As we covered last week, Beyonce got the cover of the May issues of Elle and Elle UK. Allegedly, she’s just promoting her athletic/leisurewear line, Ivy Park. But many people believe that she’s also promoting her new album, which could drop at any moment. LIK RIGHT NOW! No, she hasn’t dropped it. Yet. Anyway, when Elle dropped the covers last week, they promised that Bey had done an exclusive interview with them “about freedom, feminism, how her new fashion line, Ivy Park, helps women love their bodies, and more.” I particularly want to read the quotes about feminism, but Elle is holding those back, probably until later this week. For now, they’ve just released a handful of quotes. Read these and tell me it doesn’t seem like Beyonce just did an email interview.
The ethos of the Ivy Park brand: “It’s really the essence: to celebrate every woman and the body she’s in while always striving to be better. I called it Ivy Park because a park is our commonality. We can all go there; we’re all welcomed. It’s anywhere we create for ourselves. For me, it’s the place that my drive comes from. I think we all have that place we go to when we need to fight through something, set our goals and accomplish them.”
The pressure of perfection. “It’s really about changing the conversation. It’s not about perfection. It’s about purpose. We have to care about our bodies and what we put in them. Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health—take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. The world will see you the way you see you, and treat you the way you treat yourself.”
The role of businesswoman, running her own company: “It’s exciting, but having the power to make every final decision and being accountable for them is definitely a burden and a blessing. To me, power is making things happen without asking for permission. It’s affecting the way people perceive themselves and the world around them. It’s making people stand up with pride.”
If she said those words in the context of a face-to-face interview, so be it. I just don’t believe it, because there is a reason why Beyonce was not speaking on behalf of Beyonce for several years – it wasn’t JUST a power move to cultivate an air of mystery, although that was the formal excuse. The other reason she went silent was because someone on her team – or perhaps Beyonce herself – finally realized that she’s not a great interview. Now, all that being said…I don’t have any problems with what she’s saying. I do think it’s funny that in one moment she’s talking about how it’s not about being perfect and in the next moment she’s like, yeah, I’m a perfectionist making every single decision.
Photos courtesy of Paola Kudacki/Elle Magazine.
i think when she interviews its very clear that she lives in a bubble within the universe the rest of us live in.
I thought that it shown through in her voiceover for the commercial she did. She has good messages, but she doesn’t seem to be really connected to ‘the rest of us’ and the general publics struggles, daily life struggles, work struggles, etc.
She’s incredibly rich and has been famous since she was a teenager. Why would she be connected to the rest of us?
I don’t like that cover.
I do like her hair on the cover.
I like her hair styled that way as well.
It’s not about perfection. But make sure there isn’t one flaw visible in the photos of me.
Exactly!
And give me that thigh gap!
I like Lainey’s explanation about this so called Beyonce interview. Basically the person who got the exclusive interview is the daughter of one of Bey-Z’s best friends, so if it was face to face than it’s probably true but also she explained that usually there’s more of a “feel” when you get a personal interview. Everything you read before the questions get asked, how they are sitting, where, when, how, why, etc. What you don’t get out of these 3 questions.
It definitely sounds like a carefully curated speech and not like B at all. I think it shows self-awareness on her part that she knows she does not come off well in interviews and that she’s got the smarts to control it.
She’s not my taste in music but I do admire her business sense.
Reminds of jlo n flash dance!!! Beautiful,talented but like so many people with $$$$ n yes people,they r not in tune with the rest of us. I really doubt she goes to the park,lol. The whole thing about doing it without permission , well it works if its your company, can’t see myself going to work n going on about.
I am one of those people who is a much better at written communication vs verbal communication. For some reason, when I try to express my thoughts out loud, I seem to clam up and find myself unable to clearly convey what I’m trying to say, it’s very frustrating. I am better off writing things out. I’m not saying that Beyonces interview was written, but I can certainly understand why someone not be the best at face to face interviews.
Me too
I feel the same way. It’s not easy.
Shes so fake
Impressive amount of photoshop in those photos.
“We have to care about our bodies and what we put in them.”
Says the person with a record endorsement deal from Pepsi, the epitome of health, clearly the drink of choice for people treating their body like a temple. But, to her credit, I think she cares enough of hers to not swallow one drop of it, she just poses next to the can.
