So Beyoncé. Where to begin? Has she disappeared up her perfectly polished you know what by releasing that deific image of herself and her newly born twins? Or is she making an important statement?
I tend to veer towards the latter while taking note that her Insta posts of late have been nothing short of hilariously naff. But. And it is a big Queen Bey shaped BUT.
The popularity of the posts are significant, not to be ignored. Nearly 10 million on the last count, close to topping her ‘Breaking the Internet’ record of 11,123,614 likes for that equally bemusing Instagram photo sharing the news she was expecting twins.
Remember? The veil, the flowers, the frilly knickers and mismatched bra. As the man says, you couldn’t make it up.
And we haven’t even touched on the names yet. SIR! Bestowing a title to a newborn. Brilliant. And Rumi, quite lovely really, named after the 13th Century Persian poet. Anyway the babies are sooooo cute.
Who could say a bad word? Well there’s no shortage.
A headline this week ran, ‘Have we reached peak Beyoncé?’ Eh no we haven’t. She’s called Queen Bey for a reason. She has earned that crown and will go down in the anals of history, those questionable Insta photos and all.
The way I see it is this: The photos are a celebration of the Sacred Feminine, which has been repressed and shut down since the Catholic Church deliberately misidentified Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. Let’s not get started on Islam.
The Sacred Feminine is about the wellbeing of the planet, the innate knowledge of women and mothers when it comes to nurturing, cycles, instinct and opting for love. The Sacred Feminine is not AGAINST men as some eejits fear, but it works in perfect duality with masculine qualities.
I see Beyoncé’s imagery, embracing religious iconography, as a moment to challenge our notions of the patriarchy and its damaging effects on the way we live. There I said it. I also believe the reason she got so many likes is because somewhere deep inside us, we understand where she’s coming from. Yes, it’s self-indulgent. So what? We also are aware, she’s no ‘basic bitch’ as she puts it in her magnificant (and I don’t use the word loosely} Lemonade visual album. Beyoncé is more than a Kim K narcissist and we know it. She’s pals with the Obamas with good reason. She has a message.
Quite frankly, Beyoncé’s art history knowledge stacks up. Her use of 26 year old Ethiopian multimedia artist, Awol Erizku, is relevant.
He’s a photographic whizz who received an MA in Fine Art from Yale in 2014, with a deep understanding of black culture in America, another strong theme of Beyoncé’s work.
So when it comes down to it, I look at this photo and I want to cheer and celebrate all that is utterly wondrous about women, whether we’re moms or not. I see a strength and a power that goes beyond the usual, ‘Out of 10, what would you give me?’ So Beyonce, here’s one more like from a lesser spotted fan.
