Long Live Queen B

Long Live Queen B

By: Terra Clarke Olsen

Let it be known that I love Beyoncé. She. Is. AMAZING. Seriously, even if you don’t like pop or R&B, you can’t deny the kick-ass nature that is Beyoncé, aka Queen B. She inspires and empowers women and girls all over the world. She is unapologetic about being a professional, a superstar, a wife, and a mom. Get it girl!  And just when I thought I couldn’t love her any more, Virginia introduced me to her new album, Beyoncé, and my respect and admiration increased tenfold.

Beyoncé is a visual album, as a video accompanies each song. This album is raw, tackling issues that are heavy and important, such as feminism, depression, and insecurities, among other things. For example, “Flawless” gets straight to the point, with lyrics like:

I took some time to live my life

But don’t think I’m just his little wife

Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted

This my shit, bow down bitches

But the most powerful moment features Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie when she says the following:

We teach girls to shrink themselves

To make themselves smaller

We say to girls

“You can have ambition

But not too much

You should aim to be successful

But not too successful

Otherwise you will threaten the man”

Because I am female

I am expected to aspire to marriage

I am expected to make my life choices

Always keeping in mind that

Marriage is the most important

Now marriage can be a source of

Joy and love and mutual support

But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage

And we don’t teach boys the same?

We raise girls to each other as competitors

Not for jobs or for accomplishments

Which I think can be a good thing

But for the attention of men

We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings

In the way that boys are

Feminist: the person who believes in the social

Political, and economic equality of the sexes

Yes, yes, and more yes! Preach it! Yeah, I’ve had this song on repeat. (You can see the video here.)

“Pretty hurts” also has some powerful lyrics. I connect with this song deeply. The first time I heard it, I was just taking it in…and then I realized what she was saying. I listened to it again. And then I became teary eyed. This song speaks to my soul as I lived this song (I started modeling at 12 years old-I’ll write about that someday). What we’re doing to our girls in this nation is a travesty, and this song reflects that. Here is the start of the song:

Mama said, “You’re a pretty girl.

What’s in your head, it doesn’t matter

Brush your hair, fix your teeth.

What you wear is all that matters.”

Just another stage, pageant the pain away

This time I’m gonna take the crown

Without falling down, down, down

Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever’s worse

Perfection is a disease of a nation, pretty hurts, pretty hurts

Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever’s worse

You’re tryna fix something but you can’t fix what you can’t see

It’s the soul that needs the surgery

I know I’m not alone with my insecurities and struggles with ‘beauty,’ but hearing Queen B sing about it is healing in a way.

I could go on and on about all the songs, but really you should just go buy the album and discover it for yourself. In summary, I am just thankful that an artist like Beyoncé exists to give young girls and women alike a feminist role model in the pop culture world.

Long live the Queen!