What We’re All Missing about the Rachel Roy Scandal

Last Saturday, my edges were laid to rest after Beyoncé violently snatched them up with her debut of Lemonade, a stunning visual album that let the world into the personal life she rarely shares. She didn’t just give us a glimpse into her personal life- she let us sit there and stare at it for an hour. The world was shocked when she revealed through song that she was cheated on by her husband. After the shock, came the question on everyone’s minds….who was she? The only clue came in the form of the line, “Becky with the good hair.” The hunt for Becky began and it didn’t take long for the Beyhive to find her, simply because she outed herself.

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel….why? At the current moment, Rachel’s character and reputation is being torn apart. So much so that she cancelled a speaking event in NYC. Well, either she cancel it, or she better be good at dodging flying objects. To be honest, unless the real Becky stands up, I think this will be a permanent question mark on her reputation.

But in all the speculation, we’re missing something fundamental. Beyoncé outed her husband for cheating- you know, the man who publicly declared to be faithful till death do them part. We know for sure that Jay Z was the one who cheated. We don’t know that Rachel is Becky. And yet, all hell has broken loose on this woman. Don’t get me wrong, if she is Becky, she’s definitely in the wrong and deserves the backlash. But what about him? Up to this moment, no one has publicly shamed Jay Z. His wiki page remains spotless.

Why is no one talking about this? This behaviour of punishing the woman and not the man reveals a deep-rooted patriarchal mentality that we don’t even realize that we have. It’s expected that a man can be unfaithful, break vows, and disrespect their relationships with a harem of women. As women, we shift our focus to “the other woman,” protecting the man, and indulging in the pleasant distraction that is tearing her down. It’s not because Jay-Z is “important” and Rachel’s not — check her credentials. It’s because she’s the woman, and she will hold the blame. Jay-Z will go on to be the mega mogul that he is, and Rachel will be Monica Lewinsky-ed. No matter what she achieves, there will always be the homewrecker watermark over it unless she clears this Becky situation up (btw, how does a notable figure like Rachel not have effective PR?)

I’m not saying let’s kumbaya around Rachel; I’m saying let’s be aware of what’s going on here. We live in a society that seems to favour men, and relish in tearing down women. The sad part is, it’s mostly women doing this. What I’m saying is that he should be held accountable too, and that disrespect shouldn’t be normal for any one gender. We’re watching as these two women are pitted against each other, while Jay-Z counts his coins from an album released on his app that outed him as a cheater. Book me a ticket to Mars, please.