Beyoncé Knowles has always gotten criticism for the way she identifies her feminism. There are so many different ways that people identity the definition of feminism, so I don’t feel like people have the right to act like Beyoncé is not a feminist. The most typical response to refute this would be by saying Beyoncé is a feminist because she empowers women. However, Beyoncé does so much more as a feminist than just empowering women. In my eyes, Beyoncé is a feminist because she wants men and women to balance each other out with no animosity, and she has done multiple live performances and produced albums promoting black feminism.
Women have a traditional role to abide by, and Beyoncé challenges these ideas. Beyoncé is a mother and wife, but she still works her butt off in the entertainment industry. In February, she performed at the Grammy’s while she was pregnant with twins. Do I even need to mention her infamous VMA performance in 2011 when she announced her pregnancy with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter? Beyoncé has made it very clear that she isn’t going to settle for just being Jay Z’s wife. Also, feminism isn’t all about being anti-men in my opinion. Beyoncé doesn’t see men as lesser equals. However, my idea of feminism isn’t anti-men at all, and Beyoncé has stated that she doesn’t believe that either. Some people may disagree with that statement due to the fact that she has a song called “Run the World (Girls)” and has an all-female band for her tours but all that song does is empower women. If Beyoncé saw men as lesser equals, then I feel like she would have fewer songs with her husband Jay-Z. Just because Beyoncé has a few songs that inspire women to embrace their worth and has an all-female band doesn’t mean that she believes men are lesser.
I don’t see Beyoncé as just a feminist. I see her as a black feminist. Beyoncé is an amazing idol for the African American community. In my opinion, black women are so excluded from society due to their race and gender. Black women have the lowest economic and education status compared to black men, white men and white women. It’s so inspirational to see an African American woman perform (read: slay) on a stage with thousands of people watching and adoring her. African Americans need to be inspired by someone exactly like Beyoncé. Her newest album, “Lemonade” is a revolutionary work of black feminism. Malcom X once said, “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman, the most unprotected person in America is the black woman.” The entire album was dedicated to black women and it was extremely inspirational. The visual album includes portions of Voodoo and American Southern life and it stars all black women. Beyoncé explains the complex struggles of black women within 12 songs. This album allowed society to really listen to the struggles that African American women face every day. The fact that Beyoncé directed, wrote and performed everything from this album is nothing but inspirational for African American women to see.
Everyone has different opinions about Beyoncé. Some people love her and some people can’t stand her. Some people think she’s an amazing feminist and some people believe she’s using feminism for capitalism. My entire life, Beyoncé has been an incredible role model for me. She’s made me believe that I could do anything and to not let my gender or race stop me. We don’t have many African American celebrities in the spotlight the way that Beyoncé is. I believe that she has been an amazing example for not only feminism, but black feminism for our society.