I cried tears today listening to a Beyonce song. I didn't cry in a fanatical way, although many obsess over the beauty and grace that composes the singer. Seamlessness is probably the best word to describe her public image but it was a very special feature other song "Flawless" that took me away.
Beyonce features
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novelist and feminist from Nigeria. Adichie is charming, well spoken and an absolute representation of a true feminist. The idea of feminism is nothing radical but, her words and message pierce on the Hit Boy produced track of Beyonce's Visual Album. Adichie's message will reach far beyond her lectures at
TED. She acknowledges that the word "feminist" is often defined as a group of women who are angry and with out husbands. This is not the true character of a feminist, it's an attack imposed by people afraid of true social equality between the genders. Beyonce's inclusion of Adichie's message is a huge step toward changing the unbalanced social attitudes towards women not just in the hip hop culture but across popular culture.
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| The Lyrics to "Flawless" featuring African Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
It gets discouraging when you have feminist ideas and beliefs and no one wants to hear you out. They ask you to "relax" and think you're angry or thinking too much. It's a form of oppression. When it becomes normal and popular to be political, the entire culture will be a safer place, more pensive place. I think everyone deserves the same social opportunities.
The way men and women make excuses for how we openly degrade and limit women in society needs to stop. We shame single women and mothers and praise single men or men with "pretty" wives; Because she is weak for being a matriarch and he is strong for living vainly. Untrue and bias. Also how women are expected to seduce to get ahead in their careers and relationships; to "use what you have" to get ahead is so poor.
"We are all social beings. We internalize ideas from our socialization. Even the language we use in talking about marriage and relationships illustrates this. The language of marriage is often a language of ownership rather than a language of partnership. We use the word 'respect' to mean something a woman shows a man, but often not something a man shows a woman. "
Feminism is not an attack against men. I value and appreciate men 100%. I love many men including my dad and women like me push men unconditionally wanting to see men prevail but sadly a lot of men don't want to see women be very successful or more successful than them. The proof is in the overall attitudes in hip hop culture. I'm pushed but it's not the same push or pride behind it. My dad expressed to me my life and opportunities were limited now because I have a child - not in a malicious way but in a factual way because most people, in fact, would place limitations on me from the threshold of any of my ideas. Like many in similar circumstances, there are employers on top of that who judge and screen women for having children. Somehow you are deemed unreliable for being a single mother. Not worth the hire. It's the reason a single mom of color is stereotyped as a welfare queen. It would drive a normal person into depression.
I hope "Flawless" penetrates people's attitudes. I'm observant. I know that I'm sitting in a
crooked room and rather than bend over I will sit up straight with strong posture. Hands down, Mrs. Carter has one of the most powerful influences over pop culture today. I'm looking forward to the continuing impact of feminist ideas and more acts like it. Thank you Beyonce and Chimananda Ngozi Adichie for making politics popular. We owe you.
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My entire life until I was 22 I was told what to do with my hair. "You need a perm" was suggested to me by my mom or my hairstyling sister whenever my unprocessed roots would grow in. One day I decided to pick up a scissor and cut it all off. It was scary! I felt immediately free and sad. I admit I criticized myself somedays, dwelling on my previous hair length but remembering my goal kept me grounded. A miracle happen one day, I didn't care anymore! I'd receive tons of backhanded comments being the first in my family to try this. I was compared to celebrities with "wacky" hair styles and routinely stigmatized by strangers as a rebel, a feminist or "earthy". What is "earthy'? I don't know. I even had a white man say I reminded him of Erykah Badu. It was a reach. A comment from someone who favored Eurocentric beauty standards or someone who stereotyped me as an incense lover always opened a conversation about my hair. The who, what, and why was addressed and I wasn't afraid to set the record straight. I didn't plan on having to teach and defend my decision but I have gained a lot from the curiosity of those brave enough to ask me about it. This in itself is a political act.
