Not even loads of lipstick, sparkles, weaves and leotards could distract VMA viewers from the fact that the women of the music industry dominated the Sunday show. According to TIME magazine, females took home 10 out of 16 awards; needless to say, they rocked it.
While watching the VMAs, I couldn’t shake the proud feeling in the pit of my stomach watching such confident women strut across the stage .
I had to hold back my own urge to go find something to be the boss of because I felt so empowered.
It was extremely refreshing to see that female singers were singing and not solely relying on their hip gyrations and a prerecorded track to get people to talk about their performance. The award show has come a long way from the Britney Spears era where it seemed as though nobody actually sang, instead only danced in cages and ripped off their clothes.
The show opened with three pop-powerhouses, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jesse J, who blew the roof off the place.
Taylor Swift’s performance of “Shake It Off” also had some feminist influences in it. She performed with only male back-up dancers and an all female band.
Lorde took home the award for best rock video, beating out the all-male bands Imagine Dragons, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys and Linkin Park.
Beyonce, of course, performed a show-stopper (literally, it was the last performance) but added even more girl-power than she usually does. On the screen behind her during the performance, the word “feminism” appeared along with a voice that said, “Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.”
That was pretty awesome. She juxtaposed that message with the two songs “Flawless” and “Bow Down” which also promote female confidence.
And let’s face it, almost any Beyonce song can make your hairbrush feel like a microphone and your room a stage. They are pretty empowering.
Beyonce showed us that being a mother is a big achievement with a tribute to Blue Ivy during her performance, as well as letting us know that you can be both a diva and a mom. To add to the feminist message, her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy joined her on stage after her performance to share a beautiful family moment and to present her with the Vanguard award.
Jay-Z also said on stage that Beyonce is the best performer in the world, which was big. I guess he has stepped down from his pedestal since he released the track “99 problems.”
Though Fox News ran an article on Aug. 25 titled “Beyonce’s feminist VMA message prompts some eye rolls,” we have to remember that it is Fox News. The article said that because she was dressed in a leotard and was dancing suggestively, it was hypocritical of her to include a feminist message. That makes no sense, because she embraced her sexuality in a tasteful way and obviously did not care what anybody thought.
Needless to say, this type of VMA needs to stay. Those types of performances can save the mainstream music industry from being looked down upon. People almost pride themselves on not listening to the radio these days because it’s not ‘quality music,’ but I think the VMAs might have swayed a few peoples’ opinions.
To be fair, mainstream pop artists must have done something right to get where they are in the music industry.
