Arn't I A Woman?

new piece on Beyonce, Rihanna, and Identity Formation over at Wussy Mag! http://www.wussymag.com/all/2016/4/11/ok-ladies-now-lets-get-in-identity-formation

I really wanted to end the year on a great note. I wanted to tie up all these neat lessons I learned in a fancy, sparkly bow and gift it to myself to illustrate all my growth and success. A tangible, measurable growth that I would put up on my shelf with forgotten teddy bears and hoarded gold medals to gather dust in eternity, readily available for me to take down and proudly show off at any moment.  I wanted to dust the leftover fragments of inadequacy under the rug and produce a bright shiny new version of myself. Not a new me just a better one, I wanted to turn myself inside out and give the world the best of me. But how often we get trapped in the cobwebs of our minds.  It's as if someone stuck a bunch of magnets to the backs of tiny particles of stress and they are forcibly attracted to a strip inside my brain. They are all stuck there. The truth is I am going back down, down the rabbit hole....I won't know what's on the other side til I get there. ...

One woman should never feel the ent ire plight of a gender, race, or class, or any other social  distinction. We look to Beyonce for answers because she surpassed the expectations of a white patriarchy. And when anyone achieves this feat, no matter what station predominates their existence we automatically look at them like a superhero. If someone can so seamlessly transcend these social barriers and distinctions we simultaneously shame ourselves for not overcoming more and hero-fy those that do. The truth is those that defy our parochial opinions on how far they deserve to go in our society- those that surprise us- do so through a random set of variables. I love Beyonce and I think we can all agree how otherworldly she appears when she transfixes our eyes on a series of bodily movements that are so flawless and poetic, so visceral and gritty- should everyone’s body be able to do this? The truth is we have to stop asking ‘why doesn’t Beyonce wear her hair m...