HonestMan13 said:

This shit is hilarious!!!

^^

HonestMan13 said:

This shit is hilarious!!!

OMG that is the funniest ish I have seen in a long time.

neoretro7 said:

Mintchip said:

neoretro7 said: Because you can't demonstrate female empowerment unless you've been beaten?

Female empowerment comes from within you as person. Beyonce to me reminds me of a black barbie doll.

Her message conflicts with how she presents herself. How can she preach female empowerment when she is out here shaking her money maker and posing on GQ magazine.

Want female empowerment get Alicia Keys or Melissa Etheridge.

So basically if you demonstrate female empowerment, you have to be a certain way? It's not okay to be a strong woman if you look like a barbie doll? Talk about being a boring person, just because you look like a barbie doll doesn't mean you cant demonstrate that you are strong female. Being a strong woman means that you do whatever pleases you, without caring what other people think. It's okay if you want to shake your ass and pose infront of people and still be an independant and empowered woman, the difference between being an empowered female - is that you made the choice to do the things you are doing, vs being made to make certain things.

Alicia Keys is a hypocrite and her message of messing around with a married man, empowers women right? xD

Female empowerment has nothing to do with how you look, how you behave but rather knowing what you want as a woman vs what society requires you to be like. Lady Gaga has done all the things Beyonce has, but many people see her as an empowered woman, because she's not as attractive as Bey.

at her doing a "do over performance"at her press conference.

GoldDolphin said:

neoretro7 said:

Female empowerment comes from within you as person. Beyonce to me reminds me of a black barbie doll.

Her message conflicts with how she presents herself. How can she preach female empowerment when she is out here shaking her money maker and posing on GQ magazine.

Want female empowerment get Alicia Keys or Melissa Etheridge.

So basically if you demonstrate female empowerment, you have to be a certain way? It's not okay to be a strong woman if you look like a barbie doll? Talk about being a boring person, just because you look like a barbie doll doesn't mean you cant demonstrate that you are strong female. Being a strong woman means that you do whatever pleases you, without caring what other people think. It's okay if you want to shake your ass and pose infront of people and still be an independant and empowered woman, the difference between being an empowered female - is that you made the choice to do the things you are doing, vs being made to make certain things.

Alicia Keys is a hypocrite and her message of messing around with a married man, empowers women right? xD

Female empowerment has nothing to do with how you look, how you behave but rather knowing what you want as a woman vs what society requires you to be like. Lady Gaga has done all the things Beyonce has, but many people see her as an empowered woman, because she's not as attractive as Bey.

You just talked about two different things

and gurl you know how much I loveeee you, but you are stanning a little to hard a bit and alot of times you fail to be objective when it comes to Beyonce.

Being a strong woman and trying to evoke female empowerment are TWO DIFFERENT things. Being strong is an attribute to female empowerment but that is not the all end of what female empowerment really is.

Its not about looking a certain way or being attractive because looks and attraction has NOTHING to do with female empowerment.

I think you missed the mark with what the person was trying to say (I dont know if you sincerely did not understand it or ignored it because you like Beyonce). I dont think the person was trying to say that since Beyonce literally looked like a barbie doll she can not display female empowerment

I think the poster was pointing out that Beyonce displays as sexual object that represents a barbie doll type image with the excessive overly sexual outfits and revealing clothes. And it appears that is how she wants to be seen more so than displaying female empowerment because you can not honestly sit here and argue that Beyonce represents female empowerment Do you know what the definition of female empowerment is? Well lets just first look at the word empowerment. This is a definition I found.

Empowerment- means to increase spiritual, political, social and economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.
Empowerment can be attained through one or many ways. An important factor in the discovery and application of the human "self empowerment" lies within the tools used to unveil the truth

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Articles_Women_Empowerment.html

Beyonce is not trying to represent that nor does she and I dont care what you try to argue, and I say that with L.O.V.E.

