IS BEYONCE A FEMINIST?

For millions around the world, the name, "BEYONCE" evokes an image of the most powerful female entertainer in the world.

You may even think of more than one woman; A cinematic daydream of a revolution of women "running the world", through the inspiration of this one, independent woman.

Me personally, I think of a victim of the entertainment industry with an identity crisis. A woman who never had a childhood. A lonely superstar who has never had a true friend outside of the industry. An illusion of feminism concocted by male puppet masters.

VIDEO: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the African writer featured on "Flawless"

I think of a colossal mismatch of messages. One minute girls run the world, the next minute...
She's simply, "Mrs. Carter"
If you're not just "his little wife" then maybe you shouldn't have changed your last name.

In this blog I will tackle the question which isn't suppose to have an answer.

Is Beyonce a feminist?

Wait, do we even know what a feminist is?

According to Merriam-Webster, feminism is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. It is the organized activity on the behalf of women's rights. 

I will start off by addressing my admiration of this survivor of the cut-throat slaughter house that is the music industry. I commend Beyonce for being head strong and taking her own career by the reigns. She's been able to do things most men haven't been able to do. She's got her hands in many pots and created a new word for the dictionary. She's expressed her sexuality in the ways of a man and never settled in the role of the blonde bimbo who waits for a man to jack off to her. She takes the lead, calls the shots and commands the man to dance with her. She's bound together millions of women and gay men alike in a movement of self realization and retaliation against a "man's world."

But does all of this make her a feminist? Or is she actually just a tragic story of a muzzled recording artist, dressed up like a fire starter?

But where are her degrees?

Is she a hypocrite? Does she want women to bow down to her while saying that women to run the world?

You decide.

It's Friday the 13th. Everyone is already feeling a bit uneasy. What do I buy these people for the holidays? Will I get a bonus this year? Is there going to be black ice on the road on my commute to work? Will I have bad luck today? And then she hit us.

Beyonce surprised the world of zombies with her midnight iTunes only album release. Not just an album, seventeen accompanying music videos. Not just music videos, HIGH BUDGET videos with guest stars, special effects and dialogue.

VIDEO: My video version of this blog featuring "Yonce"

Cynical as I always am, I actually enjoyed most of this new body of work, including the videos. I was entranced by her, from the ratchet rhymes to the emotional ballads. It seems that Beyonce has crossed into a new dimension, a deeper identity of which she is willing to share with the world. No more robotic pop star who hides from lyrics too personal. She's giving us MARY J BLIGE, telling us the 411. Who knew that Jay Z skeeted on her gown on the way to a club in the car? Who knew Beyonce didn't feel "pretty"? What was really shocking to me, was when she expressed, though briefly, her feelings about the crooked record labels. With all of this, there seemed to be a conscious effort to appear vulnerable, but most of all, a voice for women. Beyonce always waved the flag of Girl Power with hits like RUN THE WORLD, SINGLE LADIES, INDEPENDENT WOMEN and IRREPLACEABLE. However, now she's taken it to another level by asking "bitches" to bow down, then telling them that they can do anything a man can do. The voice of an African feminist writer seems a bit odd on a Beyonce record. Is Beyonce truly finding herself in her music or is she just becoming more confusing to the masses? One minute she's "Flawless" with a bunch of White grunge trouble makers, the next, she's feeling unpretty like TLC???

She commands women to bow down to her while asking them to empower themselves? It's a lot to take in. WHO ARE THESE WOMEN WRAPPED UP IN THE NAME BEYONCE? WHOEVER THEY ARE, I REALLY LIKE ALL OF THEM!!! It's funny when you step back from Beyonce, you see a beautiful mess, or should I call it, a "Beautiful Nightmare." When you're wrapped up in her beautiful voice and sexy body, you forget to look at the bigger picture, WHAT IS HER OVERALL MESSAGE HERE? Are you a feminist?

Or an egoist?

FEMINISM OR EGOISM?

MATERIALISM is the new FEMINISM?

