Why Are We So Emotional About Beyoncé’s Pregnancy?

When the news broke yesterday that Beyoncé is expecting twins, I was overwhelmed with elation. It took me hours to calm down enough to even write this. While the rest of my pop culture-loving team immediately started throwing out different angles to cover the story, I was frantically responding to texts and private messages while trying not to cry. On a personal level, I was… I am extremely happy for Queen Bey and her huge news. But all day I felt pressure to answer the question: why? I’ve unfriended and blocked no fewer than five people who’ve insisted that this announcement isn’t important and that those of us who are excited about it are shallow and/or brainwashed. I’ve sent no less than a million bee emoji in the past 16 hours. The demand that I explain myself for being happy that another human is happy feels slightly absurd. Since when is compassion so conditional? But I’m still up for the task. First and foremost, WE NEED SOME GOOD NEWS RIGHT NOW. The world is literally falling apart around us, thanks in part to the man who is now president. Any good news is welcome. I would much rather think about Beyoncé suddenly becoming a mother of three and how it symbolically represents her very own Destiny’s Child/Holy Trinity than to ponder Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee. There, I said it.

But on a more significant level, if you are a fan of Beyoncé, you know how much motherhood means to her. It’s a great source of pride and inspiration, beginning with the respect she holds for her own mother. It shows up in her music all the time. For example, Lemonade is as much a tale of love and loss as it is a litany for survival passed down among women, from generation to generation. You need only visit her website right now, where she has released the full collection of her Black Madonna-inspired maternity photo shoot, to see exactly what I mean. She’s titled the entire thing “I Have Three Hearts” and it includes family photos and pictures of her body during her current pregnancy and when she was carrying Blue. It’s not the mere fact that Beyoncé is with child(ren). It’s how she shares that information with the world. Even if you’re not a fan of the now most-liked picture on Instagram ever, it’s still a fresh wave of creativity from an artist I love, about something very personal to her. This should be the moment that “Beyoncé is a highly trained media robot” naysayers recognize exactly how her art and life intersect. My excitement about this pregnancy is on par with the release of a new single. These twins symbolize a fresh body of work from Bey and that’s what I’m here for.