Last month, Beyoncé spontaneously released a new self-titled visual album, in which every song was accompanied by a music video. There were many things that Beyoncé claimed to be inspired by as she was creating this unique album. Beyoncé said that the visual aspect was added as she thinks people are beginning to lose appreciation of full albums and the way that each song works together to tell a story. For that, I can respect the hard work that she put into creating a video for each song on the album. Many of the songs and videos are well done and creative. However, the album as a whole is a bit too raunchy for my taste, especially considering the role model that Beyoncé has become to girls and women around the world, including me.
Beyoncé has always inspired me to appreciate everything about being a woman. She was always the kind of celebrity that had her own unique style, her own way of doing things and a sassy personality that she never let anyone change. Beyoncé was the kind of woman that would just say, “This is me! Deal with it.” But not like most other celebrities. She always had class, and I loved that about her. This album, however, has led me to believe she’s not quite as classy as I thought.
When I watched her new visual album for the first time, I was a little disappointed. Nearly every single video featured her half-naked with close-up after close-up of her body, accompanied by explicit lyrics that made me a little uncomfortable to listen to with my friends.
In the mini series of YouTube documentaries Beyoncé released after her album, she explained her mindset during the making the album. One song in particular, “Partition,” which is about making love in the backseat of a car, was particularly embarrassing for her to explain to her family. She mentions one line specifically: “Driver roll up the partition please, I don’t need you seeing ‘yoncé on her knees.” In the video, she dances on a stripper pole wearing nothing but a thong and a tiny bra. @@YouTube@@
“I was so embarrassed after I recorded the song because I’m just talking shit,” she said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t play this for my husband!’ I still haven’t played it for my mom. She’s going to be very mad at me.” @@RapUp@@
In Part Three of the video series, “Run ‘N Gun,” Beyoncé said she is not ashamed of showing off her body. She worked hard to get her body back after her pregnancy. Beyoncé also said that she wants to show the world that you can be a mother and still be sexy. Does sending that message really call for an album filled with raunchy lyrics and explicit videos? Her children are going to grow up and listen to her music and receive a thorough play-by-play of their parents’ sex life. If that’s not totally inappropriate, I don’t know what is.
In the second part of the video series, “Imperfection,” she said one of her goals in the album was “finding the beauty in imperfection.” If she wanted to show that there is beauty in imperfection, then why did she need to spend months recovering her post-baby body to show it off in the video? The messages she claims to be sending are not exactly making sense. @@eonline@@
I’m not going to say I have lost respect for Beyoncé because I think a lot of the messages she attempted to send were generally empowering, and she had good intentions. She’s undoubtedly beautiful inside and out, and the post-baby body is impressive. Next time, she should reconsider some of the messages she is sending to all those 15-year-old girls out there who are watching the album. They need to know that being sexy doesn’t mean you need to flaunt your body at every opportunity possible.