Oh, no.. don't get me wrong. I still don't think she can sing and I don't like her music.... I don't know or own ANY of her songs unless they get played at parties. I literally do not know ANY lyrics... dead ass. And let's face it... I'm 39 with a kid... when am I gonna go to a party that doesn't have an animated character present?
Nevertheless, I can admit when I am wrong. A while back, I wrote a blog about Beyonce and her "brand" of feminism. While I still argue and posit that Beyonce is using/used feminism/womanism as a marketing scheme (as with any good "evolutionary" artist. See: Janet, Madonna, GaGa.....). I was wrong to say that her kind of feminism isn't feminism, specifically black feminism. It's HER feminism. And who am I to judge?
If she thinks body performativity and sex is feminism, so be it. If she wants to be Oshun for a day, that's cool too. If she thinks to wear a onesie/unitard and a stomping the ground is empowering, then girl go for it. I've grown. I realize my narrowing of feminism is harmful. And could be seen as toxic.
And now that I am a mother (I wrote that blog before I was pregnant) and a lot more "woke" in my feelings, I can say that I realize that black feminism and womanism is a whole LOT of everything, and not much else. Does that make sense? It's not this narrow, academic view I had. It's the Beyonces and the Cardi B's... and the bell hooks of the world.. .and it takes BOTH/ALL to make feminism work. (I've said that before....I know I have....)
So I stand corrected. An almost-40 year old mama of a toddler is saying... Beyonce is right. I am wrong. Who am I to assume she hasn't done the reading or the work because she talks a lil' slow and dim-witted? Who am I to think that she isn't deep (ok.. I don't think she's that deep.. but I am giving her some credit). While it all may be carefully crafted marketing, I see that once she embraced a radical Africanized feminism, she lost some white fans. And that is the ultimate sacrifice. I can't hate on that. She is literally doing it for the culture.
But trust me. You still won't get me to a concert. I'm good on that. Holler at me when Floetry decides to reunite or something...
(PS: Can someone put together a Back to the Neo Soul tour or something??? Dang... late 90s-early 2000s was the sh*t musically...)
Nevertheless, I can admit when I am wrong. A while back, I wrote a blog about Beyonce and her "brand" of feminism. While I still argue and posit that Beyonce is using/used feminism/womanism as a marketing scheme (as with any good "evolutionary" artist. See: Janet, Madonna, GaGa.....). I was wrong to say that her kind of feminism isn't feminism, specifically black feminism. It's HER feminism. And who am I to judge?
Nobody...*Keith Sweat Voice*
And now that I am a mother (I wrote that blog before I was pregnant) and a lot more "woke" in my feelings, I can say that I realize that black feminism and womanism is a whole LOT of everything, and not much else. Does that make sense? It's not this narrow, academic view I had. It's the Beyonces and the Cardi B's... and the bell hooks of the world.. .and it takes BOTH/ALL to make feminism work. (I've said that before....I know I have....)
So I stand corrected. An almost-40 year old mama of a toddler is saying... Beyonce is right. I am wrong. Who am I to assume she hasn't done the reading or the work because she talks a lil' slow and dim-witted? Who am I to think that she isn't deep (ok.. I don't think she's that deep.. but I am giving her some credit). While it all may be carefully crafted marketing, I see that once she embraced a radical Africanized feminism, she lost some white fans. And that is the ultimate sacrifice. I can't hate on that. She is literally doing it for the culture.
But trust me. You still won't get me to a concert. I'm good on that. Holler at me when Floetry decides to reunite or something...
(PS: Can someone put together a Back to the Neo Soul tour or something??? Dang... late 90s-early 2000s was the sh*t musically...)
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