to the left, to the left: confusing beauty with empowerment

Once upon a time girls dated boys and it didn't always work out and girls ended up sad sometimes.  Upon a query of how to figure out their bad mood/attitude/outlook on boys, somebody suggested “throw on some Beyonce – oh, and also, never listen to Rihanna, she just sits in tubs and wallows all day!”  And so girls everywhere laughed…and then went home and listened to Beyonce and sang along to “Irreplaceable” and were somehow so empowered.  Girls everywhere then listened to "Irreplaceable" for years every time anything ever went wrong in any relationship ever.  As if it was a panacea for all the evils men can do.

I think Beyonce is a really great musician - man that chick can legit wail!  Some girls REALLY love her though – Queen B, fighting for females since she was born apparently; writing songs about how replaceable her cheating boyfriend is and how lucky she is that the joker she went to prom with isn’t the homeboy she’s marrying now (as in "Best Thing I Never Had").

I thought I was empowered, motivated, invigorated by this apparent show of strong female character until it suddenly struck me - this is literally not strong or empowering at all.  Let's discuss.

First of all - B, why don't you care more that the person you lived with has apparently been hustling around town cheating on you?  That is such a violation of trust.  I feel quite sad just thinking of that.  But, apparently, you don't care.  You're actually fine with it.  You appear to have kept your little back book so close to your chest, so full of numbers of guys just dying to take you out, that it doesn't matter.  You will now date somebody else.  Trust be damned!  I don't begrudge you moving on, B, but, isn't this a little fast?  Do you reallllly think you should be dating already...?

really, really bored and
ridiculously, ridiculously
good looking.

I also notice in these videos, that you're scantily clad on more than just one occasion.  Also, dolling yourself up quite often.  How much time do you actually spend getting ready?  Like yes, you are clearly drop dead gorgeous in this video, but, indeed, seemingly trying to remind yourself that while you're a 10, he's probably only an 8 at best.  Beyonce, is it kind of fair to suggest that your empowerment here is predominantly based on the fact that you're probably, objectively speaking, the hottest woman on the planet?  Could your esteem actually be tied up in the fact that you are literally hot as rocks?  And that, because of how good you look, yes, there are actually a ton of guys for you to distract yourself with?  

And speaking of all those guys who you can now date instead, it would also appear that your sense of strength and empowerment actually derives from male companionship - whether you're tragically beautiful or not.  Provided someone else loves you, being cheated on or treated poorly is fine.  It's not that you, alone at home, are fine.  It's that you, with some generic man to have and to hold, aren't ever actually alone, and thus fine.

I appreciate there are certain parameters that need to be adhered to when crafting a work of pop music wonder.  The songs are approximately four minutes, the hook has to be catchy and with few words so people can catch on quickly when they're at the club, and the subject matter has to be both easily relatable and be at the height of whatever emotion is being perpetrated.  Those mechanics are fine with me.  I quite like popular music.  I usually scan the radio for "Wrecking Ball".  I'm not kidding.  I love that song!  

It shouldn't get confused though - Beyonce is not actually a case of a strong female character in these songs.  She's a highly beautiful, physically perfect woman with an intense desire to be loved over everything else.  Having a partner is what gives her value.  Being beautiful is how she gets a partner.  It's simple.  But it's not empowering.  They're great songs.  But they're not empowering.  

Also - don't even get me started on how reckless it is to rebound.  Dammit Beyonce, you're literally the worst role model EVER.