If he can do it, I can do it

In Mindy McCready’s song “Guys Do It All the Time” she throws all stereotypes out the door. The song follows the relationships between a couple and his frustrations with her when she comes in at 4 a.m. after being out all night drinking with her friends. In the very first verse she calls him out for acting childish and not seeing that he does the same thing and he doesn’t expect her to be mad at him.

Guys do it all the time
And you expect us to understand
When the shoe’s on the other foot
You know that’s when it hits the fan
Get over it, honey, life’s a two way street
Or you won’t be a man of mine
So I had some beers with the girls last night
Guys do it all the time

I like this verse because it is a good reminder. Life is a two way street and the girls want to have fun too. She calls the guy out for his insecurities when she spends a night out and she throws the idea out that it is the slightest bit okay for him to be upset. She won’t stand for his lack of understanding and she makes it clear when she says ‘you won’t be a man of mine.’ She is making it clear to him that she won’t stand for him being upset at her when she wouldn’t be mad at him if it were the other way around.

I know I left my clothes all over the place
And I took your twenty bucks
No I didn’t get the front yard cut
Because I had to wash my truck
Will you bring me a cold one, baby
Turn on the TV
We’ll talk about this later
There’s a ball game I want to see

In this verse she lists off all of the stereotypical things that men supposedly do that bug women. It portrays men as being lazy and incapable. I am not a fan of this part of the song because I think it plays to heavily on the stereotype that all men are like this. I think a lot of men do work hard and they put a lot of effort into their relationship. These stereotypes are comical, but not necessarily true. The stereotypes are also playing on the actions of a country boy specifically. It seems as if she is doing these things in spite of him because of the lack of understanding he has. I think a positive relationship revolves around communicating and listening to each other. This song makes it pretty evident that they don’t communicate with each other.

Overall, I think the song has some really good points and some bad points. It shows the relationship between men and women and the lack of understanding and equality there is between the two. It also assumes the stereotypes are accurate and that isn’t always the case.