I'm Just A Girl

"Just A Girl" is a song written by Gwen Stefani and Tom Dumont for the band No Doubt. I figure that most of you have heard of No Doubt, and hopefully, you have heard this song before. I think that it is not only a catchy song, but that has a very powerful message about what it means to be a girl in our society. I will go through the song with you.
Take this pink ribbon off my eyes 
I'm exposed 
And it's no big surprise 
Don't you think I know 
Exactly where I stand 
This world is forcing me 
To hold your hand
In the first stanza of the song, the lyrics are talking about taking off a kind of rose-colored glasses and seeing the world for how it really is, and what it really means to be a woman. She is saying that once you remove all of the frills and lace and see things for how they really are, then you see that women are forced to be weaker and more delicate. Society is forcing us as women to hold others' hands because we are too weak to stand on our own.  
'Cause I'm just a girl, little 'ol me 
Don't let me out of your sight 
I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite 
So don't let me have any rightsOh...I've had it up to here! 
I think in this stanza she is being sarcastic about being a girl. Like "Oh, look at me! I'm so weak! You can't let me do anything for myself!" Society sort of views women in this way, so I feel that the song is just mocking these views.

The moment that I step outside 
So many reasons 
For me to run and hide 
I can't do the little things I hold so dear 
'Cause it's all those little things 
That I fear 

I think that she is trying to say that it is a scary world out there sometimes for a girl. This may even be a coming-of-age kind of song, and this girl is scared of becoming an older woman because she already feels the social constraints that go along with her gender.

'Cause I'm just a girl I'd rather not be 
'Cause they won't let me drive 
Late at night I'm just a girl, 
Guess I'm some kind of freak 
'Cause they all sit and stare
With their eyes 
I'm just a girl, 
Take a good look at me 
Just your typical prototype 

Once again, she is repeating that it is not so great to be a girl in our society. They won't even let her drive late at night! She feels constantly stared at (male gaze anyone???) and made out to be a kind of freak because she is constantly judged.

Oh...I've had it up to here! 
Oh...am I making myself clear? 
I'm just a girl 
I'm just a girl in the world... 
That's all that you'll let me be! 
I'm just a girl, living in captivity 
Your rule of thumb 
Makes me worrisome 

I'm just a girl, what's my destiny? 
What I've succumbed to is making me numb 
I'm just a girl, my apologies 
What I've become is so burdensome
I'm just a girl, lucky me 
Twiddle-dum there's no comparison 

And the song basically ends with her stating that she is tired of being judged and told who she is and what she is expected to do in our society. Maybe some of these expectations she does not want to live up to. Maybe that's not her, who knows? But these expectations make her anxious and worried, and she feels that giving into them is just numbing her true self. She also feels a burden on others, I would assume because she wants help in figuring all of this out--figuring herself out--but many people probably do not want to help her since--according to society--if she would just "act like a girl should" then she wouldn't have any issues to worry about.
I feel that it is a pretty accurate depiction of being a woman and trying to figure yourself out. You want to be your own person, but everyone else is pushing on you to just be a normal woman, to be an "Other." You realize that it is easier on you to just be an "Other", but if you are not cut out for that kind of life then you find it quite unpleasant. Trying to figure yourself out as a woman in our society can be quite tiresome and difficult to figure out. It is a very frustrating process.