I am not even a big Alicia Keys fan

BUT

Alicia Keys WAY more attractive than Beyonce and Lady Gaga but she isnt prancing around half naked on stage, doing revealing magazine covers, singing about mens penises, how she is the Queen, fucking a man etc.. While I think her music is bland, I think she tries to evoke female empowerment in HER LYRICS and her IMAGE she displays. You can say all night long that Alicia is a home wrecker and blah blah.... Okay your right that might but true BUT that isnt the image that she puts on magazine covers or wants to be looked on as UNLIKE Beyonce who sings about mens penises, freakum dress or whatever and does half naked magazine covers and then you insist she represents female empowerment...... c'mon now Im sure there is ALOT of things that we dont know that goes on behind closed doors Beyonce has done that is not perfect because NO ONE is perfect but this is not about what these singers do in their private lives.

This is about the images they choose to present in the media and what they represent. Beyonces image/music contradicts what she wants to be taken as because if she honestly wanted to display female empowerment she would not dress like a slut on magazine covers and on stage. She also would gear her music toward REAL ISSUES that effect REAL WOMEN, give money to women abuse shelter, do women conferences and go to communities to give money back to women charities.

She also would make music that has more meaningful lyrics directed toward promoting and encouraging female empowerment....(and Single Ladies and Girls Run the World dont count )

Lastly, she would stop with trying to display the slutty image and wear more tasteful clothes.

that is all, your still my gurl but just saying

[Edited 1/31/13 14:57pm]

babybugz said:

at her doing a "do over performance"at her press conference.

I had to lol at this comment someone posted:

Hello Beyonce - Your getting backlash not because you can't sing (we know you can sing) - it's because you chose to lip sync at the inauguration for (your man) Obama.

Now girlfriend, you're just pathetic & stupid, because you missed the entire point & you sang the National Anthem at a press conference. Really sad.

[Edited 1/31/13 16:37pm]

NaughtyKitty said:

babybugz said:

at her doing a "do over performance"at her press conference.

I had to lol at this comment someone posted:

Hello Beyonce - Your getting backlash not because you can't sing (we know you can sing) - it's because you chose to lip sync at the inauguration for (your man) Obama.

Now girlfriend, you're just pathetic & stupid, because you missed the entire point & you sang the National Anthem at a press conference. Really sad.

[Edited 1/31/13 16:37pm]

I like her (I have a love/hate with her overall) but that was very obnoxious for her to want to sing it live now and then say any questions etc… please. Her feelings got hurt because people clowned her choosing to lipsync at that particular event. The whole situation is just funny . I want to see her super bowl performance though but just saying she need to have a seat with that.

^Yes she needs to take a seat...for a good while.

There, there, everybody shut up and dance!

Beyonce said:

"I am a perfectionist. One thing about me, I practice until my feet bleed, and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," Beyoncé said. "It was a live television show and a very, very important, emotional show for me – one of my proudest moments. Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about my president and the inauguration, and I did not want to take away from that. I decided to go with a pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I am very proud of my performance."

I get why people have been complaining - no guts no glory. If you refuse to take a risk because you're so scared of making mistakes, you performance doesn't deserve high praise....But I think a bigger point should be made here.

Just hear me out...MJ is one of my favorite artists ever, and he lip-synched at one of Clinton's pre-inauguration events for his Heal the World performance. Didn't bother me at all. Don't feel like he owes the public some sort of apology or anything. Honestly, forget Bee or MJ or anyone else, the cold truth about performing is that some people can sing live all day and they will still have zero clue on how to convey emotion (and if they sound EFFING HORRIBLE live, I WISH they lip-synch 100% of the time *but that's for another topic*) and some people can lip-synch and still put on a decent show. That's why they're known as ENTERTAINERS not just "SINGERS"

So to me personally, the fact that she chose to lip-synch doesn't bother me too much. It was still her voice and she lip-synched pretty well lol Especially when you think about what the entire show was about. The focus is on the president, it was his day and it's more important for the performers not to make any mistakes than whether to sing live or not imo.

Anyways I'm moving on. Coming this Sunday

alphastreet said:

There, there, everybody shut up and dance!

While we're on the subject, I really wish Whitney would have gotten the opportunity to perform at a Super Bowl.

Anywhere from 1990-1994 would have been epic!

re that "press conference": No that heffa did not. No she DID NOT ask the press to stand. Lawd. I'm glad I don't have her nerve in my tooth.

HonestMan13 said:

This shit is hilarious!!!

Meanwhile in Syria...

In other news, tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea are rising, not because of an island dispute between Japan and China, but because of Beyonce. More on this later.

alphastreet said:

Mj is back

He is

[Edited 1/31/13 22:34pm]

''Hey y'all, look at me. As a singer, my vocal range is very limited, but I'm going to do it live this time.''

