Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Yes, I am referring to the Cyndi Lauper song! Here are the lyrics, and after paying close attention to them I feel that there is a very interesting message behind the song.

I come home in the morning light,
My mother says "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh,mother,dear,
We're not the fortunate ones,
And girls,
They wanna have fu-un.
Oh,girls,
Just wanna have fun.

The phone rings in the middle of the night,
My father yells "What you gonna do with your life?"
Oh,daddy,dear,
You know you're still number one,
But girls,
They wanna have fu-un,
Oh,girls,just wanna have
That's all they really want.....
Some fun....

When the working day is done,
Oh,girls,
They wanna have fu-un,
Oh,girls,
Just wanna have fun....

Girls,
They want,
Wanna have fun.
Girls,
Wanna have

Some boys take a beautiful girl,
And hide her away from the rest of the world.
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.
Oh,girls,
They wanna have fu-un.
Oh,girls,
Just wanna have
That's all they really want.....
Some fun....

I feel that the song is definitely sending the message that girls are expected to be submissive and not loud, crazy, funny, or do whatever they want to do. In the first verse, the girl who is narrating the song clearly states that her mom doesn't like her to stay out late. She says "we're not the fortunate ones," which I think could possibly mean that girls are not the fortunate ones, but that if she were a boy then her mom would not care if she were out late.

Then, in the 2nd verse, her dad gets onto her for talking on the phone during the late hours of the night. But she reminds her dad that he is still the #1 man in her life. I feel that this is similar to some of the articles that we have read that state that women want to transfer their love from their father to a boyfriend/husband, but it is hard because in a way girls idolize their fathers. 

This verse, I think, is the most interesting of the whole song:

Some boys take a beautiful girl,
And hide her away from the rest of the world.
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.

I think this demonstrates that girls want to be out on their own, but that society (and men) compel them to be submissive and hide in the shadows. Maybe a girl is her own person until she meets a guy whom she then begins to rely on, and she is submissive to him, and thus is basically hidden away. The narrator of the song obviously does not want that because she wants to "walk in the sun," meaning that she wants to be her own person and shine on her own, instead of be submissive to a man.

I think the point of the song is to demonstrate that girls have a lot of societal pressure put on them, which boys do not, and it is frustrating to girls because they just want to be their own people and control their own lives--exactly how men are allowed. Most girls, I would assume, do not want to be submissive and have to rely on men to get things done. Most girls, I think, want to walk in the sun.