Exactly the point I was going to make - though you said it in a much, MUCH wittier way. :)

Good question. I think that with the incredible human capacity to psychologically fuck ourselves and others up, it could be easy to make excuses for male attention: "they don't really like me," "they're only interested in me because xyz," "it's only because they haven't seen me naked yet/gotten to know me yet" or…

Well. That album was not all puppies and rainbows. No Angel and Jealous are making much more sense to me now. :/

Poor everybody. They all seem to really value their privacy - small/secret and small weddings, well-guarded kids, strict control of family secrets - so this must be a major headache for all involved. But, yeah, poor Kelly especially.

Ha, you think your BACK in high school? Did you ever watch/read The Jane Austen Book Club? "High school is never over."

Haha, thanks for speaking for the masses! I am WAY more invested in this than I should be.

Aha. Interesting take.

I don't know why but this brings to mind that Mad Men scene from back in the day where...I think his name is Ken? the nice novelist account guy? told Peggy something like pretty girls are always the ones with the least self confidence. What is this bizarro correlation where so many hot girls don't know they're hot…

Yeah, I know. There's this pervasive idea that any woman can get sex anytime she wants but that has not proven true for me. I still battle waves of humiliation when I think back on my rejections. Ugh.

Thanks, this is a great response and I wouldn't have been so articulate. My now-deceased father was of the generation to remember the true lyrics to these songs. I can only imagine how odd it must have been for him to hear me sing the non-racist version as a kid - maybe he felt glad that vestiges from his own…

My parents shouted. Quite often. I also have a distinct memory of my father pushing my mother. But they also always made up and remained together until his death.

I kind of take exception to your premise that shouting at your significant other in front of your kid equates "an unhealthy relationship." Even the shoving part doesn't seem that bad to me.

But even if Jay is cheating - a big if here - maybe Beyonce doesn't want to tell him to fuck off? Maybe she loves him and wants to work it out? Maybe she believes in the Christian principle of forgiveness, idk. I feel like feminism is also about not judging other women for how they live or the choices they make.

A lot of hateration in these comments to you. I get you and your sister since my relationship with my older brother - we're super close - is a lot like yours. He is a wonderful person who can be prone to violence if he drinks too much - what am I supposed to do, stop loving him?

Hmm. Having played both Solange's and Beyonce's role in crazy drunken fights, I can only assume she's thinking: "Get me the fuck off this elevator."

She also grew up in Los Angeles, where racial dynamics are completely different. I think what counts as "white" is much more broadly defined on the West Coast than the East, where you're either a pure WASP, a "lesser white" like the Irish and Italians or a "minority." These are generalizations OF COURSE, but after…

In that lilac-y violet? Great color on her.

Beyonce is now the highest paid black star of all time - that's what I meant by Jay-Z letting her play the lead role. Hopefully that link works - and, no, can't knock the hustle!

Invoking MLK and the Civil Rights movement for your pop song is completely gauche, yes. But this is where I think you're overestimating her: I doubt that Beyonce was purposefully cosigning the utterly shameful exclusion of women from leadership positions. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know that exclusion…

Puppet was totally the wrong word to use - I even hesitated while typing it.