Identity said:

''Hey y'all, look at me. As a singer, my vocal range is very limited, but I'm going to do it live this time.''

Hey...It don't matter that her range is Limited...She looked like a Billion Bucks doing it.....As much as I Love me some B-Girl somebody need to get her into some speech Classes. She doesnt know how to turn on the "Proper talking persona" when she's in Public....I find that interesting....

NaughtyKitty said:

^Yes she needs to take a seat...for a good while.

I miss the good ole days like around......2012 when Madonna lip-synced her SB Halftime show but didn't give a damn what the public had to say about it. As I said earlier, in spite of all of Beyonce's accomplishments, she's still not secure with herself or her talent. That performance was totally unnecessary. It's as if she had to prove that she could sing live without letting people realize on their own that you did sing it live during the recording with the orchestra. So insecure. And like I said before, she's probably going to be even more "OVER-THE-TOP" than usual just to "prove" once again that she can perform live.

Oh and I'm glad she just admitted that she lipsynched. Hopefully now this non-story will die a timely death.

Great opinion piece about the subject:

Beyonce, always keep it real

[Edited 2/1/13 7:00am]

I now know why she opted for the recorded track; she had shortness of breath from straining to hit the high notes.

mjscarousal said:

GoldDolphin said:

So basically if you demonstrate female empowerment, you have to be a certain way? It's not okay to be a strong woman if you look like a barbie doll? Talk about being a boring person, just because you look like a barbie doll doesn't mean you cant demonstrate that you are strong female. Being a strong woman means that you do whatever pleases you, without caring what other people think. It's okay if you want to shake your ass and pose infront of people and still be an independant and empowered woman, the difference between being an empowered female - is that you made the choice to do the things you are doing, vs being made to make certain things.

Alicia Keys is a hypocrite and her message of messing around with a married man, empowers women right? xD

Female empowerment has nothing to do with how you look, how you behave but rather knowing what you want as a woman vs what society requires you to be like. Lady Gaga has done all the things Beyonce has, but many people see her as an empowered woman, because she's not as attractive as Bey.

You just talked about two different things

and gurl you know how much I loveeee you, but you are stanning a little to hard a bit and alot of times you fail to be objective when it comes to Beyonce.

Being a strong woman and trying to evoke female empowerment are TWO DIFFERENT things. Being strong is an attribute to female empowerment but that is not the all end of what female empowerment really is.

Its not about looking a certain way or being attractive because looks and attraction has NOTHING to do with female empowerment.

I think you missed the mark with what the person was trying to say (I dont know if you sincerely did not understand it or ignored it because you like Beyonce). I dont think the person was trying to say that since Beyonce literally looked like a barbie doll she can not display female empowerment

I think the poster was pointing out that Beyonce displays as sexual object that represents a barbie doll type image with the excessive overly sexual outfits and revealing clothes. And it appears that is how she wants to be seen more so than displaying female empowerment because you can not honestly sit here and argue that Beyonce represents female empowerment Do you know what the definition of female empowerment is? Well lets just first look at the word empowerment. This is a definition I found.

Empowerment- means to increase spiritual, political, social and economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.
Empowerment can be attained through one or many ways. An important factor in the discovery and application of the human "self empowerment" lies within the tools used to unveil the truth

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Articles_Women_Empowerment.html

Beyonce is not trying to represent that nor does she and I dont care what you try to argue, and I say that with L.O.V.E.

I am not even a big Alicia Keys fan

BUT

Alicia Keys WAY more attractive than Beyonce and Lady Gaga but she isnt prancing around half naked on stage, doing revealing magazine covers, singing about mens penises, how she is the Queen, fucking a man etc.. While I think her music is bland, I think she tries to evoke female empowerment in HER LYRICS and her IMAGE she displays. You can say all night long that Alicia is a home wrecker and blah blah.... Okay your right that might but true BUT that isnt the image that she puts on magazine covers or wants to be looked on as UNLIKE Beyonce who sings about mens penises, freakum dress or whatever and does half naked magazine covers and then you insist she represents female empowerment...... c'mon now Im sure there is ALOT of things that we dont know that goes on behind closed doors Beyonce has done that is not perfect because NO ONE is perfect but this is not about what these singers do in their private lives.

