Beyoncé A Feminist? Don’t Make Me Laugh

In the same week that Tunisian activist “Amina” was threatened with stoning for showing her bare chest on Facebook, what are we to make of the latest claims from one Beyoncé Knowles that she is a feminist? To quote Queen Bey herself:

“I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I’m just a woman and I love being a woman. I do believe in equality and that we have a way to go and it’s something that’s pushed aside and something that we have been conditioned to accept.”

There’s a lot of things to admire in that statement: A sincere belief in equality, calling out gender labels for the completely tiresome bulls*** they are, a love and self-respect for your gender. But my problem is with the first five words. Beyoncé Knowles is many things. A decent Super Bowl performer? Yes. A brilliant businesswoman? No doubt. The owner of an enviable set of pipes? Obviously. But a feminist? No matter how loudly she says it – and boy, she likes saying it – I remain unconvinced.

I suspect I’m in the minority here, that many would feel comfortable describing Knowles as a feminist. I imagine their argument would run something like this: Here is a woman who is financially independent. She consistently pushes her belief in equality. She’s sung her share of songs about being “independent” and “strong.”

So why, from where I’m standing, does Beyoncé seem such a fraud? I mean, look, here’s another fist-shaking Knowles quote from just a few weeks back:

“[Men] define what’s sexy. And men define what’s feminine. It’s ridiculous.”

And she’s right, of course. The only problem? These stirring words were placed in the February 2013 issue of GQ. You know, right next to photos of Beyoncé writhing about in her undercrackers for the titillation of men. Falling in line with that male definition of sexiness. Woo, empowerment!

Most of us accept women are cast into certain roles by wider society and its various ideological tentacles: the sex siren, the mother (and the “glowing” mother-to-be), the spinster, and so forth. It’s positive if women are able to move beyond or even reclaim these labels, but by doing things like posing near-naked in mens’ mags, Beyoncé is neatly slotting herself into one of those cubbyholes neatly carved out for her by our penis-driven world.

Being “sexual” is fine and dandy. Sexuality can be fun, dark, even powerful. But Beyoncé does not seem powerful when posing in GQ. She is laid bare for the delight of GQ‘s one-handed readership, and she knows it. She might argue, “Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are?” Yet by seductively posing for a men’s magazine, she’s already pigeonholed herself. She’s chosen a type. Slow claps all round.

Or consider the time when unflattering photos of Beyoncé at the Super Bowl were “leaked”. Did womankind’s new leader defiantly turn around, snub her nose, and say, “I’m a human being, we all look butt in photos occasionally, and I intend to rise above this pathetic focus on my looks and concentrate on my art”?

Er, no. Instead, she got her publicist to try and zap the images from existence. As well as painting Knowles as a massive narcissist, it smacks of somebody who’s aware – too aware? – of how big a role body image plays in music industry success. Beyoncé was only too keen to ensure those photos that were out there matched the industry’s idealised notion of beauty. Any evidence that she may not conform to this notion of beauty 100% of the time MUST BE DESTROYED.

While a panicky Knowles orders her foot soldiers to erase evidence that (duh) everybody looks like crap in some photos, other self-described feminists like Amina and the women who form FEMEN are out on the streets. They’re being arrested. They’re getting in faces. They’re being threatened with death. And, most pertinently of all where Knowles is concerned, they’re not conforming to a male-engineered fantasy of female beauty.

But maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps the mistake is mine. After all, Beyoncé did describe herself as a “modern-day” feminist, a detail I have mischievously ignored until now. Because, hey, maybe posing in your lingerie while spouting about strength and equality is the modern-day feminism Knowles describes at the top of this article.

And if so, it’s just depressing as hell.