Summary: Beyoncé is the ultimate symbol of girl power and feminism, so back off.

Beyoncé’s performance at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show received perhaps more commentary than the game itself. Her highly anticipated performance came in the wake of a major lip-syncing scandal at Obama’s inauguration, where Beyoncé eventually came clean about pulling an Ashlee Simpson and performed an impromptu a capella version of the National Anthem at a press conference.

But her true reprieve came when she took the stage at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans and shut up anyone who doubted the 31-year-old pop star still had talent post-baby Blue.

But not everyone was as impressed with Beyoncé’s performance as we were. People of all ages took to social media to bash the pop icon for what they considered a “too sexy” performance and slammed her for giving women everywhere a bad name. We’re here to say that we think she did just the opposite.

First of all, throughout Beyoncé’s performance, we didn’t see a single male performer on the stage (although B is known to utilize cross-dressing men in her videos — see the dancer to her right at the beginning of the “Single Ladies” video). We think the decision to have an all-female cast was empowering for women in a world where most lead guitarists and instrumentalists are male.

Second of all, anyone who called Beyoncé and her performance slutty must not be aware of the definition of the word. Beyoncé has been married to rapper Jay-Z for almost five years, and they gave birth to a daughter just over a year ago. Some of Beyonce’s dance moves may be provocative, especially for older, more conservative audiences, but to make her performance synonymous with physical promiscuity is heinous and insulting.

Beyoncé is a role model of what women should be. She essentially built an empire around her talent, and she is one of the few celebrities who has managed to stay out of the negative press for partying and indulging in controlled substances. She doesn’t strive to be super-model skinny, and that in itself empowers other women that they don’t have to be either. Plus, there’s the fact that Beyoncé actually has talent. She is one of the few — if not the only — celebrity who dances at the same level as her dancers and sings WELL while she does it (yes, we’re judging you, Taylor Swift). So basically all we’re asking is for people to back off of Beyoncé. Because let’s face it, you’re just jealous you’re not her.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.