Beyoncé’s feminism is undoubtedly about to be analyzed over the next few days - as it was when her album was first released - after an essay published in the Shriver Report, in response to the report revealing that 42 million women in the USA are living in or on the brink of poverty, The Independent reports.
"We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality," the singer writes in 'Gender Equality Is A Myth!'
"It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes."
"But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more - commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect,” the star added.
"Humanity requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. So why are we viewed as less than equal? These old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning. We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible."
According to The Independent, other famous women, including former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, actress Eva Longoria and actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Standing up beside women, some famous men also lent their words to the report such as NBA star LeBron James.
As Beyoncé put it in her essay, "We have a lot of work to do, but we can get there if we work together. Women are more than 50 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of voters. We must demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities."
The essays are all available for download at Shriver Report until Jan. 15.
Read more at The Independent.