Beyonce Swears In One Of Her New Songs And It Doesn’t Make Her A Bad Mother

Beyonce released a new single last week. Spoiler alert if you haven’t heard – she swears in it. Beyonce swears in a song – the Internet explodes.

I’m old school. I’m a fan of the days when musicians and performers were only expected to be good at performing. Now – if you’re in the spotlight it seems like every parent out there expects you to be a role model to their kids. What? Why? Beyonce has made millions by singing about girl power and gyrating all over a stage. I wouldn’t necessarily say her messages, videos and performances are for children. I think the only person she owes it to be a role model to is her daughter, Blue Ivy.

I guess I should mention the offending lyrics:

I know when you were little girls
You dreamt of being in my world
Don’t forget it , don’t forget it

Respect that, bow down bitches
I took some time to live my life
But don’t think I’m just his little wife

Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted
This my shit, bow down bitches

She’s hugely successful and richer than God. Male artists brag about their money and possessions all the time. (See: Jay Z). Nobody cares or notices. I guess the real problem here is that she uses the word, “bitch.” Oh no! A grown woman using a curse word! My ears! I’m a lifelong feminist and I’ve called a woman a bitch before. You can revoke my card if you like. Actually – no you can’t, because big deal.

One of the HuffPost bloggers penned a post this week called, Classy Women Don’t Swear, Beyonce. It was filled with such observations as, “When you look at the softly spoken Beyonce, it’s hard to believe that these words dropped out of her mouth,” and “None the less seeing classy women being arrogant is off putting.” I don’t think it’s off-putting. I think she’s a human being. I know I became a hell of a lot less tolerant of putting up with people’s shit once I had a child. Maybe Beyonce is experiencing the same thing.

Some mothers downright accused her of being a bad mom. One blog wrote:

As the mother of a little girl, I’d like to think that she’d want to get on board, that she’d want to be a better person — if not for herself than for her daughter, for all the girls out there who have grown up listening to her music, for the babies of a few years back who were dancing toSingle Ladies and are now filling their iPods with Beyonce?

Beyonce – you’re an adult. You can swear. As I said to my tween step-daughter who caught me swearing one day, “I’ve been alive 25 years longer than you – I can say whatever I want. And when you get to be my age – so can you.”

(photo: Helga Esteb/ Shutterstock.com)