It’s no secret. Beyonce is a self-proclaimed feminist.
And if the release of her self-titled album Beyonce is any indication, equality and womanhood are on the top of her priority list. With songs like “***Flawless”(featuring feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED speech on the definition of a feminist) and her unapologetic celebration of sexuality, it was only right that the singer be featured in nonprofit initiative The Shriver Report’s latest piece on the topic.
Joining Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Beyonce contributed her say in an essay titled Gender Equality is a Myth. Check it out below:
“We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect.
“Humanity requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. So why are we viewed as less than equal? These old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning. We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.
“We have a lot of work to do, but we can get there if we work together. Women are more than 50 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of voters. We must demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities.”
We couldn’t agree more.
SOURCE: Shriver Report | PHOTO CREDIT: Tumblr
