11/30/2023 0 Comments Beyonce flawless feminist![]() ![]() It is a simple lyric that holds a powerful message reinforced by the words of a respected feminist author.įollowing this feminist interlude, “***Flawless” begins. She says that she is more than a wife, she is successful in her own right and that she demands respect for her own accomplishments with or without any man attached to her. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important.” With “Bow Down,” Beyoncé addresses this too. With the line about her being more than just “his little wife,” Beyoncé again supports Adichie’s ideas: “Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. Adichie also says, “We raise girls to see each other as competitors – not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think would be a good thing – but for the attention of men.” Well, with that same line from “Bow Down,” Beyoncé is acknowledging other women as her competitors for accomplishments not for “the attention of men.” By doing so, she’s empowering women to do something that would otherwise be considered “too masculine.” ![]() One must wonder, would it have been a problem if a man sang this song, replacing “bitches” with a word to reference men? Doubt it. She is by no means “shrinking” or “making herself smaller” as women have been taught she is instead empowering herself a strong, proud and successful woman who stands tall. She asserts her indifference of any threat that her stance may pose to men. By saying they dream of being in “her world” and should “bow down,” she is putting herself in a King-like position, a larger than life position, a “man’s” position. She is talking about how women look up to her, not a man , as an image of success. We say to girls, ‘you can have ambition, but not too much, you should aim to be successful, but not too successful, because otherwise you will threaten the man.'” With the first lyric about little girls dreaming of being in her world, Beyoncé is challenging that very notion. Adichie says “We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. The two main lyrics of “Bow Down” are actually quite crucial:įollowing these aggressive assertions, Beyoncé inserts a monologue by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author and feminist. However, combined with what follows “Bow Down” on “***Flawless,” perhaps Beyoncé has a deeper meaning. No one criticizes an actress for playing a part that is “out of character” and so no one should criticize Beyoncé for doing the same on a song. What Beyoncé did on “Bow Down” is no different. Sometimes, artists choose to embody a character or persona different from their own as a means of artistic and emotional expression. It is important to acknowledge that Beyoncé is an artist – and not everything an artist does should be taken literally. As she described when BEYONCÉ was released, “Bow Down” was the result of frustration, she went into the studio and let out her angst towards her haters, and loved it so much she decided to drop it for free online. While the full song, “***Flawless,” makes things more clear, it is still foolish to label Beyoncé a hypocrite over one angry song. It isn’t surprising that the media and general public reacted to the lyrics of “Bow Down” in the way they did (especially since it’s Beyoncé), but such a reaction is shallow and, well, overly dramatic. With “Bow Down,” critics alleged that she was belittling her fellow women. Beyoncé’s anthemic “***Flawless” begins with the aggressive, in-your-face prelude titled “Bow Down.” Upon the release of “Bow Down” earlier in 2013, Beyonce was criticized and called a hypocrite for telling “bitches” to “bow down” because of the strong message of female empowerment in her music. ![]()
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