Beyoncé on self love, self care, and FUPA appreciation

Vogue.com

The world is abuzz at the release of the much anticipated Beyoncé led Vogue September issue. Not only did the Queen have creative control of the most important issue of the most read rag of the year (September issues are the Bad Bitches of the magazine world, and Vogue's September issue is the badest of them all and the most highly anticipated every year), she employed Tyler Mitchell, the first-ever African American photographer to shoot a Vogue cover (which is both incredible of Tyler but a terrible shame on Vogue, who has been around for over 120 years.)

She even makes commentary on that, saying "Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like. That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell. When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell. Clearly, that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer."

Beyoncé was given unprecedented control of this issue. And she used it. When asked about the overall beauty of the issue, Mrs. Carter says "I think it’s important for women and men to see and appreciate the beauty in their natural bodies. That’s why I stripped away the wigs and hair extensions and used little makeup for this shoot,".

Beyoncé also gets very candid about her experience giving birth to twins, body love, and self-acceptance:

"After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look. I put pressure on myself to lose all the baby weight in three months, and scheduled a small tour to assure I would do it. Looking back, that was crazy. I was still breastfeeding when I performed the Revel shows in Atlantic City in 2012. After the twins, I approached things very differently.

"I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies' health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU. 

"I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be. After six months, I started preparing for Coachella. I became vegan temporarily, gave up coffee, alcohol, and all fruit drinks. But I was patient with myself and enjoyed my fuller curves. My kids and husband did, too.

"To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I'm in no rush to get rid of it. I think it's real. Whenever I'm ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my ass off until I have it. But right now, my little FUPA and I feel like we are meant to be."

Body acceptance and self-care aren't the only gems Bey shared:

"The beauty of social media is it’s completely democratic. Everyone has a say. Everyone’s voice counts, and everyone has a chance to paint the world from their own perspective."

"Connecting to the past and knowing our history makes us both bruised and beautiful."

"I pray that I am able to break the generational curses in my family and that my children will have less complicated lives."

"I’m not alive unless I am creating something. I’m not happy if I’m not creating, if I’m not dreaming, if I’m not creating a dream and making it into something real. I’m not happy if I’m not improving, evolving, moving forward, inspiring, teaching, and learning."

"I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful."

Beyoncé shares so much of herself in raw, honest beauty in her latest interview. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full issue.