After the MTV Video Music Awards on August 24, Beyoncé solidified her reign as queen during what has been labeled the performance of her career. While Nicki Minaj twerked to “Anaconda,” and Taylor Swift tried to, appropriately, “Shake It Off,” Queen Bey placed social commentary into her epic 16-minute performance. She proudly stood onstage foregrounding the word feminist, which was projected onscreen in big, beautiful letters. Unlike other female pop stars that notoriously rebuke the label (even though their notions of feminism are laughably misinformed), Beyoncé openly supports the feminist ideology: the social, economic, and political equality of genders.
The fact that the term arose during a ceremony in recognition and celebration of one of the most sexist industries proposes another question. Can Beyoncé still be a feminist and a sexualized, cultural icon? There has been quite a bit of strife on this topic, actually, as some feminists argue that because Beyoncé still operates under the male gaze, her label may not be well deserved. Instead, she is merely perpetuating the sexist atmosphere through her songs, her performances and her public identity. But, there should be some recognition given to the fact that Beyoncé has endured overwhelming success in an industry that can toss people out like tissue paper. How else have women been able to express their individuality in such a male-dominated industry, at least to such an extent? Beyoncé has not been able to create a new music business, but has manipulated the industry that created her own image and used it as an outlet to publicize a misunderstood social movement. She still works within the confines of the industry, which can be a frustrating excuse to feminist activists. This should be seen, perhaps, not as a final step, but merely the breaking ground by bringing the feminist plight to popular attention.
Of course, proclaiming to be a feminist is not the same as the everyday commitments and actions it takes to actually fight for the cause. To see beautiful celebrities accept the name may popularize the title, but what does it really mean unless their fans become proponents for it, too? It is a start, though. And Beyoncé’s past commitments to the cause give us hope that she is offering her own brand of feminism; which, although problematic, also popularize and familiarize the public on a colossal scale. It seems that the complexities of context should also be taken into account, as well, when assessing if she is “feminist” enough, or in the right kind of ways. She is, after all, facing different kinds of intricacies since she is also a woman of color. Perhaps her performance can be frustrating to the “every day feminists,” but—quoting a TIME article—“[Beyoncé] accomplished what activists could not: She took feminism to the masses.”
*photo courtesy of TIME