Beyonce Demands Equal Pay for Women in Candid Essay—Bow Down B*tches

Audio equipment, Microphone, Entertainment, Performing arts, Music artist, Electronic device, Formal wear, Performance, Singing, Electric blue, — (Image credit: courtesy of Getty)

Courtesy of Getty

Who run the world? Girls. Not quite yet, but almost, according to Beyoncé's open essay for the Shriver Report. In her essay titled Gender Equality is a Myth!, Beyoncé responded to the Shriver Report finding that "42 million women in the USA are either living in poverty or are on the brink of living in poverty."

Beyoncé wrote that women need to speak up for higher pay (a topic near and dear to Marie Claire's heart). While addressing statistics such as "women [comprising] half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes," Beyoncé stressed that not just women, but also men, need to demand higher wages for females. She added, "Humanity requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. So why are we viewed as less than equal?"