Why Beyoncé Empowers Me.

From a critical perspective, I should be judgmental of the way she presents femininity to society. One could argue, her sexual image overshadows her intelligence, or that she's just another pop star that branched off from yet another pop female group. And at a time, no less, when mass consumerism was on a subliminal "for sale" sign, on virtually, every pop cultural product being produced. This was the 90s, after all. This is my attempt at considering that maybe, you could misread Beyoncé, as a capitalist product, rather than as a cultural icon. In this mass media day and age - it's certainly an easy line to blur. It's why, we, the pretentious, have difficulty taking most mainstream things, very seriously.

But.

Consider the way, most - (please understand the gravitude of this generalized statistic) - most, out of the entire population of women, of our particular historical context - spend the majority of their lives, feeling less than capable, less than worthy, less than fulfilled. And considering the historical fences we have jumped over the years, we are now at a point where most of these women are confident, straight-forward, goal-oriented, complex, intellectually eager, proud, insecure, human beings. So the quality of women is at a peak, I would say. But the global experience of feeling like this, is at a line of frightening danger.

And I don't want to exclude Beyoncé as the end all, be all, figure that could counter this. There are many cool women (including the ones, you probably just had coffee with), who's complexity can be summed up as "amazing." This is not exclusive to Beyoncé.

But that's the point of Beyoncé.

So let's talk about her thighs. And her curves. And the way those qualities, in and of themselves, encompass femininity. Because of evolutionary signals - really. She as a woman, can birth. Cool, now we know the root of her entire attraction - of a female attraction, in its most simple form.

So let's talk about how her thighs glisten. And how her body bends. And every other pop cultural icon that has been praised for expressing devastatingly complex, emotional experiences, through the movement of their bodies, and the expression of their vocals, and every other aspect that makes them a performer (Prince, Tina Turner, M.J,). Clearly, these are aspects we as a society are attracted to in an overall human being, if not a woman herself.

I don't want to identify Beyoncé as the ultimate woman, but rather acknowledge her as a way we not only should, but rather, do all aspire to be. Because dancing to Beyoncé doesn't make me feel bad about who I am, but makes me acknowledge a socially repressed, and confident side of me. Of being a girl. So I want to encourage inner-Beyoncé's. When you are looking at her thighs, and her legs, and the way she bends, and snaps, and pouts, and shakes - you aren't in awe of sex, or the power of sex, or subliminally giving yourself more reasons to be upset with your body. You are a watching a proud individual - and here we specify, a proud woman.





And it is so hard to feel pride in that! In this world of dating, when both men and other women attempt to make each other feel less than. It is hard to feel pride in something you take for granted - the curve of your breasts, and the curve of your behind. Even if we spend everyday consciously considering the aesthetics of both, in front of that bedroom mirror - we walk through our lived experiences, not consciously aware of how we could and or do present ourselves to each other. I don't want to deny this experience to flat, uncurvy women either. It's not that you have to be one or the other. Intellectual, or sexy. These are not polar opposites. These characteristics come from the same brain.

You could and should be in a bustier reading that great russian novel. You are both of her.



I just want to encourage cockiness as much as I can, in a world where everyone is made to feel less than they ought to (including the way, they, we, impose that feeling onto ourselves). So be unabashedly proud, because we are currently having difficulty even trying to be modest.

Except for Beyoncé.

Aside from the beauty of music, and the magic that happens when jazz, and funk, borders on pop and hip hop - it is the animalistic growls, and purrs, and coy looks, that summarizes an unabashed confidence, we all aspire to, in this pop cultural icon. The point is, that we do this secretly. Why should it be a secret? No one ever talks about feeling empowered. That's lame. But we're sad all the time, and we're sad because we don't feel empowered. And then no one talks about it, and just continues to feel sad.

Except for Beyoncé.