So basically she is launching a fitness wear line with an ad that looks like the 80’s flash dance wear… and that is different how from every other brand out there, because all I hear is that she named it after a park. That is in no way inspirational to me. Tell us about something we can care about – that is fair trade, or that it has some qualities other brands lack – durability, fit, available in all sizes etc.
As far as power and how it makes you proud, that’s a great thing, I’m sure, only it does not apply to anyone who is not a successful business owner with zero debt. Everyone else answers to a board, investors, a boss, and we have to cooperate with others; making every decision singly doesn’t work, even assuming any one person had the brains and energy to do it.
I suppose I don’t blame her – but that quote is a VERY male definition of what power has and still is within a patriarchal society. It doesn’t make her fail the feminist test but it sure doesn’t add anything new to the conversation – as usual.
Bwyonce could cure cancer and people would still find fault!
I have a problem with this first because she is shilling something and I’m tired of celebs selling stuff beyond “their craft”, but mostly (I can be unfair with this, I know), it seems to me that she is using feminism as part of her brand to show off that she is the boss, that she is strong and does whatever she wants and while that seems to be true I don’t like to see feminism used like this, there’s something artificial perhaps? I can totally say what it is, but it seems strategic and not something that comes across naturally with her. And using photoshop to reshape her body or running on a treadmill with heeled trainers doesn’t yell feminism to me. There’s that too.
running on the treadmill with heeled trainers doesn’t scream feminism? excuse me but what has feminism got to do with what you wear on a f-king treadmill. What has the use of photoshop got to do with feminism? You think the magazines don’t photoshop guys’s abs. Natural or artificial, she’s embracing a label lots of women rin away from and sincerely, you’re just reaching. Really, your comment made zero sense and I’m sure Beyoncé with her fake feminism has done more to help women than you have while you sit in front of your computer mouthing off.
First, you don’t know me so I don’t understand how you can say what I do or don’t do in my life. I gave my opinion and didn’t disrespect anyone.
Second, I really see a dissonance about screaming feminism and posting instagram pictures where she OBVIOUSLY creates tight gaps. How can you profess accepting your imperfections and girl power when you feel the need to do that? Or should we just forget about it?
Third, women are constantly “asked” to do really uncomfortable things in the name of beauty. Exercising with high heels isn’t healthy in any way and in MY interpretation it just reinforces that idea that we should subject ourselves to pain if we want to look in a certain way.
Again, this is MY opinion and if my comment makes zero sense explain me why.
ooohhh. The high heels are for the shoot for Elle (a fashion magazine). I didn’t see her wearing high heels anywhere in the promo video. Go and look again. The full spread is here http://www.elle.com/fashion/a35286/beyonce-elle-cover-photos/ and I don’t see her running around in heels. And I’m 100% sure the shoes in her line have no heels. That’s what her upcoming line with Giuseppe Zanotti is for. But what if she is? She dances with them on stage too so I don’t see a problem.
I don’t know you? You don’t know her either and maybe we need to get educated on what this “feminism” is all about: Equal Rights for both genders! The filter you put on your photo, the thigh-gap you photoshop has no business with feminism because guess what, Men use photoshop and airbrush too. If you want to talk about bad body standards, fine but what you wrote in your comment has no correlation with what feminism really is. And I still maintain that the earlier comment is ignorant as hell. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
I wasn’t talking about this photoshoot but about the video she did to promote Ivy Park. She runs with heeled trainers on that video.
I don’t see what equal rights have to do with pointing out a dissonance between what she preaches and what she does. I’m talking about her brand. Using a filter to look better in a photo for instagram isn’t the same as changing your body shape to look skinny.
And yes, bad body standards become an issue when you use it to sell something and then do something that detracts from what you say when you want to come across in a certain way. That’s hypocrisy.
I’m not sure why this seems so heated. Your comments make sense to me Sofia.
Using or accepting photoshop doesn’t mean a person isn’t a feminist. It just means that either they don’t care enough about other people editing their photo a little bit to make a fuss about it or really pay attention to it, or, if it’s a selfie they photoshopped on their own, it just means they have a particular insecurity about their body. It would be great if we lived in a world where nobody had any insecurities about their physical appearances, but they do. It still doesn’t mean they can’t be a feminist. As for the heels comment… it’s pretty obvious why Chioma had a problem with that ignorant comment: it just spreads ignorance about what it means to be a feminist (which is a part of the reason why there are so many women who don’t understand feminism and reject the movement for dumb reasons like “I like girly-girl/feminine stuff”.) Feminism is a political movement, not a dress code. So saying someone’s not a feminist because they wore high heels on a treadmill is as silly as saying someone’s not a liberal because they’re wearing a cross. Not all feminists avoid things that are considered feminine or seen as silly. Not all liberals avoid things that are considered religious (like crosses or holidays).
