Beyonce covers OUT Magazine's May Power issue. In the interview, Bey discusses her frustration about the limitations placed on women's sexuality.
There is a double standard when it comes to sexuality that still persists. Men are free and women are not. That is crazy.
For the past year, she has spoken frequently about what it means to be a woman who enjoys sex, and her self-titled album couples that exploration with her embrace of feminism.
You can be a businesswoman, a mother, an artist, and a feminist - whatever you want to be - and still be a sexual being. It's not mutually exclusive.It looks like Beyoncé isn't backing down from the "F-word," and I love her for it.
Update: More photos from the shoot have surfaced as have longer snippets from the interview!
On how she created a sexual liberation conversation with her latest album
I’d like to believe that my music opened up that conversation. There is unbelievable power in ownership, and women should own their sexuality. There is a double standard when it comes to sexuality that still persists. Men are free and women are not. That is crazy. The old lessons of submissiveness and fragility made us victims. Women are so much more than that. You can be a businesswoman, a mother, an artist, and a feminist—whatever you want to be—and still be a sexual being. It’s not mutually exclusive.
[It was] much freer than anything I’d done in the past. We really just tried to trust our instincts, embrace the moment, and keep it fun.” As an illustration she singled out the video for “Drunk in Love,” a fan favorite. “We were in Miami for Jay’s concert, and it was just the two of us, on the beach, amazing weather, and one outfit! It’s beautiful in its simplicity. If you want something to feel real and urgent, you can’t overthink it.
On if it was her decision to have her voice sound raw and less polished for ‘XO’
When I recorded “XO” I was sick with a bad sinus infection. I recorded it in a few minutes just as a demo and decided to keep the vocals. I lived with most of the songs for a year and never rerecorded the demo vocals. I really loved the imperfections, so I kept the original demos. I spent the time I’d normally spend on backgrounds and vocal production on getting the music perfect. There were days I spent solely on getting the perfect mix of sounds for the snare alone. Discipline, patience, control, truth, risk, and effortlessness were all things I thought about while I was putting this album together.
On if she intentionally set out to make an album that feminist as well as the LGBT community could identify with
While I am definitely conscious of all the different types of people who listen to my music, I really set out to make the most personal, honest, and best album I could make. I needed to free myself from the pressures and expectations of what I thought I should say or be, and just speak from the heart. Being that I am a woman in a male-dominated society, the feminist mentality rang true to me and became a way to personalize that struggle…But what I’m really referring to, and hoping for, is human rights and equality, not just that between a woman and a man. So I’m very happy if my words can ever inspire or empower someone who considers themselves an oppressed minority…We are all the same and we all want the same things: the right to be happy, to be just who we want to be and to love who we want to love.
via Necole Bitchie
Kimberly Foster is the Founder and Editor of COLOURES. Email or Follow @KimberlyNFoster
