“Just a Beautiful Liar”: Not Your ‘Modern Harem’

In a recent InsideVandy op-ed, Danny Lee outlined the problems that the recently uploaded music video of Shakira and Rhianna (“Can’t Remember to Forget You” pose– that their portrayal of causal lesbian action because they’d “do anything for the boy” plays into a certain type of male-dominated-lesbian-homoeroticism. I’d like to draw attention to another Shakira collaboration: “Beautiful Liar” with Beyonce from 2009.

Once again, we have two beautiful dancer-songstresses singing about– you guessed it– loving the same man. Instead of collaborating their sexual prowess to become his “modern harem,” they both decide that it’s not “worth our time” or “the drama.” During the video itself, there are some points where I can’t even distinguish between Beyonce and Shakira, indicating that the man doesn’t differentiate between the two, either. When “Can’t Remember to Forget You” is all about feeding into the male ego, “Beautiful Liar” tears it down in favor of girl power.

Conclusion: Shakira, stop collaborating with Rihanna. She is obviously a bad influence. Queen Bey demands that you respect yourself.