This is about the images they choose to present in the media and what they represent. Beyonces image/music contradicts what she wants to be taken as because if she honestly wanted to display female empowerment she would not dress like a slut on magazine covers and on stage. She also would gear her music toward REAL ISSUES that effect REAL WOMEN, give money to women abuse shelter, do women conferences and go to communities to give money back to women charities.

She also would make music that has more meaningful lyrics directed toward promoting and encouraging female empowerment....(and Single Ladies and Girls Run the World dont count )

Lastly, she would stop with trying to display the slutty image and wear more tasteful clothes.

that is all, your still my gurl but just saying

[Edited 1/31/13 14:57pm]

Trust me girl, I aint one of those people who stan for anyone without being objective but we're cool . It's just I personally feel that this whole female empowerment thing goes overboard sometimes, it's like you have to be a certain way to embrace your strength /empowerment as a woman.

Obviously looks doesn't have nothing to do with female empowerment, but more often than not - people will base your empowerment based on how you look. I'm a living example of that, many people think I'm this way or another because of the way I look but I'm the most complex person out there. It happens very often and it's based on peoples opinions on how a woman who's empowered is supposed to look, walk or talk.

I dont think I missed the mark,but it was quite late when I wrote this anyways haha...

That's up for debate though, because while we as a free women can chose to put on whatever clothes we want and still be empowered, there's a lot of cynicism in that, because if we do dress a certain way that used to be a way of control from middle aged men (that used to control the world for the longest of time and dictate what was proper for women to wear) it takes away some of our freedom. But Beyonce is no different from the women who choose to walk around naked in the 60-70s, to liberate themselves from the rules that had been put on women for ages. If she or any other women for that matter, wants to undress /reveal parts of their bodies - that is her right to do so, unless someone is MAKING her do these things, which is really hard to know, because the music industry has so many people that decides what you should or shouldn't do. But lets say that Beyonce does want to display herself as an empowered women with revealing clothes? Would that make her less empowered than lets say Josephine Baker (who was also an empowered woman, but danced around in minstrel shows and shaked her ass for white folks? Josephine was also a very political person and did many things for women). Like I said it's a very complex question, because there are no wrong answers.

It's not up to you or me, to say what Beyonce is trying to convey, but I would think that if she says she's an empowered woman- then we should believe her, because we cant base our ideas of female empowerment on someone else, that might have other ideals than ours. There is nobody in this world that has the right or wrong answer in anything, it's a highly objective and subjective thing. I think that Beyonce is like many women in this world, that we are on a constant search to be independant and free from old ideals of how we are as women, but also trying to please a part of those old ideals, we don't want to be militant in our cause that we forget the power of our feminity. I think that in her younger days, Beyonce cared much more about the strength of young females because she noticed the harshness of a being a young woman in a very unequal society (the late 90s & early 00s were very sexiest in many ways, ). Her Destinys Child days are more interesting in the sense of focusing on the ideals of female empowerment, than lets say her later years. That obviously has to do with an interest in love songs and party anthems on her behalf and her producers.

I personally think Alicia keys looks like a man haha, kinda like Robin Thickes wife, I have no idea why, but that's always been how I felt about her. I used to like Alicia but her music stopped being interesting to me some years back (but I always check out her albums to see what she is doing). Alicia Keys and Beyonce arent that different to me, they are following the path of their idols, if Alicia Keys was following Patricia Rushen & (Prince) (which she will never be, because she aint talented enough or virtuoso on the piano) and Beyonce is Tina Turner & (Michael Jackson) (which she will never be either, because she isnt as dynamic as her) they are just doing what their idols were doing in the past, they arent as creative as we might think they are.

But the slutty image you are speaking is based on your perception on what is tasteful or not. It has nothing to do with her really, but rather what some people view as "good" fashion vs "bad" fashion, but in the fashion world - individuality comes first. I agree that Bey should give more to charities and such things, but we could say the same thing about so many celebrities. I think because Beyonce was silent for many years, people misunderstood her and thought she was perfect but nobody is perfect. Both Alicia Keys & Beyonce have boring personalities to me, they are very simple and they are not inspirational. Sex sells though ....

