Girl Power - Queen B is back and better than ever

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Girl power. You either got it or you don't.



The term, made popular by the Spice Girls in the mid to late 90's, is defined as a third-wave of feminism. It's essentially a self-reliant attitude among girls and young women manifested in ambition, assertiveness and individualism, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Often, the Spice Girls were a young girl's first exposure to feminist ideals. This is certainly true in my case. As I flung my Barbies around in first grade, I couldn't help but notice Barbie and I looked very different from one another. The Spice Girls came in all shapes and sizes. Former America's Next Top Model contestant Britto agrees, aligning herself with Scary Spice. (I was Sporty Spice myself.)

"This was my first glimpse of GIRL POWA. There was Sporty, Baby, Ginger, Posh, and my favorite: SCARY! And in some way or another, we had a little bit of each of those five in us, although we often readily identified with one."

Today's post marks the first in a series of blogs about women in the Art and entertainment field who empower their female fans to dominate their femininity through their work. This week, we'll examine one of my favorite hometown artists, Beyoncé .

Beyoncé made her rise to fame in a group very similar to the famed Spice Girls, Destiny's Child. Formed in Houston, Texas under the name Girl's Tyme, it was originally composed of five members, Beyoncé Knowles
Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Farrah Franklin, but it eventually was forcibly whittled down to three: Williams, Rowland and Knowles.

Plagued with an internal power struggle (supposedly most of the girls in the band resented Knowles' position as lead singer) and legal troubles, the band's success peaked with their album entitled, "Survivor," which was released in 2001 to much fan fare, according to the group's web site.

To get an idea, here's some of the record's stats:

• Survivor entered Billboard 200 at number one, selling over 663,000 copies in its first week sales
• The CD's first two singles "Independent Woman Part 1" and "Survivor" were consecutive number one singles in the United Kingdom
• The album itself was certified as a four-time platinum album in the United States
• In Australia, it earned the title of a double platinum album
• To date, it's sold more than 12 million copies

"Independent Woman Part 1" was originally created as a musical number for the movie Charlie's Angels, which starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Demi Moore. It spent 11 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 list and boosted the soundtrack's sales by 1.5 million.

"Always 50/50 in relationships..."

Throughout the song, Knowles often croons to her fans that in order to retain independence as a woman in a relationship one mustn't be afraid to go out and take whatever you want. In other words, don't wait for man to buy you that purse at the Coach store. Buy it yourself, she says. The purchase will feel all the more sweeter.

"Independent Woman"  isn't the only one of Destiny's Child's songs that echo this theme. Even before the release of the acclaimed "Survivor" album, the girls released the single entitled "Bills, Bills, Bills" in 1999 as part of their album Writing on the Wall.

In this song, Knowles' boyfriend is a dead beat and only with her for a paycheck and a ride. Set in a salon, the girls and the salon's clients all identity with Knowles problem and collectively decide that a man who cannot take care of himself certainly isn't capable of taking care of her.

Personally, I think "Independent Woman" exudes more confidence and maturity than "Bills, Bills, Bills" as the later song encourages women to take control of their own purchases and therefore their life (instead of waiting around for Mr. Perfect) while "Bills, Bills, Bills" simply advocates that women find a man who treats them right.

Both songs embody the ideals of feminism, but to different degrees.

Destiny's Child disbanded in 2006 so each member could pursue a solo career. Needless to say, Knowles was the most successful in this aspect. She's not only gone on to make three smashing albums (there's a fourth one in the making), but she's also pioneered her family's fashion line House of Deréon and even earned her acting chops in movies such as Dream Girls, The Pink Panther, and Obsessed.

With the debut of her hit single "Crazy in Love" with her then-boyfriend Jay-Z in 2003, Knowles created an alter ego named Sasha Fierce. Fierce, Knowles said, was a character that had all the feminist ideals wrapped up into one. She helped provide Knowles with the power to become a strong female role model.

Knowles has since been quoted by news organizations as describing the alter ego in this way:

"[She is] too aggressive, too strong, too sassy [and] too sexy ... I'm not like her in real life at all ... I'm not flirtatious and super-confident and fearless like her. What I feel onstage I don't feel anywhere else. It's an out-of-body experience. I created my stage persona to protect myself so that when I go home I don't have to think about what it is I do. Sasha isn't me. The people around me know who I really am."

 Knowles has since retired the character. Citing in Allure Magazine that she no longer needs Fierce to help her find her way, as she's managed to merge the two personalities into one.

"Sasha Fierce is done. I killed her ..."

 And, while Sasha Fierce may be dead, Knowles' fans can still find traces of her in her work. Most notably is in Knowles' recent music video for the song on her fourth album, "Run the World (Girls)," an anthem that not only congratulates women who've furthered their educational career by graduating from college but also asserts women as strong beings in comparison to women.

Here's an interesting lyric:

"We're strong enough to bear our children, then get back to business."

The song has received varied reactions.

 Malcolm Harris, a columnist for the Huffington Post, likes that Knowles' work is encouraging insightful discussion among music lovers, but isn't entirely convinced women "run the world."

"As a volunteer and supporter of the CARE organization that works tirelessly on behalf of empowering women and girls around the globe, I know firsthand these lyrics simply are not based on fact. Without getting on my soap box, it is a fact that if we don't collectively do more to assist organizations like CARE, these young girls may never have an opportunity to contribute to society, let alone run the world. We must assist in preventing young girls from being married off at the tender ages of 12 to 16 in developing countries, as well as assure they are afforded the benefits of proper education, health care and basic human rights. It is also a fact that if we do not serve in breaking this cycle of inequality, these under-served girls will be doomed to a life of poverty, illiteracy, torture and rape. And for me, I think this is way too large of an obligation to place at the doorstep of any one pop singer or catchy song."

 But whatever happened to "if you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it"? Maybe if we all put our heads together, start fist pumping to this song and "get back to business" as Knowles' so astutely puts it, we can end the poverty many women suffer from across the globe.

I'd like to be a little optomistic and frankly Beyoncé gives me hope.

Who do you think should be the next artist featured in my Girl Power blog series? Sound off in the comments below!