Can you be a feminist if you only want to be viewed as a sex object?
yes, Bobo. There are people who want to always feel sexy and still believe in equality of both sexes.
If it comes from a position of power, if a woman isn’t using it to cover lack of self esteem and gain validation then yes. In that context it is a choice.
Feeling sexy is not the same as being a sex object. You can feel sexy when you are by yourself – but you are not being viewed by anyone else as a sex object. And I’m sure quite a lot of strippers, pole dancers, and “glamour ” models who are being viewed as sex objects aren’t feeling very sexy. Being seen as a sexy person- fine. Being seen as an object of any sort- not great. Views on whether Beyoncé is presenting herself as the first or the second may differ. A comment I made about her pose in the first photo disappeared- it’s a very odd and unnatural position.
@Bobo: There’s probably almost nobody who literally wants to be seen as an object instead of a human being. The problem with people who slut-shame and victim-blame is that they see no difference between a woman “wanting to be seen as nothing but a sex object” and a woman wanting to not live up to their standard of modesty, being sexual, or wanting to be seen as attractive/sexy. To the person with a virgin-whore complex, if a woman shows that she’s doing those things in that second category (especially if it’s in a way the shamer deems ‘vulgar’ ‘promiscuous’, or ‘not intimate enough’), she’s automatically making a ‘sex object’ out of herself. (When really, the sexy=dehumanized object argument is it’s own objectification). That’s how what’s really an internalized victim-blaming and misogyny problem often gets confused for “concern for women” and “feminist critique” in the minds of people doing it.
Thanks for the replies… I needed clarification.
I reread what I wrote and now i understand how I got my point of view mixed. I still don’t like how she uses feminism in her branding but yes, as a political movement it is not a dress code.
I still maintain that she is a hypocrite because she professes things she doesn’t really follow and for someone who conveys so much power she also reinforces beauty standards that are far from being healthy (that’s why I’m annoyed by the heels when running and the photoshop instagram pictures). This is all about her branding and that’s what my focus was when commenting. But it is her choice and it is her business.
I love her hair here. And her eyebrows are spectacular.
Love her curly hair and the cover. I think the reason Beyonce didn’t do any interviews for a couple of years was because of the elevator fight. She knew everyone wanted to ask her about it and get to the reason it happened.
“Read these and tell me it doesn’t seem like Beyonce just did an email interview.”
An email interview that her publicists “helped” with.
I don’t know about you guys but I’ve seen Beyonce talk on talk shows before and she doesn’t come off very sensitive to other peoples feelings. She reminds me more of a robot. Her responses are very robotic like…there’s no facial expressions and she’s very careful about her image. I seriously don’t think this woman has any good advice or experience she can fully share with the world and relate to people. She’s just about the business she’s in and her image. She is not a role model to young people…and if people think her music is speaking to them…just remember that someone else probably wrote those lyrics for her and it’s not actually from her heart.
She IS a role model to young people and just because she sings a song someone else wrote, doesn’t mean it’s not from her heart and experience. Elvis, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston never wrote their own lyrics and people still feel a connection to their music.
I just got the cramp out of my forehead from the William and Kate post and now I read this foolery and eye-rolled hard yet again. Sounds like some flunky ad rep wrote that circle talk. It’s like Mad Libs. A bunch of words strung together that don’t mean anything. It just sounds good to those who don’t want to think too hard.
Her work out gear is not something I would wear to yoga, fitness class, fitness walking, rowing club…none of that. I work out 4 days a week over lunch hour with a large group of men and women, all powerful people making a difference in the lives of people in need. Not one person in our fitness or yoga class is ever wearing a leotard, shrug, leg warmer’s and stilettos. That’s hilarious. You go Bey. A bit out of touch, but you go!
@ Anare I have to put on a hat you threw so much shade! Deliciously funny. Thanks for making my evening.