Letâs start by stating the obvious: Beyonce is NOT an underdog. Beyonce is NOT an oppressed member of society. In fact, Beyonce does not share with other African Americans the same struggles they do. So pretending she is âone of themâ culturally or represents them culturally, or that she has the same place in society as other African Americans is pure ignorance.
It is also ignorance when black people see offense when and where there is none. Case in point, Madonnaâs cheeky instagram post about Beyonce and her husband learning from her. The avalanche of criticism Madonna got is ridiculous and disproportional with what she actually intended to express. Are people going to deny Madonnaâs influence in pop culture now?
Madonna, as a matter of fact, should be the first name in mind when anyone thinks of popular music being regarded as an art form. The woman created the landscape for contemporary musicians to express themselves and be regarded as âreal artists.â
But then, Madonna is white and âold,â and bashing her for whatever reason is now in. But what these haters have forgotten (or are trying to forget) is that only Madonna can teach a master class on this subject. No other pop artist alive has done it better than Madonna. Acknowledging it does not hurt.
Beyonce herself has admitted to being inspired by Madonna in several occasions. And even if she hadnât acknowledged it, anyone with half a working brain would be able to see it by looking at their work. Without Madonna, Beyonceâs shows would not be the same, Beyonceâs videos would not be the same, Beyonceâs performances would not be the same. Madonna, literally, invented the modern age pop artist model.
A lot of the criticism Madonna got attacked her for using the word âmasterâ and people accused her of being racist. The first thing I have to say about this: do people REALLY think Madonna was being racist? One Beyonce fan told me âeveryone knows the word âmasterâ refers to when slaves had to call their white owner âmasterâ.â Mmmm... not really. Everyone will THINK that if you claim thatâs what Madonna intended to say.
What everyone actually knows, is that the word âmasterâ refers to someone with an advanced degree of knowledge and expertise in an area -- and no one in sound mind can say Madonna is not a master in pop culture. The interesting thing about Madonnaâs post is that is actually refers to a famous saying â the student becomes the master,â which should be taken as a compliment. Those students were learning from the master to one day become the masters. Itâs simple, itâs cheeky, itâs endearing.
But, no, we live in an era where black people are allowed to victimize themselves in every circumstance. So another Beyonce fan told me on Instagram that no white person should ever use the word âmasterâ near a black person. Tell that to all the black people who will gladly be in Master Chef!
Now-a-days, we focus more on the perception of things than on what they actually mean, and because of that, anyone who wants to play the victim card, gets ahead. Evidently, Madonna did not mean to offend anyone, yet, people felt offended by it, so it is Madonnaâs fault. The logic behind it (and you will see many comments like this on Madonnaâs Instagram) is: âI know you didnât mean to offend anyone, but I felt offended anyway. So, please, apologize.â
The problem is, this kind of rationale is only accepted if you are pulling the race card. âI am black and I felt offended, so you must apologize.â Well, I am deeply offended when people use their race to take advantage of others and the Madonna bashing in this case is deeply offensive. All these people must apologize then, because they made me feel offended, regardless of their intentions. Oh, I get it. This âmeâ offended is only valid if "meâ equals black.
If this is not an example of racism, I do not know what is.
African Americans struggle with real issues every single day. But as long as they continue picking fights with everyone for no reason, no one will actually pay attention to the REAL issues at hand.
We do not live in a day and age where the old school media controls pop culture. In fact, it is the other way around. Self-made content for social media is what dictates the zeitgeist now. If black community leaders focused their attention to producing AND consuming content that benefits their agenda and celebrated their culture, they wouldnât need to pick fights with people who actually celebrate black culture (like Madonna has always done).
I cannot stand Kanye West, but he was absolutely right when he talked about âcultural slaveryâ (not physical slavery). We actually live in an era where we have the absolute power to empower who we want to. Minority groups do not have to watch âwhite madeâ TV or films anymore. There is content being made by every walks of life everywhere - why don't they support them then?
Madonna could have easily stayed in her âwhiteâ lane like most female white artists do. But no, she decided to give a voice to minorities (gay, black, latinos) in an era when they did not have the same access to the mainstream media as today. Madonnaâs work with minorities have always been respectful and appreciative; she has always shown apperception of the gay, latino and black communities. When she did Vogue, she pulled out members of the voguing scene, hired them as choreographers and stars of her video and tour. Today, itâs âcoolâ to call it âappropriation,â even though it clearly was appreciation and apperception. Differently from Madonna, when Beyonce copied Bob Fosseâs choreography for âSingle Ladies,â she put other black dancers by her side and presented it as an original idea to the black community. On the same note, no one dares accuse âhalf breedâ Cher of doing the same with Native American communities.Â
Finally, here is what makes this whole thing even more ridiculous:
African Americans and the music created by them have been the main force in mainstream music since the 90s. Â The music business in the USA has been run by black artists for about 20 years now. In that sense, Beyonce is the oppressor. In that sense, she is culturally appropriating white peopleâs culture and presenting it to the black community as her own.Â
And for those members of her fan base who told me âa white woman never taught Beyonce anythingâ in response to Madonnaâs instagram post, here are some of examples of Beyonce, the âQueen B,â learning a thing or two from white people:
Here, Beyonce (not an underdog, and not being forced by white men to create this video) copies three white ladies doing a choreography created by whiter-than-white choreographer Bob Fosse.Â
Here, Beyonce (who is not an oppressed underdog), copies Kylie Minogueâs fembot in one of her performances. But hey, Beyonce fans still claim she was ânever inspired by a white artist.âÂ
Here, stills from Beyonceâs âHauntedâ video which is stylistically the same as Madonnaâs Justify My Love. Even the narrative is the same (except that good, old, boring Beyonce did not create any controversy with her video).Â
âHauntedâ also borrowâs from Madonnaâs Guy Bourdin-inspired video for Hollywood. Guy Bourdin was also white. So for those still claiming âno white artist ever inspired Beyonce...â try a new one.Â
I mean, letâs be honest... Beyonce even copied Madonnaâs promotional posters for the Re-Invention Tour to promote her Mrs. Carter Tour... she even photoshopped herself to look as white as Madonna. And the âbeyhiveâ claims Madonna and no other âwhite artistâ inspired her? Come on, folks... you canât erase history. Â
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