Mayday mayday, earth to bitches.
Beyoncé saying "Onika" > The Beatles
The Queen of Rap slaying with Queen Bey. ***Flawless
Blue Ivy doing the ***Flawless Dance @ The VMAS 2014.
Beyoncé's super secret album just dropped this morning, causing quite a stir. In one of the songs, “Flawless” she samples Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TEDx talk on feminism. In the song she says:
We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller
We say to girls – you can have ambition, but not too much
You should aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise you will threaten the man
Because I am female I am expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important
A marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support
But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same?
We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or for accomplishments,
Which I think can be a good thing
But for the attention of men
We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are
Feminist: A person who believes in the economic, social and political equality of the sexes.
If you haven’t yet, check out Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s interview on Fresh Air for her newest book Americanah. The book also made the NPR best list for 2013.
Added bonus: book critic Maureen Corrigan’s review of the book.
***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT
the most important
”We say to girls: ‘You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man.’’