I agree with Musicslave here. I think Beyonce is very insecure about criticism. She should be at that stage to, as her husband once said, "brush the dirt off your shoulders", and keep it moving but it seems she's still struggling to prove to everyone that she has talent. It's like there's no denying she does but it seems she's still struggling with self-doubt and when people point out her kinks, she has to prove to them that she has it. It's sad really. Sixteen years into her career and she still has to "prove" herself. That's why I worry about her sometimes because I think she tends to overwork herself. Like didn't she get tips from Michael, Whitney and the likes on what NOT to do in terms of her career?

[Edited 2/1/13 8:43am]

Timmy84 said:

I agree with Musicslave here. I think Beyonce is very insecure about criticism. She should be at that stage to, as her husband once said, "brush the dirt off your shoulders", and keep it moving but it seems she's still struggling to prove to everyone that she has talent. It's like there's no denying she does but it seems she's still struggling with self-doubt and when people point out her kinks, she has to prove to them that she has it. It's sad really. Sixteen years into her career and she still has to "prove" herself. That's why I worry about her sometimes because I think she tends to overwork herself. Like didn't she get tips from Michael, Whitney and the likes on what NOT to do in terms of her career?

[Edited 2/1/13 8:43am]

Hey Beyonce, if you want to prove something, how about writing a song all by yourself and not relying on The Dream, Ne-Yo, Sean Garrett, etc.....

That verdict is still out......

On another note: Damn she's looking good! Still would like to see her experiment with her hair more. She's very predictable when it comes to her image.

Timmy, what are you expecting to see from her during her SB perfomance?

[Edited 2/1/13 9:36am]

Musicslave said:

Timmy84 said:

I agree with Musicslave here. I think Beyonce is very insecure about criticism. She should be at that stage to, as her husband once said, "brush the dirt off your shoulders", and keep it moving but it seems she's still struggling to prove to everyone that she has talent. It's like there's no denying she does but it seems she's still struggling with self-doubt and when people point out her kinks, she has to prove to them that she has it. It's sad really. Sixteen years into her career and she still has to "prove" herself. That's why I worry about her sometimes because I think she tends to overwork herself. Like didn't she get tips from Michael, Whitney and the likes on what NOT to do in terms of her career?

[Edited 2/1/13 8:43am]

Hey Beyonce, if you want to prove something, how about writing a song all by yourself and not relying on The Dream, Ne-Yo, Sean Garrett, etc.....

That verdict is still out......

On another note: Damn she's looking good! Still would like to see her experiment with her hair more. She's very predictable when it comes to her image.

Timmy, what are you expecting to see from her during her SB perfomance?

[Edited 2/1/13 9:36am]

I honestly don't know... I just hope she doesn't have any type of "malfunction" lol

Beyonce Draws Inspiration...Super Bowl

Beyonce flashes her pearly whites.

When Beyonce shared footage of her rehearsal for the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show, I joked that the scenes of her on a laptop were telltale signs of her surfing the web for inspiration from more original entertainers. Little did I know that I was right on the stolen money.

While chatting with the NFL Network, Beyonce revealed that she has been studying past Super Bowl shows by Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson to learn from their performances. Yet, to ensure that people accept her unoriginality as just another of her quirks, she quickly flashed a deceptive smile.

Beyonce also explained her decision to use “The Star Spangled Banner” for her own personal gain at her Super Bowl press conference earlier today. “I figured it was the best way to address it and move on. I love my job. I love my country. I love that I’m able to do what I was born to do, so I’m proud.” Somebody please get that printed on a pledge pin!

Watch Beyonce’s interview with the NFL below:

GoldDolphin said:

Trust me girl, I aint one of those people who stan for anyone without being objective but we're cool . It's just I personally feel that this whole female empowerment thing goes overboard sometimes, it's like you have to be a certain way to embrace your strength /empowerment as a woman.

I AGREE with this but at the same we as the public have a right to our opinion.

Once again, my opinion is not based on Beyonce the person because I dont know her personally likewise with Alicia Keys.

I was specificially describing the images they display and persona's they present to us. You made an arguement that implied that Beyonce represents Female Empowerment and I disagree with that. Maybe I misunderstood what you were really trying to say because I do agree with the bolded sentence above. Your right, there is not one way to represent Female Empowerment but Female Empowerment means different things to different people. So their definition will influence what they think is or is not Female Empowerment or to be empowered.

