Close-Up: Beyonce: Media and Cultural Icon: Ass You Lick It: Bey and Jay Eat Cake

Abstract

This essay investigates a period from 2010 to 2014 in which Beyoncé covertly celebrates mutual marital analingus with her husband rapper Jay-Z. This is no coy allusion to transgressive sex play but rather an embrace of egalitarian erotic practices. Such a radical position is especially significant since, other than the Obamas, the Carters are the premiere example of a successful black heterosexual marriage. The couple’s subtle promotion of cake eating suggests the key to commensurate male-female coupling is to queer and black(en) heterosex. The Carters’ down-low affirmation of reciprocal analin- gus is notable because of the larger cultural debates around Beyoncé’s embrace of femi- nism in late 2013 in the midst of her “Mrs. Carter Tour.” Through a close reading of the Carters’ references to cake eating, I argue that the couple’s coital customs are feminist, queer (heterosexual), and black.