Our Misplaced Beyonce Worship

Before Donald Trump was teaching millennials on the campaign trail about the Bill Clinton legacy, Beyonce got a head start in the 2014 song “Partition.”

“Seems your idea of a role model is a bit off,” said one person on social media.

“Oh he so horny, yeah he want to … ” sings Beyoncé. “He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown.”

As Beyonce’s career has progressed, she has become raunchier and more lyrically profane. Even parents who respect her talent are having a tough time with her rougher tone and messaging.

“When he … me good I take his … to Red Lobster, cause I slay,” Beyonce sings in her controversial song “Formation.” “If he hit it right, I might take him on a flight on my chopper, cause I slay.”‘

“Middle fingers up, put them hands high,” sang Beyonce, proudly, on her latest album “Lemonade.” “Wave it in his face, tell him, boy, bye.”

We know her job as a pop star is to push the envelope and garner attention — and we know sometimes this entails scandalous antics for publicity and record sales. But increasingly, she reminds us to be careful to make distinctions between role models and people we admire for their talent.

First Lady Michelle Obama found this out last September when she tweeted that Beyonce was a “role model.”

“With all due respect, I do not see how a woman who dresses as she does and sings such explicit lyrics is a role model,” wrote one social media user.

“So role models to young girls give their husbands lap dances on stage?” wrote another. “Seems your idea of a role model is a bit off.”

Like the Obamas, Beyonce attempts to appear subversive by aligning herself with the Black Lives Matter movement in her imagery.

In her “Formation” music video, we see police putting their hands up in front of a hooded black boy and anti-cop messages of a police cruiser sinking in flood water and a brick wall spray painted with the words “stop shooting us.”

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During her Super Bowl performance, her backup dancers paid homage to the historically divisive Black Panther movement. The more politically charged her messages have become, the more she has been alienating large portions of her fan base.

As for her own marriage, she hinted at alleged infidelity in her latest album. The Daily Mail suggested the lyrics confirm why her sister Solange attacked Beyonce’s husband Jay Z in an elevator incident two years ago.

“Looking at my watch, he shoulda been home. Today I regret the night I put that ring on. He always got them … excuses,” she sings in “Lemonade.” “He only want me when I’m not there. He better call Becky with the good hair.”

In her quest to have a raw and honest album, she left a questionable message for young girls about what to do when men cheat on women.

Even if Jay Z did not cheat, what message was she trying to send her young fans about her marriage and life? Does it help society to make struggles with infidelity public? Like many power couples, damaging your spouse’s reputation — true or not — doesn’t help the bigger picture if you plan to stay together.

Beyonce is talented and beautiful. She has become the millennial version of Whitney Houston. Her songs are catchy. She has shined on the movie screen and in music videos. She’s strong and independent.

Yet her messaging is becoming divisive and explicit for young fans. She needs to remember she’s not performing exclusively for an adult audience — but for a lot of kids who want to be just like her.