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4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
http://inspirer.life/home/2016/04/beyonces-lemonade-is-the-female-empowerment-album-we-need/ 1/12
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BEYONCÉ’S LEMONADE IS THE FEMALEEMPOWERMENT ALBUM WE NEED
ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC
4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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by : CARRIE COUROGEN | 12 MONTHS AGO | 18518 VIEWS
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The year is 2016, A.L. (“After Lemonade”). Years from now, our children may
ask us where we were the moment Beyoncé unveiled her second surprise
album in the form of a short �lm, possibly getting the most people to stay
home on a Saturday night since the early days of SNL, before DVR and
Hulu were things.
It’s easy to joke about Beyoncé, the cultural phenomenon. It’s easy to joke
about anyone with that much power and that much control over their
public image. It’s harder to talk about Beyoncé, the artist. It’s harder to talk
about the deeper issues she tackles, the way she uses her power to shed
light on topics that aren’t discussed in a meaningful manner in mainstream
media.
Lemonade asserts Beyoncé’s position as reigning queen of the music
industry, not that anyone really debated that. Musically, the album
demonstrates mastery of a variety of styles, proving that the artist — and
more importantly, black women in general — can handle any genre, be it
rock and roll or country or soul or pop. But the cultural implications of
Lemonade are what we really need to talk about.
Beyoncé has made a career out of being able to seamlessly blend well-
crafted pop with empowering themes, and over the years, they’ve evolved:
“Independent Women Part I” gave us “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),”
which became “Run the World (Girls),” and bled into “***Flawless.”
Lemonade — both in short �lm and album form — pulls no punches with
continuing this evolution and tackling even more di�cult, but important
4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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cultural and political issues: Black Lives Matter, intersectional feminism,
female independence. More than anything else, these themes of female
empowerment on Lemonade are what Beyoncé addresses better than
anyone else right now.
We’re at peak pop culture feminism right now. Women musicians have
been singing empowering anthems for years, but it’s just now that people
are really starting to pay attention. It’s also just now that some artists
think making a song have a feminist slant is just as important as making
it have a catchy hook.
Beyoncé isn’t trying to please people’s expectations that she blatantly be a
feminist, though. She’s not trying to �t in; she’s not writing feminist songs to
be trendy, and that’s why she does it so well. Her words are genuine and
powerful. She’s not giggling about the media gossiping about her being a
serial dater. She’s not shaming women in a pseudo-empowering anthem
about curvy body types.
Instead, she combines her lyrics with words of Somali poet Warsan Shire
to make statements about the societal di�culties of being a woman,
misogyny, and the predicament of being in a relationship with a man who
may be uncomfortable with such a powerful partner. Between songs, she
delivers spoken word verses meditating on these topics:
But the way she so assertively addresses female empowerment stands up
on the songs themselves, the songs that will be played over the radio for
everyone — not just Tidal subscribers — to hear. She delivers “Hold Up,”
vilifying a cheating partner and handles a baseball bat in a way that’s more
I tried to change, closed my mouth more, tried to be soft, prettier, less awake.Fasted for sixty days, wore white, abstained from mirrors. Abstained fromsex, slowly did not speak another word.
4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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gleeful than that time Carrie Underwood smashed in the windows of her
cheating boyfriend’s 4×4.
Because when Beyoncé does it, there’s deeper signi�cance: she’s
reclaiming the angry black woman trope by doing so. She acknowledges
the stereotype — “What’s worse, looking jealous or crazy?” — and moves
past it. She makes it clear that her feelings are valid, that any woman’s
feelings are valid, and to reduce an angry woman to a stereotype is
unacceptable.
“Don’t Hurt Yourself” takes the anger up a notch, but proves that she’s not
playing around. It drives home the point of being con�dent in your power,
knowing your worth, and never backing down to please someone else:
I am the dragon breathing �re Beautiful man I’m the lion Beautiful man I know you’re lying I am not broken, I’m not crying, I’m not crying You ain’t trying hard enough You ain’t loving hard enough You don’t love me deep enough We not reaching feats enough But I leave your love, I f*cks with you
4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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She addresses income inequality by bragging about her wealth and status
just like any man would. Women are still �ghting for equal pay. Women
have been made to feel like we should make ourselves smaller, like we
shouldn’t show o� our accomplishments, like we shouldn’t speak too
loudly or draw too much attention to ourselves. Women are still being
made to believe that we’re not worth asking for more. Beyoncé makes it a
point on “6 Inch” to reject that notion. Your net worth may not be $450
million, but you “work for the money from start to �nish” and you’re “worth
every dollar and worth every minute.” Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.
And this theme of working hard and �ghting for the best for yourself is
continued on “Formation,” which was the topic of about a million think
pieces when it was released in March. While the overlying signi�cance of
the song is its role as a black power anthem, it’s still making a strong
feminist point. Beyoncé reclaims sexuality and power, singing about men in
a way that most men sing about women:
She opens up the possibility of reaching the level of revolutionary �nancial
in�uence of Bill Gates to women, particularly women of color (who are the
most discriminated women in America): “You just might be a black Bill Gates
in the making — I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making.” Hear that,
America? The future is female.
It’s incredibly easy to joke about Beyoncé being Illuminati or being a queen
or question how she’s human. It’s easy to say that Lemonade is
‘Til I realize, I’m just too much for you I’m just too much for you
When he f*ck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay If he hit it right, I might take him on a �ight on my chopper, cause I slay Drop him o� at the mall, let him buy some J’s, let him shop up, cause I slay I might get your song played on the radio station, cause I slay
4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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empowering AF and call it a day. It’s harder to talk about the deep meaning
beneath the swagger. It’s harder to talk about how her lyrics have the
ability to open up public discussions that are long overdue. And it’s time we
start.
Listen to Lemonade exclusively on Tidal
Track List:
1. Pray You Catch Me
2. Hold Up
3. Don’t Hurt Yourself
4. Sorry
5. 6 Inch
6. Daddy Lessons
7. Love Drought
8. Sandcastles
9. Forward
10. Freedom
11. All Night
12. Formation
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4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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Carrie Courogen
Carrie is a writer and social media manager for Condé Nast Entertainment in
New York. Her writing has been featured in print and online for publications like
Quartz, Teen Vogue, The Hu�ngton Post, Bustle, and the New York Daily News,
among others. Additionally, she maintains a Tumblr where she muses on things
like millennial issues, music, and, most of all, lady heroes.
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4/16/2017 Beyoncé's Lemonade is the Female Empowerment Album We Need - Inspirer
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