Heartbreak is something that happens to the other guy-and when it happens, you taunt him ("If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it " "don't ever think you're irreplaceable.")Īgain, this can be exhilarating. And, of course, her signature songs are the joyous kiss offs. "Resentment," for example, is as much about anger as pain the background singers repeating "you lied!" sound like they're ready for a fight. Even when there is, as in the breakup ballad, it seems like it comes with an asterisk. When she covers Etta James she sings about how she'd rather go blind than lose her man, but in her own material there's rarely a hint of that kind of devastated vulnerability. She's always boasting and dissing and boasting some more. A big part of Beyoncé's feminist appeal, and just of her appeal in general, is that she performs like a disco diva and has attitude like a rock star-or, more latterly, like a hip hop performer. Because Queen B is awesome.Ĭapon points out that this kind of swaggering boasting would hardly be noticed if a man was doing it. Rather, Beyoncé's saying (as Capon understands) that women should bow down to her, Beyoncé, Queen B. She's certainly not saying that she, herself, should bow down to her own husband (thus the line "I took some time to live my life, don't think I'm just his little wife"). Which brings us back to that latest single, "Bow Down." Contra Limbaugh, Beyoncé is not saying that women should bow down to their men. Beyonce's Halftime Inspirational Ode to Hard Work