日本のポップスなどで、女性の歌手が歌う恋愛の歌などは、歌い手はよく男言葉を使うね。「あたし」じゃなくて「ぼく」とか、「あなた」じゃなくて「きみ」。
In Japanese love songs by female singers, the women commonly adopt male language. 'I' becomes 'boku', 'you' becomes 'kimi'. (Women might normally call themselves 'atashi' and a man 'anata'.)
Is this because love songs are traditionally a male form in this country (not to mention elsewhere)? Man pursues woman; thus, "I love you, please love me" becomes a thing only men say? So that when women sing it, the form dictates that they assume male language?
これは女性にとって権限づけられることなのか？男言葉を自分のものにして、その言葉に付随する権限も得られるということか？
Is this empowering for women? That they can take on male language, with all its implicit power?
あるいは逆に、女性たちが己の感情を己の言葉で表すことが（普通そう言わないからというおかしな理由により）できないから、また弱い立場にさせる言い方なのか？
Or is it disempowering, in that women can't, or don't feel capable of, expressing their feelings in their own feminine language? (E.g. it just doesn't 'sound right'...)
上記のような問題は、性別によって変わる一人称代名詞と二人称代名詞のない言語の環境の中で育った僕には分からないものばかりなのだ。
This is hard for me to judge, not having grown up in a language where 'I' and 'you' have gender-specific versions.