19th Mar - Why Beyoncé is the WORST role model

When I originally put 'pen to paper' on this headline, I ended the sentence with '... for young females', and then quickly changed it to just 'females', before deciding to omit the word altogether, because frankly, she's an appalling role model for all of humanity. I can already hear the screams, I'm not deaf to them... A flurry of 'Queen Bey' fans are now screaming 'Slaaay Queen' or some other nonsense catchphrase at their laptop screen, ready to label me as a 'misogynist' or 'chauvinist' before actually allowing me to explain my point, such is their level of fandom to their capitalist behemoth... sorry, 'role model'.

Truth be told, I always held the personal opinion that of the 'Destiny's Child' crew, it was Kelly Rowland who possessed the majority of the talent in the trio, such was/is the power in her voice. But Beyonce, through a carefully managed PR image - helped enormously by a high-profile relationship with the most famous male figure in the history of hip-hop - enjoyed the greater 'branding', and elevated her career to new heights. For that, I fully applaud her. The way you 'present' yourself, and your brand, in modern media, is of the absolute height of importance, and I say this authority via a huge amount of experience in this area, professionally.

But I'll also be the first to admit that I've not paid a huge amount of attention to her career, despite recognising her as the global conglomerate she's now become, on simple account of not finding myself 'attracted' to her musical style. Nothing personal, I'm simply much more of a dance/electronic kinda guy than an R&B/pop mogul. My partner, however, like most women, is a fan of Knowles-Carter, and regularly plays her tunes around the house, or in the car, etc. This has allowed me to listen more closely to her lyrical content, and understand (I vaguely saw a few articles about it a few years back), that her marriage with Jay-Z became a sham around 2016, when she publicly outed him for 'cheating' on her album 'Lemonade'.

Her lyric, "He better call Becky with the good hair", went viral, as he praised her love-rival's supple locks, but much to the dismay of many (myself included), the pair are still very much an item. Which promotes two schools of thought, and I'll explain the first now... Beyonce promotes herself as a 'strong' and 'independent' role model, but was not 'strong' enough to walk away from a cheating husband who blatantly disrespected her, their relationship, and the family they'd built. Nor was she 'independent' enough to accept a future as the very same thing she loves to advertise... Female independence, via a future as a single woman/single mother. 

The moment anybody cheats on you, the relationship is done. No excuses. To cheat, you're already psychologically checked out of the relationship itself, and to accept a cheater back into your life not only shows extreme mental weakness, but most alarmingly of all, a complete lack of self-respect. As a role model to so many girls out there, what kind of message is Beyonce spreading by allowing young girls to believe this behaviour is acceptable? I even saw a TikTok last night where a girl captioned a post with, (it makes me cringe to say this out loud, knowing my Mum, or in-laws might be reading, but)... "I found cheating messages on my boyfriend's phone. So I gave him that sloppy top gawk-gawk 3000, and then left and blocked him." Oh well done, I'm sure that really showed him. You know that thing you did with someone else, which hurt me so much? Well now you can have that exact same thing, but with me, again, for one final time, as a reward for your vile behaviour. Idiot. 

Has Beyonce's own weak mental attitude enabled such a train of thought among such impressionable young girls? It's hard to rule it out. Orrrr... There's Option Two. The whole thing is completely untrue and was used a publicity stunt to gather column inches, and ultimately, sell records, all whilst cementing Bey's public reputation as 'the victim' - allowing both sympathy and her fanbase - to grow exponentially. This would mean she lured her young female fans into a false and toxic mindset in order to boost the wallet(s) of primarily her, but also her husband. Here are some stats which may prove relevant: Following the controversy, 'Lemonade' became the best-selling album of 2016, selling more than 2.5 million copies worldwide. In 2017, Jay-Z released '4:44', an album in which he spoke openly and candidly about the 'affair' from his point of view. The album topped the Billboard chart, went platinum, and earned him more than $50m. Beyonce then embarked on a 'Lemonade' world tour, which grossed more than $256 million. The following year, the pair launched a 'joint album' titled 'Everything Is Love'. Is this greedy behaviour a personification of a money-hungry narcissist, or...

... The behaviour of a role model?