Writtten by: Tyra Mills

Beyoncé shocked the world on midnight Friday, Dec. 13^th, when she dropped her newest, self-titled visual album.

If you are a member of the “Beyhive,” like myself, you probably immediately pulled out your credit card and bought this album on Itunes. As for those who are not so crazed when it comes to Queen Bey, you might have heard a couple songs here and there from radio spins, YouTube leaks, or maybe even friends.

This album pushes the limit a great deal as far as Beyoncé stepping out of the “perfect woman” façade she always puts on.

A fan favorite by far, her song “Flawless” has caught the attention of many young girls. The theme of this song is mainly encouraging girls to have more confidence in themselves.

Beyoncé has always been about female empowerment, so this song wasn’t much of a surprise. However, there is a part in this song that asks if gender inequality still exists.

At one point in “Flawless”, a woman is giving a speech about gender roles. That woman is Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller,” Adichie say. “We say to girls: You can have ambition but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you will threaten man.”

This author may strike many as a feminist, but even if she is, you can’t deny that she does have a point.

Although today women are more independent, there are some women still being raised in very domesticated environments. In such cases, girls are raised to yield to males.

There are men and women who still believe in and adhere to this way of life. The problem is when these traditional values carry over into the work field.

There are women who desire to support themselves and remain independent. It is simply unfair for these women to be grouped “traditional women” and forced to remain subordinate to men in the work place.

Being hired, getting paid, and being promoted should have nothing to do with gender, but everything to do with work ethic. Despite the many laws set in place to stop inequality in the work place, women are still not being paid as much as men and sometimes are not being hired because of their gender.

Living in a country where all citizens are supposed to have equal opportunity, it is very disappointing to hear that inequality still lives. Will there ever be an end to it?