Girls will be boys...

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

Of all the many crimes a woman cannot be forgiven for, one is being ugly, one is being smart mouthed, but far worse is daring to be both.

I was listening to Ella Fitzgerald singing My Funny Valentine on the way to work today. That's one of the many songs that were clearly written for one sex to sing about another, but for some reason people thought they could change a couple of words and - hey presto! It could change sexual orientation.

Not so much. In every song that was written for a man singing to a woman, or a woman singing to a man, there are little references to the expected roles of each that just don't translate. For example, in My Funny Valentine, there are several references to things that are considered unattractive in women, but no one really cares about in men (such as the "are you smart" reference mentioned above). Sure, you can change some of the lyrics to match insults levelled at undesirable men (I believe the word "goofy" was mentioned in the version Ella sang), but there are still some things that just don't quite sit.

Then you get songs like How About You, which have lines that don't make sense either way. "Franklin Roosevelt's looks give me a thrill"? Since this is an attempt to find things you have in common with your belle or beau of choice, this is a really weird line. What girl would want to date a man who thought Franklin Roosevelt looked thrilling? Have you seen Franklin Roosevelt? Okay, he was passably good looking back in his Assistant Secretary to the Navy days (during the 1910s), but by the time this song was written, he was definitely "Uncle Frank" material.

While this gender swapping may have been most noticeable in the "golden oldies", when gender roles were more obviously defined and therefore harder to ignore, there are any number of more modern songs that just seem odd when you try to switch the genders. I've noticed Alison Krause and Union Station often play songs that would make more sense if a man was singing about a woman, rather than, as recorder, a woman singing about a man.

What I find interesting about these gender swapping songs is that they help to highlight exactly what we think about the sexes. Why should calling someone "smart" be less insulting when applied to a "gent" than when applied to a "lady"? Moving up to more modern times, why does it sound weird when a girl refers to her boyfriend as "little boy", but perfectly normal when the boy refers to his girlfriend as "little girl"?

Of course, most people probably don't care and are just happy to listen to the song.

You get that.