Beyonce pens feminist essay, calls gender equality 'a myth'

Everything King Bey does is going to be dissected via a million different Internet feminists under several million more different offshoots of feminism, so it's good to Beyonce come right out and release an essay on her own thoughts about feminism and the fight for gender equality (which she calls "a myth." 

Beyonce penned the piece in response to The Shriver Report's recently released findings that 42 million American women live in poverty or near-poverty.

"We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. 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," she wrote. "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."

Beyonce wasn't content to throw out general calls for change. B backed her opinion with cold, hard economic data.

"If women received pay equal to their male counterparts, the U.S. economy would produce $447.6 billion in additional income," she said. "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."

Beyonce also included a nice slogan for fans and feminists alike to rally behind.

"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."  

What do you think of Beyonce's essay on gender inequality?

(h/t to NME)