Obviously Beyoncé is the feminist role model we all need in our lives

Only recently did I notice how many people dislike Beyoncé. It was actually after her sixth studio album, Lemonade, was released that I saw many beytrayers take to their keyboards to criticise her feminist stance, saying it’s nothing more than an act. More shocking than that, I read tweets that claimed her music was overrated and trash which is so confusing to me because I was under the impression that no matter what people’s personal opinions about her were, they would appreciate her well crafted art that has seen number one’s time and time again.

If her sublime vocals, liberating song lyrics and angelically crafted thighs didn’t persuade you that Beyoncé deserves exactly as much recognition as she gets, then I hope I’ll make you reconsider.

‘Who needs a degree when you’re schoolin life’ –  Schoolin’ Life

And Beyoncé was schoolin life way before she could even think about degrees. When she was eight, Yoncé, Kelly Rowland and LaTavia Roberson featured on Star Search. Even though the group failed to win the talent show, Beyoncé was motivated to become a successful singer and her efforts were rewarded. Going from the lead singer in Destiny’s Child to branching out as a solo artist in 2003, Beyoncé accepted five grammys when her first solo album was released. From then, her empire grew and never stopped. As well as introducing the clothes brand, Ivy Park, she earned more than $500 million in gross earnings as a solo artist. She is definitely a hustler.

‘I took some time to live my life, but don’t think I’m just his little wife’ – Flawless

That’s exactly what her feminism is about. Note that I said her feminism because I feel like people are too caught up in the regulations that some feminists like to place on the word. I’ve seen a lot of criticism on Lemonade mainly due to the fact that Beyoncé seems to be condoning cheating, saying how she is not a true feminist due to acceptance of Jay Z’s apparent infidelity as stated in the album. Feminism is whatever you want it to be, as long as you believe in the equality of the sexes.

I personally don’t see a problem with Beyoncé having a submissive element towards her husband and it’s inspiring that she vocalises that in her songs, despite her being a feminist and knowing the backlash it would bring. It’s because she wants to be unassertive, not because she forces herself to, that makes me 100 per cent agree that if you want to be submissive to your man then you can. And if you want to be confident and flawless then you can. And if you want to be submissive while being confident and flawless then you can.

‘I sneezed on the beat and the beat got sicka’ – Yoncé

Literally, that’s the Beyoncé effect. Just think about it for a second, she’s been active in the music industry for over a decade and she has still managed to come out on top. It’s all because she knows how to adapt to new music trends and she adapts well. She went from soulful R&B ballads when all anyone wanted to do was listen to songs that either made you want to cry in your room or jump around dancing towards a more edgy and eclectic sound when the trends favoured a hip hoppy genre.

Before anyone cracks their fingers and gets ready to comment ‘yeah but she doesn’t write her own music…’ , let me address this. Beyoncé actually writes more songs than people assume. When analysing her discography, it is estimated that she either wrote/co wrote around 96 of her songs. To be honest, that’s beside the point because even if she didn’t write any songs, why would that matter? Who could perform and belt out those awesome vocals as good as her? Who could captivate and rile up an audience as well as she can? So really and truly, it doesn’t matter if her songs are written for her because Beyoncé is a singer and performer, and she undeniably does that.