I am Beyoncé super-fan. That is far from a secret. Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to a Beyoncé song. Heck, I'm probably one of the few people I know that makes sure to put the "é" on the end of her name.
Her Grammy performance wasn't subtle or family friendly, and neither is her latest album, BEYONCÉ, which she released with no publicity or warning.
I will admit that I bought the album as soon as I knew about it. I will also admit that I watched it all the way through, from the beginning, in one sitting. I will also also admit that it was surprising how sexually driven the album was.
At first, I was really confused: Why does an artist as accomplished as Beyoncé need to use her sexuality to drive sales and promote her music? Why did she have to take her music in a new, more sensual and explicit direction?
The answer: She didn't have to. She wanted to.
I think there is a huge difference there.
She isn't another Disney star turning to shock tactics to keep her career alive.
In Flawless, a song that she uses to establish her dominance as a woman in the hip-hop/r&b world and remind women that their worth doesn't lay in how they look at work that day, she includes a quote from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer who uses her works to fight for the equality of women.
We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, "You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise, you will threaten the man." Because I am female I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support, but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't teach boys the same? We teach girls to see each other as competitors, not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and ecomenic equality of the sexes.
By opening the Grammys the way she did, and by portraying herself in her album the way she did, she did just that: she leveled herself in social status with the men in her profession.
Look at the men who we compare in skill, talent and experience with Beyoncé:
* Jay-Z (Her husband) - "Shorty like Pepsi, me, I'm the coke man. Body like a Coke bottle, I crush it like a coke can." Venus vs. Mars, 2009
* Justin Timberlake - "Now, can we discuss how fast you just got undress. Girl, if this sex is a contest, then you're coming first." - Cabaret, 2013
* Eminem - Do I even need to put anything here?
Their lyrics and music have had blatant sexual themes for years, but an internet firestorm didn't bash them for their art. In all fairness, Beyoncé has had her share of sexually-charged songs, too.
But the way that I see her most recent ventures, I see her taking control of her own sexuality, and not letting male artists define for her what it should be.
On another note, I find it comical that, like most public figures in the spotlight, people stop at the surface. We see the three minutes of television that feature them, and we make immediate judgements. It happens every day to politicians, news anchors, and athletes, too (Richard Sherman, anyone?).
Most people who commented that they were "disturbed" or "weirded-out" haven't experience the total visual-album experience. They don't know that Beyonce's opening song, Pretty Hurts, is a song about the dangers of pursuing perfection and the damage caused by a fixation on aesthetic beauty.
"We try to fix something, but we can't fix what we can't see. Its the soul that needs the surgery. Perfection is the disease of a nation."
They don't know that towards the end of the CD, Heaven, she sings about losing a dear friend too soon and the strength it took to let her go. Or that Jealous, her If I Was a Boy-style song, talks honestly about how easy it is to distrust someone, even the person you're married to. Or that her last song, Blue, is about the infatuation she feels each time her daughter speaks her name.
I honestly think that Beyoncé's intentions with this album were these:
1. To express a side of her that the music industry and fans hadn't let her express yet
2. To explore honestly all sides of herself in an industry that is shrouded in mystery and concealment
3. To level the playing field between male and female artists, especially in regards to lyrical content
4. To let go of some narratives that have haunted her for too long
Ultimately, I think that it is important to also remember that Beyoncé is a professional. She gets paid to do her job. And, I think that if I ran into her on the street tomorrow, she probably wouldn't be wearing a one-piece swimsuit with slits in the butt. She would be dressed in jeans and a sweater, and I would be on the ground, probably dead from heart failure.
- Seth
Have you seen the visual album yet? What do you think Beyoncés intentions were? Do you think she sends a clear message, or mixed signals?
