In Defence of Beyonce Knowles

I’m a little late to the argument, but I recently read an article that called out Michelle Obama for hailing Beyonce as a role model. It left me troubled and a little perplexed, so I’ve decided to construct a delayed rebuttal. Back in April of this year, writer Rakhi Kumar addressed an open letter to the US First Lady, in which she gave Michelle a good scolding for her choice in role models for her two young daughters.

Kumar went on to deconstruct Beyonce’s costume at the Mrs Carter World Tour, and politely explained to Michelle that such wardrobe choices indubitably promote sex trafficking. This letter was originally featured on Huffington Post, but also made it on to Intent and Yahoo, before eventually appearing in the ‘trending articles’ on many a Facebook feed.

I should first make it clear that I respectfully disagree with Kumar’s deductions. Her post was problematic for two reasons:

1. It’s Misdirected

There is clearly no shortage of admiration or respect between Beyonce and the Obama family. During Barack Obama’s original presidential campaign in 2008, Beyonce repeatedly and publicly proclaimed her avid support.

She went on to gush about Michelle Obama, hailing her as “the ULTIMATE example of a truly strong African American woman.” Unsurprisingly, Beyonce was invited to perform at the president’s inaugural ball, and the Obama-Knowles alliance has been going strong ever since.

I think it’s safe to say that Michelle and her kids know Beyonce Knowles a little better than Ms. Kumar does. After the unwavering encouragement, and the success of Obama’s campaign, to ask Michelle not to allow her children to look up to a supportive and adoring family friend is presumptuous. To ask her not to let them admire a confident, independently successful woman who uses her prominence to passionately promote healthy body image for young women? That’s bizarre.

More to the point; Kumar’s problem isn’t even with Michelle Obama. It’s with Beyonce, her stylist, and, erm... sex traffickers.

2. It’s Slut Shaming

“Beyonce, performing in sheer body suits, nipples displayed, mouth open, high heels and sheer tights, shaking her butt on stage, can no longer be held by world leaders as an icon of female success.”

When I read the above passage, all I could hear was 30 Rock’s Kenneth earnestly professing that “everyone knows the only thing we should be ashamed of is our bodies.”

Look at that shame!

Under the guise of empowerment, Rakhi Kumar breaks a fundamental rule of female solidarity; absolutely no slut shaming. To paraphrase Tina Fey in Mean Girls, we have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores; it just makes it okay for guys to call us sluts and whores. Furthermore, I can’t shake the impression that Kumar is worried Beyonce will have our sisters and daughters sashaying down the road in glittering lingerie, leaving them open to attack from sexual predators. And to be fair, I get impression because that’s exactly what Kumar is getting at:

“Understand that in an obscene act of manipulation by the young men who will pimp them, for a very short amount of time - maybe only for a half an hour in one of their early encounters - young girls who are trafficked do actually get to taste the experience that they have identified as ultimate feminine success: they get given hot pants or body suits like the one Beyonce's dancing in, they dance for men who find them alluring, and for a very short time, these very young girls are convinced that they've made it - only to be assaulted, abused, and sometimes murdered in the years ahead, by the men who they thought wanted them.”

I find it astounding that Kumar can attempt to hold Beyonce responsible for the crimes of human traffickers. The argument is disturbingly similar, in my opinion, to the controversial remark by Constable Michael Sanguinetti back in 2011. Speaking at a crime prevention conference at York University, Sanguinetti advised that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

What Kumar is saying is this; Beyonce should not encourage girls to dress provocatively lest they should attract the eye of a perverted deviant. 

My question is this; Is warning women not to provoke rape and attack the only course of prevention against sexual crime?

Couldn’t we warn men not to rape and attack women?

I found the Open Letter to Michelle Obama tasteless and misguided, and I’m not sure why I found it labelled under ‘parenting’. Kumar advises a mother to steer her children away from a potential role model on the basis that she dares to embrace her body in a world where female sexuality is often exploited.  It’s a blatant and indignant attack on perceived wantonness, not a gem of a parenting tip.

Furthermore, if Michelle’s kids are indeed listening to what Beyonce has to say, the Obama’s have nothing to worry about.

Beyonce's own 'Open Letter to Michelle Obama'