Dear Beyonce

Yesterday, or the day before (my days have been melding together as of late) I had a conversation with a younger female cousin. I asked her who she looks up to as a girl. And before she said Michelle Obama or someone with a veritable impact on humanity, she dropped your name, Ms. Knowles. Now, I'm nowhere near entrenched in a lifestyle that would include you as a regularly-scheduled spot on my iTunes playlist or in my thinking, but I suppose I can see your appeal. Young black girls see a woman who is in charge of her money, her legacy and her sexuality and are attracted to that. They hear catchy tunes and nice beats and automatically want to be like Beyonce, much in the same way that a young me idolized Michael Jordan.

That said, Bey, what's with your videos and your whole image as of late? If Jay is becoming a watered-down version of his former self, then you've become the sexed-up, shallow, soul-less, OVEREXPOSED counterpart that the man needs. They say sex sells, but at this point, what more do you have to offer? If you ask anyone (who isn't a die-hard Beyonce stan) what you stand for or where you stand on any pressing issue, I'm sure you'll draw more blanks than asking what how many amendments there have been or what America's capital was before D.C. In what UNIVERSE is that cool? Beyonce, to me, you've become a vapid shell of what black girls should look up to. I feel like you've taken any sort of positive ideology that could be derived from your likeness, and shrouded it in partial-nudity and catchy, pointless tunes. Where's the balance? Not saying you have to be all dreadlocked-out, using chew sticks and lobbying for environmental aid in Kosovo, but you seem empty. Yeah, we know, you do charity work. But in this day and age, as a celebrity (especially on such a global scale), you have a responsibility to go above and beyond the call of moral and intrinsic duty. Beyonce, you're a role model. Stop allowing Hollywood to Photoshop out your soul...