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| photo of photo from The Sun, no credits available |
So
Queen B had a lot of drama this month. First the mimed inauguration, then the
acapella press conference, and then she pretty much did away with the
electricity at the super Bowl.
No,
seriously.
Media
has done a 360 and taken back any questions it might have raised in regards to
her talent. Most media outlets are very
eagerly and publicly confirming the coronation of the one and only Queen B. On
the other hand, pundits commenting below these media reports seem to be rather
polarised between those who agree she killed it and shut everyone up once and
for all, and those who think she was missing the dancing pole.
***
Some
months ago, thanks to the bieber and my 10 year old nieces, my
6 year old begun showing curiosity for the world of modern music. So one
afternoon I thought it’d be fun to put
on the video for the new single from Beyonce on the computer. Her eyes opened
wide as soon as it went on. This was a new world and she was liking it. She
can’t wait to be a grown up and you could see she was taking it all in. Here she was, in awe of a gorgeous black
woman with great talent and an amazing voice
wearing a white tweed jacket and, well, nothing else.
-Mommy:
“look at the silly lady, she forgot
to put on her pants”
-Daughter:
“she looks beautiful” (practically
dribbling on the table)
-Annoyed
mother: “but she looks silly, she has
no pants, she has no shirt”
-Daughter,
unmoved “she looks
pretty”
And
this is where I got pissed off at Beyonce.
Look,
she was stunning at the Super Bowl. The light, the hair, the leather-lace bodice
(calling it a dress is a bit of a stretch if you ask me), and the long high-heeled
boots, (or socks) it was all modern and perfect. Unlike many of the
commentators, I don’t agree that because she became a mother she has to cover
up. I can’t see how the two things are related. I don’t even have an issue with
the pseudo nudity, I’m quite happy for my kids to spend time around topless
women at the beach, she looked appropriate
(for a Super Bowl show) and tasteful. What bothers me is the idea that a female
artist has to be so sexy and sexual. I mean, when’s the last time
you saw Jay Z in tight underwear and a nipple hugging top (or no top) shaking
his booty while strong winds ruffled his hair?
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| Sex goddess vs rapper: visual sample of what I am talking about. Credit: also photographed from The Sun, happy to give credit if someone knows where this photo is from |
For some reason male artist can stay dressed, women cannot, they have to go that extra mile. I mean, if Justin can bring sexy back without once taking his shirt off in the video, surely Ms B can pull off pants too.
The woman can sing, she’s got all sorts of talents, there’s no doubt about that, but during her performance at the Super Bowl her voice was weakened from the heavy exercise, which is fair enough because she was putting on a hell of a choreography. Essentially, after using her perfectionism as an excuse for lip-synching the national anthem at the inaguration, she chose show and image over her art, and I think she is better than that, she should be better than that, if not for herself, for her daughter and for my daughter, because they are going to need role models of powerful women that prove, through their actions, that what you do and how well you do it is more important than what you look like.
So yeah, next time you project the image of a strong powerful woman on your shows, would it kill ya to wear some pants?