Obviously looks doesn't have nothing to do with female empowerment, but more often than not - people will base your empowerment based on how you look. I'm a living example of that, many people think I'm this way or another because of the way I look but I'm the most complex person out there. It happens very often and it's based on peoples opinions on how a woman who's empowered is supposed to look, walk or talk.

Unfornately, our society is very judgemental in general and it isnt fair or right.

People automatically judge on looks or attire because that is the first thing they see and if they do not know you personally, that is what they are going to use to judge by. This occurs every day with regular people and no it isnt right but people do it, we all all do it subconsciously and do not realize it sometimes.

However, I still think that a woman who insists she represent female empowerment will also display that in how she carries herself, how she presents herself, her actions and how she dresses.

Lets see... lets take Beyonces sister for example, Solange....shes not a ugly girl, shes very attractive and she dresses very fashionable (I think more than Beyonce) but I never get the vibe that she wants you to look at her as a barbie doll or a sex symbol. To me, I get that she wants you to either accept her for what she is or c-ya . She expresses herself through her clothing and how she presents herself in a free spirit non conventional way and to me I think that is better example of female empowerment because she is not conforming to the ideal norm of how women are presented in the media and even without trying she still is a attractive woman.

I dont think I missed the mark,but it was quite late when I wrote this anyways haha...

That's up for debate though, because while we as a free women can chose to put on whatever clothes we want and still be empowered, there's a lot of cynicism in that, because if we do dress a certain way that used to be a way of control from middle aged men (that used to control the world for the longest of time and dictate what was proper for women to wear) it takes away some of our freedom. But Beyonce is no different from the women who choose to walk around naked in the 60-70s, to liberate themselves from the rules that had been put on women for ages. If she or any other women for that matter, wants to undress /reveal parts of their bodies - that is her right to do so, unless someone is MAKING her do these things, which is really hard to know, because the music industry has so many people that decides what you should or shouldn't do. But lets say that Beyonce does want to display herself as an empowered women with revealing clothes? Would that make her less empowered than lets say Josephine Baker (who was also an empowered woman, but danced around in minstrel shows and shaked her ass for white folks? Josephine was also a very political person and did many things for women). Like I said it's a very complex question, because there are no wrong answers.

There are no wrong answers because people define Female Empowerment differently and since there are so many different perspectives on what is or not female empowerment, it is not necessarily a one way street. Thats why I found a definition and posted it because that is one definition of what Female Empowerment is. Ive read alot of definitions and have personally been apart of a female empowerment non profit organization for young women so I know what it means and what it really is.

I do hear you out though and I exactly really agree with you but my focus was not just solely on Beyonces dress attire or sexual images, it was also on the kind of music Beyonce makes, how she presents herself in her music videos and the extra charities and activities that she does outside of music that would encourage female empowerment or reflect that is something she is actively trying to represent.

My opinion is this (since we already both agree looks has nothing to do with the word) if Beyonce wanted to represent Female Empowerment, she would not dress skanky, she would not talk about penises or other derogatory meaingless things in her music, she would present herself as a woman who wanted to be seen as a symbol of female empowerment instead of a Barbie Doll or Sexual object. I exactly her image is the total opposite of female empowerment and she more so degrades women, black women in particularly.

And I really have to say this, as a young woman, I AM SICK AND TIRED of how we are represented in the media! We are presented as sexual objects, skanks etc nothing to do with how intelligent we are or how creative we think or how mindprovoking our music or talent is. And I think its sad because it does not really reflect us as nothing more than objects. So when someone like Beyonce says she represents Female Empowerment, I LAUGH because she does not and she obviously does not know what it means because if she did she would be donating and trying to built shelters for women who have been raped or battered.

It's not up to you or me, to say what Beyonce is trying to convey, but I would think that if she says she's an empowered woman- then we should believe her, because we cant base our ideas of female empowerment on someone else, that might have other ideals than ours. There is nobody in this world that has the right or wrong answer in anything, it's a highly objective and subjective thing. I think that Beyonce is like many women in this world, that we are on a constant search to be independant and free from old ideals of how we are as women, but also trying to please a part of those old ideals, we don't want to be militant in our cause that we forget the power of our feminity. I think that in her younger days, Beyonce cared much more about the strength of young females because she noticed the harshness of a being a young woman in a very unequal society (the late 90s & early 00s were very sexiest in many ways, ). Her Destinys Child days are more interesting in the sense of focusing on the ideals of female empowerment, than lets say her later years. That obviously has to do with an interest in love songs and party anthems on her behalf and her producers.

