Women Empowerment in Beyonce’s Song "Who Runs The World"

Women have been considered one of the main minority groups for decades now. Women didn’t have the same rights men had. They lacked basic rights, equal pay, and the right to vote. But when they got tired of the oppression, discrimination, and lack of opportunities, they started conducting a series of protests and associations to gain equality with men. In the 1920’s, women finally got the right to vote. Years later, they started working outside of home as nurses. In World War 2, they filled in the jobs men left behind when they went to war. During that time period, women showed that they were really capable of doing the same job that men did. Women eventually broke standards and started working higher level jobs and getting better education. Even though women have gained much equality with men in today’s society, they are still underestimated. We are still striving today to achieve equal rights in every aspect of our lives. We have many role models to look up to as the “ideal” women, the one to be an example for all women making it to the top. One of the most successful artists being Beyonce.

In the music video “Who Runs the World” Beyonce addresses the subject of gender identity . The video is resembling a war between women and men. War is typically a sign of masculinity, since women can’t go fight in real wars. In the song, Beyonce sings about women empowerment. The music video portrays Beyonce as a bold confrontational personality, and she also presents masculine characteristics in her tone of voice. In the song “Run the World” Beyoncé says “Girls we run this mother-” to indicate that women run the world and show power. In the song she also states “My persuasion can build a nation. Endless power our love we can devour. You’ll do anything for me.” Power is normally known as a masculine trait in modern society from past generations and history. On the other hand, Beyonce then talks about women being able to have children and go right back to work when she says “strong enough to bear the children then get back to business”. This line in the song shows the utmost power and strength that women can really have. Not only can a woman do a man’s job, but they can also have our jobs as women to rise and provide for our families. Being a mother, let alone a women in today’s society is already a difficult task to do. I personally like the message Beyonce is saying because she is saying we have to limits to what we can do. Beyoncé’s attitude is so empowering because she is so passionate for women’s rights and power.

In this song Beyonce also shows the straight ambition of a business woman. She expresses this by when she states “I’m repping for the girls that’s taking over the world, help me raise a glass for the college grads.” And also when she says “I work my nine to five, gotta cop my check, this goes out to all the women getting it in.” Here she is talking about how business women are dedicated to work hard to get what they want. Business has usually been a career associated with men. When women weren’t able to receive the same education that men could, they couldn’t apply their abilities in the work place, and they were often seen as a lower class then men. When women finally broke the barriers and protested for equality amongst men, they truly showed what they were capable of doing. Women from all around the world are now hired to multiple business associations and hold high standards in the business and political world. This is one of the various empowerment qualities of women that Beyonce portrays in her song “Who Runs the World”.

Business Women usually portray masculine traits such as being authoritative and direct in what they want. In this song Beyonce strongly demands respect and is very straight forward about what she expects back. If you listen to the song she states “Disrespect us, no they won’t. Boy, don’t even try to touch me.”, “to other men that respect what I do please accept my shine. Boy you know you love it how we’re smart enough to make these millions.” In the business World if a woman is making more money than a man, then most of the time they have higher authority. In previous times, men did not like the idea of that and would feel jealous. Society overtime has placed standards on men and their duties in the workplace. Men are expected to bring money to the house and work more than a woman. In this song, Beyonce breaks standards and explains how a woman can hold the same power a man does. She is talking about how she is making w millions and how men have to respect and accept her hustle even though they might feel oppressed by it.

I think this is a great woman empowerment song and it clearly gives an example of gender identity. Myself as a woman can immediately feel like I can accomplish everything that I want in life when I listen to this song. Beyonce really made an impact with this song and made a change in a lot of people’s view on women. She really described the true strength a woman has and how she needs to remain strong against it all. I believe this song is an example for future young girls to follow and feel empowered from an early age to know that they can accomplish anything they dream of if they try hard enough. This song shows that women can play both roles and that they can work as hard as a man to get what they want. There are many key points embedded within Beyoncé’s music video that I believe are vital in her message. She is striving for female dominance and is tired of being treated different because of her gender. Gender identity and the right involving women have been an issue that is slowly getting better. To this day, many people fail to realize that gender identity is an issue when talking about unequal rights. Many celebrities today try to support and openly speak upon gender identity and I love what Beyonce conveyed in her song.