How Beyoncé Became an Activist Icon
“A person who believes in the social political and economic equality of the sexes”
In 2013 Beyoncé Knowles’ song “Flawless” became a female anthem, and empowered women everywhere. At the 2014 MTV VMA’s she famously stood in front of a huge feminist sign (shown above) and in doing so she helped continue the conversation about what feminism means. In an interview with ELLE magazine Beyoncé discussed how she wanted her statement to be about changing the discussion on feminism rather than declaring that she is a feminist. She did this by telling the world the definition of the word feminist “Feminist: a person who believes in the social political and economic equality of the sexes.” so that people know that feminism isn’t about man-hating or a matriarchy but instead about equality. She wanted to explain to people that feminism is not a title but instead a statement of equality and that it is something men and women should embrace to further equality in modern day society.
“Flawless” was not the first or last time that time that Beyoncé released a song about female empowerment in fact Beyoncé had 5 of the 25 most empowering songs in the Huffington Post’s list of The 25 Empowering Songs to Listen to. Songs like “Who Run the World”, “Six Inch”, “Single Ladies”, basically the entire Lemonade visual album, and so many more of her songs have become feminist jams. And have allowed women and men to embrace that women are powerful and deserve equality. Beyoncé has spoken out about the wage gap and talked about how she doesn’t want a world where her daughter as a black women gets paid 63 cents to a man’s dollar. She has become a symbol of strong women for everyone to look up to.
Beyoncé’s sister Solange Knowles recently released her album “A Seat at the Table” and the pair became the first sisters to be on the Billboard top 200 albums at the same time. Both albums are very influential and make statements about racism and sexism. In an interview with The Fader Solange said this about Beyoncé and the comments that Lemonade was the first time she had made political statements “As far as I’m concerned, she’s always been an activist from the beginning of her career and she’s always been very, very black. My sister has always been a voice for black people and black empowerment,”. The two are making strides for women everywhere.
Beyoncé has also become a voice of black feminism which is defined as “a school of thought which argues that sexism, class oppression, gender identity and racism are inextricably bound together”. She has been speaking out on issues affecting black women particularly through her music particularly. In her visual album “Lemonade” that she released this year encapsulates this ideology. She incorporated black culture and made a film, Lemonade, that was by black women, starring black women, poetry written by black women and about the strength and culture of black women. In this album she also uses a quote from Malcolm X that perfectly states her discontent “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman,”. Although she has never made any explicit statements in interviews about black feminism she portrays these ideals in her music and art.
Hopefully Beyoncé will inspire other celebrities to speak out with their art and promote important issues in our society.
