Empowered women may be a theme of her songs – but when you’re Beyoncé Knowles, it seems empowerment involves striking suggestive poses and gyrating around the stage in a sheer leotard.
Within minutes of the singer appearing at the Grammy Awards, her routine with husband Jay-Z was denounced as ‘vile porn’ by horrified parents.
Opening the show for a global audience of millions, Beyoncé performed a series of provocative dance moves, including writhing against her husband – who was fully clothed – as they sang X-rated lyrics.
At one point, the mother-of-one straddled a chair and was seen running her hands up and down her thighs in a suggestive manner before leaning back to drape herself seductively over her seat. Many of her other poses were too risqué to be shown in a family newspaper.
Viewers condemned the sexually charged display as a step too far for the annual music ceremony, usually regarded as family entertainment.
One noted that it is ‘sad when our children can’t even watch the Grammys’, a sentiment that was echoed by hundreds of others who took to the internet to express their disgust at the performance of Drunk In Love which opened the ceremony in Los Angeles.
Yesterday campaigners also accused Beyoncé, who has a two-year-old daughter called Blue Ivy, of being a ‘dangerous role model’ and a ‘disgrace’ to thousands of young girls who would have been watching. Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said: ‘It is time Beyoncé realised she is offending every decent person in US who I hope in future once they hear her name will switch off their TV.’
Another parent, Pippa Smith, added: ‘There is something rotten at the heart of this so-called “music” industry when young women celebrities and now a husband and wife start to behave in such an obscenely sexual manner at events popular with all ages. They are doing enormous harm to children’s perception of what is normal behaviour.’
The Grammy Awards, which is in its 56th year, was broadcast on Sunday evening.
And while it was aired, many children will already have seen video clips and images on the internet of Beyoncé, 34, and Jay-Z grinding against each other.
Campaigners and parents expressed dismay that the singer – who champions female independence – was semi-naked, while her 44-year-old husband remained fully dressed.
Vivienne Pattison, of Mediawatch-UK, said: ‘In this footage Beyoncé is wearing a really skimpy outfit but Jay-Z is not.
‘If girls and women are seen exclusively as sexual beings rather than as complicated people with many interests, talents and identities, boys and men may have difficulty relating to them on any level other than the sexual.’
The latest furore comes just weeks after fans turned against the former Destiny’s Child singer over the X-rated lyrics and ‘pornographic’ videos that feature in her self-titled album, released last month. In the videos, she is seen scantily dressed and adopting provocative poses as she repeatedly refers to sex and alcohol.
