Queen B has been turning heads all week with Lemonade, her groundbreaking and deeply personal “visual album" that tackles subjects like family, power, love, and heartbreak. But one topic in particular has the BeyHive buzzing: In many of the tracks and videos, it's strongly implied (some might say blatantly obvious) that Beyoncé's husband, Jay Z, was—or still is—unfaithful. While there have been rumors of infidelty for years, the album appears to confirm their marital strife. And based on the raw anguish in Bey's music, it seems like the situation might be even worse than we thought.
Here's some good news though: A new study has found that women who are cheated on actually "win" in the long run.
The researchers from Binghamton University in New York and University College London conducted an anonymous online survey of more than 5,000 people. Their findings, published in The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition, suggest that a woman who is betrayed in a relationship will go through the expected period of anger and grief. But ultimately, the betrayal will make her wiser.
As lead author Craig Morris, a biocultural antropologist and evolutionist, said in a press release, she will "come out of the experience with higher mating intelligence that allows her to better detect cues in future mates that may indicate low mate value."
The study explains that the emotional upheal a woman feels after losing her mate to a “sexual rival” may motivate her to avoid a similar scenario in the future, and can lead to an immense amount of personal growth. In other words, she realizes no man should make her feel that low and manages to steer clear of scumbags in the future, so she's happier and more empowered than ever. #Winning
This conclusion will come as no surprise to Beyoncé's fans. After all, she taught us girls run the world, right?