Beyonce has never been afraid to show that she's an independent woman -- just look at her work leading Destiny's Child and soaring to the top as a solo artist. The songstress continues this "girl power" mindset by writing an essay calling for equal pay for all.

Titled, 'Gender Equality Is a Myth!,' Bey explains that the only way for the gender gap to close once and for all is to pay women as much as men. She also insists that women "demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities." In an excerpt below, Beyonce, who recently topped the charts with her self-titled fifth LP, gives some hard facts about the big difference in pay.

We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect.

The singer's essay, along with others written by Jada Pinkett Smith and Hillary Clinton, are all part of 'The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink.' An excerpt is currently available on The Shriver Report, the publication started by journalist Maria Shriver.

You can download the full version for free this week (Jan. 12 - Jan. 15) on Amazon.

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