Beyoncé Wants Women to Own Their Sexuality… and Hopes Her Music Will Help

Singer Beyoncé believes women should embrace their sexuality! The superstar graces the May cover of OUT magazine and talked about how she not only wants to inspire women, but also those minorities and LGBT communities facing oppression.

The 32-year-old singer told OUT, “There is unbelievable power in ownership, and women should own their sexuality. There is a double standard when it comes to sexuality that still persists. Men are free and women are not. That is crazy. The old lessons of submissiveness and fragility made us victims. Women are so much more than that. You can be a businesswoman, a mother, an artist, and a feminist -- whatever you want to be -- and still be a sexual being. It's not mutually exclusive.”

Beyoncé surprised fans in December by releasing her latest album that included 14 new songs and 17 videos and featured some of her most provocative visuals yet.

Although she has received some criticism for the music's blatant sexuality, the singer said, “I needed to free myself from the pressures and expectations of what I thought I should say or be, and just speak from the heart. Being that I am a woman in a male-dominated society, the feminist mentality rang true to me and became a way to personalize that struggle.”

She hopes, however, that the message of her music will "empower" people so they can stand up for themselves.

“What I'm really referring to, and hoping for, is human rights and equality, not just that between a woman and a man. So I'm very happy if my words can ever inspire or empower someone who considers themselves an oppressed minority. We are all the same and we all want the same things: the right to be happy, to be just who we want to be and to love who we want to love.”