Twitter is fantastic to scroll through on a Sunday afternoon after watching a game of Rugby League, or how the Aussie’s say it best, “Twitter is great on a Sunday arvo after a full on game of footy”. It’s honestly one of the best social media platforms, and one day I’ll talk about how black people aren’t appreciated enough, after making viral memes and starting the newest trends. But today isn’t that day.
Today I’m going to talk about the queen. No white people, I’m not going to talk about Queen Elizabeth and the British Empire (or how they massacred my people and tried to make us assimilate into “White Australia”. That’s, sadly, for another day too). I’m talking about Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.
Beyonce has continuously blessed our lives, from the very beginning in Destiny’s Child to her latest album, Lemonade. It was one of the most empowering albums, for me, of 2016! Recently, Beyonce announced that she was pregnant! WITH TWINS! That was the best news ever! Queen B pregnant! With TWINS! We’re so lucky to even have Beyonce and her music, which empowers black people, specifically black women.
Her music echoes in homes of my people. We listen to her music like we listen to gospel and 90’s Hip Hop. Her music gives us strength and reminds me that I am not alone in this world. That I am strong. That I am able to love myself. That we will always be here. Beyonce has used her platform, her music, to voice the very thoughts of every black person. She is a godsend. Some will argue she is god.
But today, as I scrolled down my twitter timeline full of Cindy Moon fancasts, and updates on the #NoAdani case and celebrations of books being released on this very day, I stopped on a tweet that had me very confused and angry.
Op-ed: Having a baby isn’t a miracle and doesn’t make you a goddess https://t.co/4YdQlFtWak pic.twitter.com/S3qjvOKuEb
— New York Post (@nypost) February 18, 2017
Here are some reactions to the New York Post article tweet:
beyoncé’s first pregnancy wa a miscarriage. she has every right to celebrate the fact that she’s healthy enough to have twins at 35. https://t.co/h2QnpfD4ya
— evy (@beyonseh) February 18, 2017
Dear lady who has apparently never miscarried, stillbirthed, or struggled with infertility: for a lot of us, having a baby IS a GD miracle. https://t.co/X8ILz62fwS
— Nic Stone (@getnicced) February 18, 2017
childbirth is a miracle tho. And it’s beyonce so it’s a super miracle. And she got twins so it’s a super double miracle. https://t.co/EKt5ms0O0x
— Baethan Zed (@NathanZed) February 19, 2017
I then read the article associated with the tweet. The article is written by a white woman who shames motherhood, especially black motherhood.
Firstly, the article kicks off with the author, a white woman quoting Katherine Heigl, who I’m old enough to remember off Grey’s Anatomy. Katherine talks about how unsexy her body was, to her, when she was on set, then states, “I know that pregnancy is beautiful in so many ways, but it’s sort of more beautiful between you and your husband, who has to think you’re beautiful.” Each to their own about their own pregnancy, but the author of the article uses this against Beyonce, insisting that she has somehow fetishised pregnancy and that “Beyoncé has never known when to draw the line between what she should share with her husband and what she should share with an audience — see her chair-straddling, tush-wiggling routine from 2014, for instance.”
If you haven’t noticed, this is completely white nonsense. This is some next level white nonsense. Beyonce’s pregnancy is not fetishised, it’s an honest to Beyonce (because saying God doesn’t seem right) miracle. If you were ever paying attention you’d know that Beyonce had had a miscarriage.
This pregnancy, with twins (I will NEVER get over that), is a blessing, a miracle.
You have no right to dictate that. Especially when you’re a white woman. You have no idea what it’s like to be a black mother. You have no idea what it’s like to lose your child to police brutality. Black motherhood, black mothers, have never been idolised in the media. There is an obvious difference between white motherhood and black motherhood. Reading that article had me questioning, can we truly have anything nice? Can black people not celebrate black motherhood? Are we not allowed to embrace Beyonce and her pregnancy? Like, did a white woman just commentate on how Beyonce shouldn’t be seen as a goddess when she has every right to be seen as one?
That article then talks about Adele and how motherhood isn’t hard. Please, for the love of Beyonce (let this catch on please) do not say that.
You have no right to tell mothers that motherhood isn’t hard. Mothers have every right to express their thoughts on their own experiences. There is literally nothing wrong with that.
The article then shames another beautiful black woman, Kerry Washington. It states, “After giving birth in 2015, Kerry Washington said, ‘My body is the site of a miracle now.’ Far be it from me to tell the actress exactly what qualifies as a miracle, but even the most religious women I know do not walk around with the attitude that they are supposed to be worshiped (by anyone besides their husbands) because they have given birth.”
Mothers, especially black mothers: you deserve to see your body as a site of miracles. You have the right to see your body as a beautiful landscape of stretch marks as your baby bump grows. You have the right to be idolised in both cultural and societal contexts. You have every right to be a mother, to feel like a mother, and to embrace motherhood however you wish.
The sad drivel of an article ends with “…Zooey Deschanel told Redbook: ‘I think it’s a huge accomplishment to have a child.’ It’s not. Millions of women have been giving birth for millions of years.” This statement reeks of internalised misogyny. Having a child is an accomplishment that words cannot describe. If millions of women have given birth for millions of years, then it’s been millions of years full of accomplishments.
So, in sum, white women who want to write about black pregnancies, please, see yourselves out if this is how you sound like. We don’t need your commentary, especially in this day and age. Lastly, women and those who don’t conform to gender or are many genders that carry children, you are beautiful. You have every right to call your body a miracle like Kerry Washington. You have every right to talk about your experiences about being a mother like Adele, and you sure as hell have every damn right to be a goddess like Queen B.
Shine. Having a baby is a miracle and it definitely makes you a goddess. Never let someone tell you anything differently because your body brought children of flesh and bone into this world. You are worth celebrating and more.
