13 Ways to Live Outside the Box: A Survivor’s Guide to Loving a Beyonce Fan

I love a perfect person. And so do they. And so must I. This is the path to happiness.

Read the above words. Learn them. Repeat them like a mantra.
Understand that total free will has always been an illusion (If you doubt this, google Edward Bernays and then come back to this essay). Understand that you will still be allowed to have your opinions about most things in the world, perhaps, nearly everything else, but when it comes to Queen Bey, you are best served acting as a proxy for the opinions of your partner. Know that expressing your own Bey opinions, even if they are positive, is foolhardy and can lead to pain. This is the Bey Box. You never want to be inside the Bey Box. It is much, much better on the outside.
Realize that Beyonce fandom is not a casual pursuit. It is a part-time enlistment more like the National Guard. Your partner may not be a full-time soldier but they’ve been through an intensive boot camp of sorts that likely lasted years and they’ll be ready at any time to fight for the Bey army.
Feel grateful that your partner is not a die-hard fan of Brittney or Bieber.
Request the reasons that your partner feels so strongly about Beyonce.
Listen carefully as they tell you.
Ask yourself why you aren’t more of a Beyonce fan. Ask: Am I a fan of hard work and striving for success? Am I a fan of genuinely talented people and positive role models?
Answer: Yes. Yes I am.
Buy a Beyonce album or two. Listen to them and then mention to your partner which tracks you liked.
Do NOT mention to your partner which tracks you did not like.
If plausible, take your partner to a Beyonce concert. If not plausible, watch a Beyonce concert DVD with your partner. While watching either, observe the happiness on your partner’s face. Bask in that happiness. Be thankful to Beyonce for providing that happiness.
Consider the fairy tales that so many of us are drawn to when we’re young. Think about how ingrained those ideal narratives are- rags to riches, beautiful princesses, overcoming the odds through sheer determination. Consider that Beyonce’s core appeal may lie in the way that she evokes those narratives. Consider that the sheer joy that your partner gets from their fandom may be tied to optimistic and pure belief in those values that often seem in short supply outside of childhood films. Consider how poetic it is that with all the complaints about the bad behavior of pop stars, the biggest complaint about Beyonce is that her life seems crafted to seem too perfect, that she’s the embodiment of something that we cherish as children watching Disney movies but, with age, come to see as artificial and off-putting. As you watch the enjoyment on your partner’s face, consider that ideal and consider its value to your partner.
Love Beyonce.