Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly criticized Beyonce’s recent cover of Dolly Parton’s hit song “Jolene.” According to Kelly, the new song does not empower women despite Beyonce’s intentions with her rendition of the classic.
Kelly explained that the original song was about a woman intimidated by another female’s beauty. “The original ‘Jolene’ is a story about a woman feeling threatened by another woman who’s prettier and more alluring,” she said. “And she’s basically begging her not to steal her man. That she can do it. She flatters her … but please don’t because I love him and I could never love anybody as much.”
However, Kelly claims that Beyonce’s version of the song portrays the scenario differently, giving off a much more aggressive mood. She criticizes Beyonce for considering this a form of empowerment when it just feels “threatening.”
“Then of course because it’s ‘Queen Bey,’ we have to change it to be ‘f***ing take my man, I will hurt you b****,” she said.. “And it’s much more, like, threatening, which I guess Beyoncé and Team Bey think is what empowerment looks like. For now, the threatened woman is just threatening to another woman who she thinks might have designs on her life partner.”
Kelly emphasized her disdain for the supposedly empowering cover of “Jolenene,” expressing concern about how some women want to shape the female archetype in this day and age. The host disagreed with the idea that women should be threatening and menacing.
“And I have to say, I don’t find this empowering at all,” Kelly continued. “There’s something strange about what’s happening with the modern day definition of what a strong woman is. You can’t have any vulnerabilities or insecurities. You have to be this bada** b**** who’s, like, threatening, ‘F***ing a, you mess with my man.’ And it’s to me, it’s a turnoff. … The true power move is not to worry, and not to have to worry. But Beyoncé couldn’t quite get there…”
Kelly further lamented the drastic shift from the female gender norms found throughout most of the 20th Century to more recent times, where, according to the host, women have abandoned their feminine qualities to take on more stereotypically masculine behaviors.
“Why did we have to go from women shouldn’t work, women should only have babies, women aren’t strong, women are too emotional, women have to be locked up for their hysterics if they express tears or anxiety,” Kelly said. “To women have no emotion, women are total ballbusters, and showing any softness, tears, empathy, vulnerability, insecurity is somehow non-feminine, and no longer acceptable in what an ideal woman is.” Watch Megyn Kell’ys critique below:
Kelly continued lamenting the lyrical changes that Beyonce pursued in the recent cover of Dolly Parton, which further changed the vibe of the classic hit. “If you listen to the whole song, all the lyrics are changed,” Kelly continued. “She’s changed the entire meaning of the song … this is an entirely different message and I don’t buy it.”