She's already stated that she's got a big ego, with the help of Kanye West, the self-proclaimed douchebag. Is her message that she's a bad bitch so keep making her rich? Or does she represent women who need to be uplifted? She doesn't appear to be humble, she doesn't appear to strive for anything other than material wealth, so how organic is her "feminist" position? If your idea of measuring up to a man is the accumulation of wealth, then I feel sorry for you actually. It's progressive to not need a man for money, but didn't you and your backup dancers beg a man to "PAY YOUR BILLS" back in the day? Maybe you've matured, no wait, you haven't. In "UPGRADE U" she merely speaks of Hermes briefcases and expensive cars when it comes to upgrading a man.
Why can't you upgrade a man to get beyond materialism in the journey toward humility? Why does a woman need to become rich in order to be heard or valued? Why does a woman need to be "Flawless" in order to "look good"? That's what she said in her song "Flawless"....You know, the same song where she opens up asking women to BOW DOWN. Sorry, not women, "BITCHES". I mean, the African writer, Chimamanga Ngozi Adichie, who talks about the struggles of the woman on the Beyonce track "Flawless", seems random and almost like lipstick on a pig. What the fuck does feminism have to do with being flawless? It's not like Beyonce was talking about inner peace and happiness, she spoke of her physical appearance.

PARTITION: Is this what a feminist looks like in 2014?

I thought a woman was more than her figure, more than what a man deems important. You said that "Pretty Hurts" but place extra attention on your looks in other songs. You behave like a stripper with other scantily clad women in the "Partition" video while your surveying husband smokes a cigar with an erection. Every time you talk about your BIG EGO it's because of your financial success and body? Not because of your character or ability to break down barriers? Merely becoming a millionaire isn't breaking down any barriers as Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Cher, and many before you have already done that honey. I'm not a hater, I'm just confused.

Don't get me wrong, I respect her hustle. I respect a woman getting money. I understand that men think to get women they need to impress them with diamonds, but if Beyonce already has her own rock, then it's implied that they need to impress with their soul. But when she met Jay Z, he made way more money than her and she wasn't as big of a super star. Actually, she left her high school sweetheart for rich rapper Jay Z.

If Beyonce is to sample snippets of the great thinker, Chimamanda Adichie, whose speech touched on gender roles, then maybe Beyonce needs to be an example of resistance rather than a regurgitation. In "Cater to You" by Destiny's Child, she sings about cooking her man dinner and doing anything for her man. She plays the stereotypical gender role to an exact T, even in the way she interviews. If you interview her, you are prepared to speak to a little girl, demure and "so blessed". Interviewers are bored with a woman who refuses to talk about her husband while her husband constantly treats her like a trophy.

He constantly calls her "THE BADDEST BITCH IN THE GAME WHO WEARS HIS CHAIN" in his music and in public. And MRS. CARTER wears his chain and raises the sign of ROCKAFELLA, her husbands company. She is quiet while her man is loud in interviews. She plays the gender role as if she's in a corset, waiting for the horse and carriage to arrive. Is this a feminist who sees a problem with gender relations? Or is she exploiting gender?

Angry about gender roles Beyonce?

I think Beyonce is a talented writer, entertainer, singer and mogul. I just think this "feminist" stance is literally manufactured. She's handled, she's packaged. She's a repetitive contradiction. You can't take her too seriously, she may not even deserve this blog entry. She's a simple pregame for the club. She's a sing-a-long after a heartbreak but she is NOT a voice of a revolution. She's not even a deep dialogue at a dinner party, she's probably still as demure as that little Houston debutante. She is certainly a woman who speaks through her "art" but it's not even HERS. She interprets, she performs and may have a few ideas along the way. She's not a Janis Joplin or an Angela Davis and certainly not a Chimamanda Adichie, even if she puts a soundbite on her record. She's just an entertainer in a black leotard, so why do we ponder her so philosophically? Why am I? Because people seem to take her seriously and so does she. Well, She's not the leader of the free women. How could she be when she is so unfocused. Blonde weave blowing in the fan while she preforms "Pretty Hurts." If it hurts so bad, stop making it look so good.