I love me some B!

My internet has been down lately (soo annoying), so I apologize for the lack of posts this past week. Anyways, I  got around to watching Beyonce's new music video yesterday, and after completely falling in love with it, I realized that it was about damn time for me to make a post in here about good ol' B. I love Beyonce! People always think I'm kidding when I say that, but I'm not, I seriously love Beyonce and shamelessly have both her and Destiny Childs full discographies on my computer. 

I always hear other feminists arguing back and forth about whether or not Beyonce is in fact a feminist. Honestly, I have no idea, and I think it's really hard to come to that conclusion without knowing the individual personally. But as far as Beyonce's music goes, and weather or not that is feminist; I like to think it is, or at-least very pro-woman.  
On one hand, Beyonce's music, like most pop music, is focused on men, looking perfect, and being sexual- all things that make me, and I'm sure other feminists as well, very weary of calling her music feminist. But on the other hand, Beyonce's music also speaks openly and loudly about strong women, empowerment, and sisterhood. In my opinion, when it comes to Beyonce's music, the good definitely outweighs the bad. 

But I do think it's annoying that these days even when a women is singing about being strong and empowered, she still has to do it sexually and half-naked. It would be awesome if the majority of women in pop music didn't have to be sexual and practically naked while doing everything, but unfortunately that's a trend that I don't think any of us see going away any time soon (though don't get me wrong, I totally wish it would! Where are my 90's women of today!?). Though what makes me happy about Beyonce is that I don't see her sexual outfits and persona as promoting the idea of women being sexy for men, but rather the idea of women being sexy for themselves; because they want to be sexy, they feel and think they are sexy. And that's cool! Her songs and attitude give off a "I don't need you to tell me I'm hot; I know I'm hot!" kind of vibe. And with young girls and womens self-esteems always being so low, I think thats a great message to send. 

When talking about Beyonce, I always hear girls say things like: "Beyonce makes me feel confident, or beautiful, or proud of my curves". And honestly, anyone who can make girls feel like that is feminist enough for me! And it's true, listening to Beyonce's music definitely does makes me feel all of those things and more. I think Beyonce is a great role model for girls of all ages, and although some of her music is typical pop songs, I think that for the most part her message is understood and a great one at that.

"The most important thing is to make sure you have your own life before you're someone else's wife." -Beyonce

 Now please go and watch her new music video for her song 'Why Don't you love me', it really is awesome. I love the retro feel and her take on the pissed off 1950's house wife. Plus, let's be honest, she looks damn good in that pin-up style with those Betty-bangs!

Jezebel.com also wrote a great entry about Beyonce and feminism quite some time ago. You can check it out here.