Every game has rules. If you’re good at the game, you play by the rules of the game. If you’re clever, you learn what rules to bend to get the outcome you want. And in life, there will be areas where the rules are in your favor, and areas where they aren’t. The really clever people don’t seem to mind either way. They bend whatever rules they can to get to where they want to get. That’s the essence of a great player. In today’s world, I see a lot of people complaining about how something is unfair. How a system is corrupt. We bring these moral and ethical arguments up. But in doing so, we fail to realize that the clever people use the system’s unfairness and corruption to get to where they want. And when it comes to feminism, I think the women that embody it are those who are great players. Those that achieved wonderful outcomes in a system rigged against them.
Beyonce
There’s a general level of respect Bey is given in the music industry and beyond. She is a superstar. She is a symbol of feminism for a lot of people. She is the epitome of ‘I get what I want.’ And that’s a theme that seem to have always existed with her. You only need to hear the stories (whether they are true or not is a debate for another day) of her actions in Destiny’s Child. She knew, from an early age, what she wanted. And she went for it. I recently watched the Baby Boy video, and a couple of other videos from her early career. And I remember thinking one thing. She knew exactly what she was doing. I think that the music industry, especially for the black community, was generally male than it was female. In part because of the rap era led by Tupac and Biggie. Pop was mostly a white genre. And what do you do to stand out in a male dominated field and a white dominated genre? You use the unfair advantage you have. The one thing you have that no one else has.
Bey was a young, black, very attractive woman. And she capitalized on it. Don’t get me wrong. There was a huge amount of talent. But many people have talent. Not many have looks. Watch any of those early videos, and you’ll see what I mean. Additionally, she did collaborations with some of the biggest male artists of the era. Jay Z. Sean Paul. Why? Because she understood market dynamics, and knew she needed to draw in the audiences of these male artists. She married arguably the biggest artist in hip-hop, without any publicity. Ironically, she drooped ‘Single Ladies’ a couple of months later. She has kept her marital life relatively private. Outside of her music, she’s generally existed outside of the limelight, popping up only strategically. She’s never actually been vocal about women’s empowerment. That’s not to say she isn’t. But its always been in the subtext of what she does. In the subtext of what she does.
Angela Merkel
Angela is someone that I don’t think is talked about enough. She was the most powerful person in Europe for sixteen years. Sixteen years. And that’s in the male dominated field of power and politics. And she managed to get to the top. She ran the most powerful nation in Europe, and the fourth largest economy in the world. A country with a unique history of leaders. How did she get there? I can only assume by learning how to play the game. And ensuring she had the tools to play it. You don’t get to that point easily. It had to be what she wanted. Chief because I can only assume she faced a lot of misogyny along the way. If you look at her demeanor, you’ll notice that she’s not traditionally feminine. There’s something so powerful when you watched her navigating a room. You can tell that you were watching a master of their game. Always composed. Relatively drab in dressing. And I think that was her unfair advantage.
By virtue of her character, she could command respect. Say what you want about femininity, but respect, especially in certain rooms, is commanded very differently. Is it unfair? Yes. Very. But that’s the game you’re playing. There hasn’t been any obvious occasion where she has been vocal about women empowerment. Why would she when she has shown you the way. As the saying goes, we lead by example, not instruction.
I think her example has been adopted by a lot of people. We now have several leaders who are revered by the general public as a whole. Good examples include Jacinda Ardern (former New Zealand Prime Minister) and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission). Women who, I think, are feminist at heart. Women who quietly pave the way for the rest.
Rihanna
Rihanna, in my opinion, has some of the best ‘bad bitch’ anthems out there. Who can forget the classic ‘Bitch Better Have My Money.’ A song that both guys and girls resonated with so much. And then there’s ‘Pour It Up’ with its risqué music video. And my personal favorite, ‘[Consideration]’ with another icon in the making, SZA. She was recently in the news for the Vogue cover - an image considered a profound moment in today’s debate on gender roles. She is an icon. But even she played by the game of the industry. She followed the path that had been set by Beyonce. She was the bomb. And she knew it. And the people around her knew it. And they used this to her advantage. Most of the early videos were directed using a technique in the film industry called ‘the male gaze.’ And that’s done intentionally.
Now whether that is in line with today’s feminist rhetoric is another question. But its what she needed to do to get to where she is. It was part of the game she was playing. And now she enjoys a relatively private life with a man who in my opinion, is and has been infatuated by her for a long time. And it seems to be a good thing. But you won’t find her in a march somewhere. She paved her own way. She’s set the example.
Radical Change
All through this article I’m basically advocating for quiet change. That is not to say that I don’t think radical change works. But radical change only occurs after decades of quiet change. Because it is quiet change that makes people malleable enough to accept radical change. Otherwise you face a lot of resistance. There is no clear boundary between women not wearing trousers and women wearing trousers. It seems like it happened overnight. But there had to be women who did it, from time to time, until the people around them considered it normal. There is no clear boundary between women not being in leadership and women being leaders. It must have took a small number of women, slowly making their way to the top, until it was considered the norm. The ones who create the most change aren't the vocal minority (minority here is used very intentionally). Its usually the silent majority. Look around, and there are women who have paved the way for you. Women who have earned their motorcycle patches. If you don’t believe me, consider where you’d be without you mum’s quiet effort.