Beyoncé contributed an essay to The Shriver Report, titled “Gender Equality Is a Myth!” As we all know, Bey has been pumping this girl power fist hard for a while now, so this essay falls right in line with that ideology.
The piece is short and to the point.
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.
I completely and emphatically agree with everything said here. Gender equality is long overdue. However, I’m struggling with believing that Beyoncé dropped the word “commensurate.” We all love B’s drive and phenomenal talent, but homegirl has never been touted for her mental prowess. Either way, kudos to her for rallying behind women’s empowerment.