Beyoncé isn’t just one of the biggest music icons of our time, she also stands as one of the most prominent feminists as well. Through encouraging self-love, self-acceptance, and sexual empowerment, Beyoncé wants women all over the world to feel good about who they are, who they love, and where they come from. Here are five music videos that prove Queen Bey believes in the importance of empowering women.
“Independent Women Part I” – Survivor (Destiny’s Child)
This song, which was primarily written by Beyoncé, is a song about women and women who are able to support themselves. Destiny’s Child manages to bring attention to the independent women of the world who are able to treat themselves and who are able to provide for themselves. This song manages to capture the importance of women depending on themselves and no one else.
Our favorite lyrics: “the shoes on my feet / I’ve bought it / the clothes I’m wearing / I’ve bought it”
“Run the World (Girls)” – 4
Quickly becoming one of the most notorious female-empowerment songs of the century, Run the World manages to bring a very clear message about women of the world and the importance of women in the world system. “My persuasion can build nations” stands as a reminder that some of the greatest empires in the world had women persuading their husbands to do things. Beyoncé wants people to remember that women have the power to change history too.
Our favorite lyrics: “strong enough to bear the children / then get back to business.”
***Flawless – BEYONCÉ
Apart from including some amazing backtracking, this song becomes important because it contains a portion of a lecture given by the amazing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (who is a prominent author, activist, and feminist). In her TedTalks speech, which is the bit we hear in the middle of the track, Adichie speaks about her experience as an African feminist and the social construction of gender. Beyoncé uses this song to remind women of the importance of loving yourself and of remembering your flawlessness.
Our favorite lyrics: I woke up like this / I woke up like this / We flawless, ladies tell ’em
Me, Myself, and I – Dangerously In Love
Continuing with the theme, Beyoncé manages to use this song as a subtle reminder to everyone that when things go bad, we should always remember that we have ourselves to count on at the end of the day. That when terrible relationships occur, we still have our best friend there – ourselves. Remembering that you can always count on you is important to the Queen.
Our favorite lyrics: “Me, myself, and I, that’s all I got in the end / That’s what I found out and there ain’t no need to cry / I took a vow that from now on / I’m gon’ be my own best friend”
Pretty Hurts – BEYONCÉ
Speaking about the amount of things people try to fix and try to change about themselves, this song speaks about the concept of self-love and self-acceptance. We live in a world that pushes the image of what constitutes beauty; we live in a world that shoves “perfection” into our faces; we live in a world that constantly pressures us into believing we have to look, talk, eat, and act a certain way in order to be considered “pretty.” Beyoncé wants to encourage people – not just women – to love themselves and to accept who they are. She wants people to love themselves and recognize that it is important for you to love yourself above all else.
Our favorite lyrics: “Perfection is the disease of a nation / Pretty hurts… But you can’t fix what you can’t see / It’s the soul that needs the surgery”
We love Beyoncé and we want people to remember the importance of womanhood. People should be recognized, appreciated, and loved — never criticized, ridiculed, or pressured into believing their imperfect. Gender equality is possible, so long as we remember to love ourselves first.
Do you love Beyoncé and want to share your favorite Bey moments? Leave us a comment or tweet us over @CelebMix!
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