Priyanka Shreedar
Known for her iconic hit single “Girl on Fire”, stunning vocals, and sentiments of female empowerment, 35-year-old contemporary R&B music sensation Alicia Keys has taken media by storm once again.
Last May, Keys wrote an essay on Lenny Letter, a weekly online feminist newsletter, describing her “desire to listen to [herself], to tear down the walls [she] built over all those years, to be full of purpose, and to be [herself]!” by embracing a no-makeup look.
Keys is currently a judge on the international reality TV singing competition show “The Voice,” and has carried her all-natural sentiment onto the show as well.
The media, for the most part, have had glowing responses and have commended Keys for her stereotype-defying actions. However, Keys has received various criticisms attacking her for her supposed insensitivity to the confidence factor of makeup, as well as her desire to foster a make-up free revolution, as stated in her Lenny Letter.
In classic celebrity fashion, Keys responded to the haters via a Twitter selfie captioned “Y’all, me choosing to be makeup free doesn’t mean I’m anti-makeup. Do you!”, thus calming the waters once more.
Through her encouragement for embracing natural beauty, and confidence in individuality, this 15 time Grammy award winner can now add being an empowering feminist icon to young girls around the world to her resumé.