I personally think Alicia keys looks like a man haha, kinda like Robin Thickes wife, I have no idea why, but that's always been how I felt about her. I used to like Alicia but her music stopped being interesting to me some years back (but I always check out her albums to see what she is doing). Alicia Keys and Beyonce arent that different to me, they are following the path of their idols, if Alicia Keys was following Patricia Rushen & (Prince) (which she will never be, because she aint talented enough or virtuoso on the piano) and Beyonce is Tina Turner & (Michael Jackson) (which she will never be either, because she isnt as dynamic as her) they are just doing what their idols were doing in the past, they arent as creative as we might think they are.

But the slutty image you are speaking is based on your perception on what is tasteful or not. It has nothing to do with her really, but rather what some people view as "good" fashion vs "bad" fashion, but in the fashion world - individuality comes first. I agree that Bey should give more to charities and such things, but we could say the same thing about so many celebrities. I think because Beyonce was silent for many years, people misunderstood her and thought she was perfect but nobody is perfect. Both Alicia Keys & Beyonce have boring personalities to me, they are very simple and they are not ispirational. Sex sells though ....

I exactly disagree with the bolded . I feel like I do have a right to express my opinion on what is being presented to me and I think that I have a right to question it. Thats the problem nowadays, people dont question what is being presented to them...(not judging but questioning and researching)

Like I said, this is not about judging her as a person but more so questioning the authenticity of what she is trying to portray. Now self empowerment is slightly different from someone who says they represent female empowerment. Anybody can be empowered and one thing you are right about is, that people do not have a right to question someone who says they are empowered because that is an individual thing.

But if someone insists they represent the empowerment of a population or sex than thats a bit different.

On Alicia Keys: I guess people have their opinions I am not a big fan of Alicia Keys but I think she is very attractive with and WITHOUT makeup (and she still maintains a classy image and although her music might be bland its 10x better than Beyonce's) and Robin Thicke's wife (Paula Patton) is very attractive (she does not look anything like a dog but hey thats my opinion) Paula is another one who is also more attractive than Beyonce.

Ima be unbiased......Beyonce is not ugly.... she's far from it BUT I dont think shes "gorgeous either" because Ive seen women/black women who look like her on the street and celebrities and alot who are more attractive than her as well. So to me she is "average looking" and she is even more average looking when she doesnt have makeup on, no weave.

But I guess what you look like without makeup doesnt matter since these celebrities are constantly made up and people seem to not care about that and just accept what is presented to them even if its "not real".

Thats why the whole sex sells is all gimmick because none of it is real and none of these people look like that when they wake up in the morning

I wasnt calling Beyonce a slut, I said that how she dresses sometimes and portrays herself in music videos comes off very trashy which is why I said, she does not represent female empowerment and instead want to be viewed as a sex symbol. You can be a sex symbol and still be classy with how you present yourself.

^^^ I must confess I was personally surprised how many people on the org considered Beyonce "average looking"...I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. As someone who likes both Alicia & Bee, I think they're both very pretty but if I HAD to pick one I'd probably say 'Yonce. (and she still looks pretty even without makeup ) Alicia is....I can't really explain but it's like every time I see her smile, her eyes are not really smiling along if that makes any sense LOL But I'm not really a fan of Bey's pin straight dirty blonde hair like a lot of you guys...either natural look or even brown wavy hair compliments her features a lot better imo. I hope she realizes that stale concept is exactly what's making her look less beautiful and rather boring.

Regardless, I think she has such a gorgeous smile!!

[Edited 2/1/13 20:36pm]

All I know is I won't be watching the SB performance. All this 'reuniting' with DC and the new HBO special and her perfectly timed revelation of her miscarriage is all just calculated for more SB coverage. Personally, I would love to see a REAL singer up there...no matter how 'old-fashioned.' Gladys Knight just brought me to tears on the NAACP Image Awards...LIVE

I'm quite sure I will get all the highlights here.