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Beyonce Says Gender Equality Is a “Myth,” Calls Self “Beyonce Knowles-Carter” in Essay

Beyonce on February 12, 2013 in New York City
Beyonce penned a feminist essay on gender equality for The Shriver Report.

Girls may run the world, according to Beyonce, but the Grammy winner doesn't think they get properly compensated for it. The 32-year-old mother of daughter Blue Ivy Carter, 2, recently penned a personal essay for Maria Shriver's website The Shriver Report on the topic. 

The site focuses on feminist issues and "seeks to modernize America's relationship to women." On Jan. 12, Bey's essay, titled "Gender Equality Is a Myth!", was posted on the site. 

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Using the byline Beyonce Knowles-Carter, the "Diva" singer wrote a little more than 200 words on the issue, which she explores to greater lengths in her smash fifth album. She declared that gender equality, "isn't a reality yet," and asked both men and women to stand up for progress. 

"Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more — commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender," Beyonce wrote. "Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect." 

Jay Z's wife of nearly six years went on to talk about the history behind America's lack of gender equality. 

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"Why are we viewed as less than equal? These old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning," she wrote. "We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life." 

The iTunes record breaker has explored and promoted female empowerment in such hits as "Independent Women (Part One)," "Run the World (Girls)," "***Flawless," "If I Were a Boy," "Irreplaceable," and "Grown Woman." 

Her new song "***Flawless" off her hit self-titled fifth studio album, Beyonce features a voiceover from Nigerian feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related: PHOTOS: Beyonce's best hair

"We say to girls, 'You can have ambition but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise you're reflecting the man,'" Adichie says in the song. 

"Everything she said is exactly how I feel," Beyonce said of Adichie in Part 2 of her mini-documentary about the groundbreaking album. 

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