Boys love Beyoncé. The November 18 episode of Saturday Night Live, cemented this notion, but via a very particular fraternity of men. During the five-minute skit, Beyonce is surprised with the arrival of three jazzy male back-up dancers – including a ridiculously spirited Justin Timberlake – warmed up like “dance biscuits,” eager to show off their buoyant struts during a video shoot for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”. Much like all SNL parodies, timing is a key factor in successful satire. Saturday proved no different; nodding Beyonce’s current post as an international gay icon, recognized by October’s bloat of Bey-boy phenoms.
Just five days after Beyoncé had officially debuted “Single Ladies” on MTV, Youtube swelled with personal renditions of the Grammy winner’s Bob Fosse inspired vision. Nubile choreography painted in dips, sashays, and piercing facials was performed with the vibrancy of a fifty-girl cheer squad. Yet viewers and bloggers paid no mind to the sprinkles of bubbly women as their curiosity plumped with a new wave of BK mania. Led by none other than an assortment of homosexual men.
“[Being a gay icon is] definitely my goal, and my dream,“ Knowles revealed during a 2006 interview with Here! TV. “That’s the ultimate thing I could be. That’s the ultimate compliment for me.” And why should it not be? Many of the music industry’s most revered female artists such as Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Cher, all magnified their success to infinite proportions once deemed gay icons. Knowles is on a similar path, having already been dubbed Forbes fourth most powerful celebrity and garnering $80 million in revenue last year alone. But it takes more than a portly bank account, a honeyed voice, or even colossal hair to lasso the adulation of a gay fan-base. It takes a fearless diva.
Besides stroking her signature flamboyance in flashy getups and lavish make-up – a drag-queen favorite – Knowles mainly embraces black gay culture through artistic production. 2007’s B’Day frenzy included an anthology video album featuring a variety of eccentric videos for several unreleased singles. “Freakum Dress” gleamed with choreography from famed gender-bender Jonte, and highlighted a forty-three second intro of Knowles flanked by two glaringly androgynous gay dancers. “Get Me Bodied,” also partly composed of Jonte’s anomalous caper, attracted a similar scene and showcases Knowles most strikingly queer-folk influence. The song itself is reminiscent of RuPaul’s 1993 classic “Supermodel”, with an array of kinky commands such as “Walk across the room like you’re Naomi Campbell,” and “Snaps for the kids,” which was accompanied by several counts of new-school voguing, a sui generis dance subculture, popularized by rainbow balls.
With the birth of Bey’s third album, I Am…Sasha Fierce, the buckets of cosmetics are lighter, but Knowles’ coveted gay stature is fastened with the formal debut of her drag-friendly alter ego. Keeping with past patterns, Knowles calls on visionaries JaQuel Knight and Frank Gatson as she incorporates j-setting into her routine, another style of dance notorious for its gay dominance. The finished product is what won Knowles a full pocket of instant gay gratification, not to mention a batch of hip-winding men ready to meet her on the dance floor.
Granted, that may not be enough to wield Janet’s GLAAD Media Award, or conquer Madonna’s slot on The Gay 100, but as SNL proved, Beyoncé is the new number one on everyone’s gaydar.
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