holds for women.

In the book Some Boys the main character Grace Collier speaks about The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare and how she believes that “Kate was centuries ahead of her time. A woman with original thoughts and intelligence… She’s nothing but property. Her father pimps her out to the highest bidder because that's all girls were good for back then,” to which a male student then adds “Not much good today either”. This parallels the thinking in the song “Can’t Hold Us Down” where the lyrics say “So what am I not supposed to have an opinion? Should I be quiet just because I’m a woman Call me a bitch because I speak what’s on my mind, guess it’s easier for you to swallow if I sat and smiled.” These quotations explain how society views women as something that should sit in the background like property and remain silent.

When the song continues on to say “When a female fires back, suddenly big talker don’t know how to act. So he does what any little boy would do, making up a few false rumors or two” it is speaking about how boys will do what they have to in order to keep their own reputations intact when a girl tries to stand up for what she believes to be right. This mirrors the rumors that the antagonist Zac spreads by telling the school that “Grace is a slut” when she tells people that he raped her.

Some Boys by Patty Blount and “Can’t Hold Us Down” by Christina Aguilera are very similar in the way they show society's view of women and society's view of men. Both the novel and the song will spread the message of not breaking or being held down by the oppressive society that we live in today. I highly recommend both Some Boys and “Can’t Hold Us Down” to anybody who questions the moral code of the world today.