Fierce Like Sasha

Oh, the horror. Oh, the side eye.

As an avid Beyoncé fan, I am disappointed in her current portrayal in the media. The fuss and drama over Beyoncé is wild. I, myself, have read an article or two and watched some twitter videos over this alleged side eye controversy. 

For context, this whole thing was born on June 5, 2019 during game 3 of the NBA finals (I will admit I do not know what “game 3” means but it’s pretty irrelevant to the story). Beyoncé and Jay-Z sat court side cheering on the Golden State Warriors while they took on the Toronto Raptors. Next to Beyoncé sat Nicole Curran, wife of the Golden State Warriors owner. In one fateful moment, Curran leans over Beyoncé to talk to Jay-Z, and someone with a twitter account captures what seems to be Beyoncé giving this woman some side eye for leaning over her.

All I see is some justified annoyance for being leaned over. Plus, even if this isn’t at the root of the “side eye,” I would be pretty territorial of my husband if he cheated on me.

This, in a very non-direct, round-about way, gets me to my next point of why I think the stir around Beyoncé’s side eye is the silliest thing we should be talking about (when talking about Beyoncé). Beyoncé has done some incredible things; she’s been through a lot and created what I think is the greatest album ever made, Lemonade (although Adele won Album of the Year that year, but it’s ok, I love you, Adele). Why aren’t we focusing on that? As we all know, Jay-Z cheated on Beyoncé around 2014 leading to the empowering and groundbreaking Lemonade-- which I should point out is produced by Jay-Z (I think this is a great indicator of their relationship since he encouraged her to do this, producing songs that bash him a significant amount).

Lemonade, if you have not seen it, is a visual album incorporating themes of women empowerment and history. Specifically, Beyoncé incorporates her familial creole history with the poetry and prose of Somali poet Warsan Shire, a powerful poet and activist in the African community whose work brings new meanings to belonging and displacement. In the album, she progresses through her emotional stages of Jay-Z’s cheating scandal. The album is divided into eleven chapters, which separate the songs of the album. The chapters are titled “Intuition,” “Denial,” “Anger,” “Apathy,” “Emptiness,” “Accountability,” “Reformation,” “Forgiveness,” “Resurrection,” “Hope,” and “Redemption.” 

To be dramatic, I think Beyoncé re-defined marriage in a way. A lot of people thought that she should leave Jay-Z post-cheating scandal, but instead, she went through her own stages of grief—laid out in the chapters of her album—and came to terms with what happened. As a result, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s relationship grew (or at least I think it did). Her songs really say it all, but I am not expressing this nearly well enough, so go listen to the album.

There are so many examples of how Beyoncé turned a heart-shattering experience into something positive and productive not only for herself but for everyone. I think the most telling example of this is through the song “6 inch Heels.” In this song, Beyoncé describes the life of the woman who Jay-Z cheated on her with. Instead of shaming or blaming the woman, which seems to be the first instinct in most cheating cases, Beyoncé empowered and empathized with the woman. That is a lot of maturity if you ask me. 

I love Beyoncé. She channeled a shattering event into art; I mean how many of us can say we did that. Likewise, Lemonade has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. I could go on, but I want to get to my next point—why we should talk about Beyoncé’s Netflix movie Homecoming instead of her side eye.

I am not a black woman, so I will not try and pretend like I understand the culture that inspired Beyoncé’s Homecoming performance at Coachella and the Netflix special that followed. Yet, despite this, I appreciate the history and significance of this concert and the themes Beyoncé incorporated in it. The Homecoming concert artistically wove together the African-American college experience with Beyoncé’s music. 

Homecoming spliced together Beyoncé’s two Coachella performances along with the vintage-style footage of the rehearsal and the cultural movement behind the performance and the documentary. Beyoncé harnessed the power of Coachella and made her performance into something that mattered, something that inspired and taught the audience something--whether they realized it or not. I know I learned so much about the African American college experience and traditions. 

Beyoncé doesn’t just create and perform; she creates and performs with meaning and cultural awareness.

I honestly don’t think I captured or expressed eloquently enough how important Beyoncé is in the music industry and how empowering she is for both women and the African American experience. I can only relate to the women part of the previous statement, but I can see the influence and importance of Beyoncé. Her music and her presence in the industry make me feel powerful as a woman. Beyoncé is so much more than this side eye drama. Go listen to Lemonade and watch Homecoming, and you’ll know what I’m talking about. 

By Arden Schraff

Duke Student, mental health activist and resident goddess making Insta casual.