Get Real, Beyonce: Girls Don't Rule the World

not to be the stereotypical "hey-look-at-that-gendered-language" person, but just the fact she uses the word "girl" counters the whole idea of empowerment. if it were a guy singing the song about guys, do you think he would say "boys" or "men?" i understand embracing femininity is good, but it's also inferior phrasing... so i'm on par. 

Maybe Beyonce' feels like girls run the world because she has 'sexual power' (cuz that's the image I have in mind of her based on her videos) and she feels like that's real power. I guess she is not aware that she is catering to men through her skimpy outfits and that aside from 'sexual power', the rest of the women of this world don't run the word. Thousands of women have been gang raped in Africa, millions are trafficked as sex slaves, we don't get paid equally, even in Hollywood, female actress make abysmally less than men, for no good ass reason! It's time to stand up as a society (men and women) Besides, I don't want girls to run the world, I want human beings to run the world (not all men and women are human beings)

Is this whole "post-feminism" thing so many women ascribe to. As if we have made it, and there's no need to fight for our rights of equality anymore.

We are all queer fish.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

A big part of the problem is awareness. She makes a good point about women have so many more opportunities than they used to. For many women the feeling is that we have made it. That's how I felt for a long time. My parents raised me to believe I could do whatever I wanted and what I chose was a very traditional path, teacher, wife, and eventually stay at home mom. I married a man who treats me as a full partner. It wasn't until my late 30's before I was told I couldn't do something simply because I was a woman. Boy did that open my eyes. (For the record, my husband was equally outraged.)

The other part of it was this. More than once I have worked with men who treated me just fine, but I later learn that they intimidate, demean, and belittle other women in the work place. When I saw these men in action, I was shocked because they didn't ever talk to me that way. I'm not exactly sure why this happens. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my confidence that being a woman is irrelevant in the working relationship and of course you will treat me just like everyone else.

As a result, it took me a long time to really see the discrimination, the subtle power plays that happen everyday. That it wasn't because the woman didn't just stand up for herself but because many women are raised to accept that kind of behavior. And even if they don't accept it, they believe there is nothing they can do to change it. "That's just the way he is. He's from a different generation."

So until we all are unwilling to accept anything less than full respect as another human being, until we are willing to give men that same respect (i.e. the stupid guy syndrome), until all men understand that treating women with respect doesn't undermine their own personal power, this will continue.

It seriously drives me crazy that the government in my country (Canada) lists Women as a minority group on government documents.
You know why?
Because they can hold us down. And that's what it comes down to.

I understand that we need something to empower women, but I do not believe that Beyonce is the person to do it. Cute little number, though. I agree that we do not have the numbers to take over, if that is what Beyonce is trying to make us believe.
We need to take these old fuddy duddies out of congress, because they are not going to let women be in congress too much. We also need to change the idea of some of these companies, who believe that a woman cannot be CEO, AND raise a child. There are some people who believe that a woman should continue to stay at home, or take a lesser job like secretary. Banks still take offense when a woman wants to start her own company, or even own her own home. There are some cultures who still believe that in order for a woman to make it, she has to be married, and submit to her husband.
When these beliefs stop taking place, including men believing that a woman deserves being rapped, beaten, and killed, because she did not listen to any man, then we can sing ms. Knowles song with pride. Not to rule a man, but we have overcome, which I hope will happen in my lifetime.

I like a girl power anthem as much as the next girl (unless the next girl is Nineteen Percent). But I agree on all counts.

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Heather Gibbs Flett
http://rookiemoms.com
http://510Families.com
The Rookie Mom's Handbook

I most definitely agree! The most unfortunate bit of all this is the fact that ladies have everything they need to actually rule the world.
Take for instance in politics: ladies constitute over half of the registered voters in most countries,and yet they end up having a minority representation in elective bodies eg parliament!
I am,however, changing all this in my project "Queensville 2012 MDG3". G
oogle for details. Thanx.

Wow, now that is an incredible video! Good for her for speaking the truth. I recently watched Byonce on Oprah's Farewell show doing that song and all the while I was thinking "No we don't run the world." I agree with everything this vlogger said and proud that she shouted it out!

I don't know anything about the song she's talking about – it sounds like an updated sort of I am woman hear me roar kind of thing.

Aside from that, everything the vlogger said about the status of women is true. The fight for equality is far from over.

Virginia DeBolt, BlogHer Section Editor for Tech
virginia.debolt@blogher.com

Virginia blogs at Web Teacher ( http://www.webteacher.ws/ ) and First 50 Words ( http://first50.wordpress.com ).