For anyone (everyone) too busy being mesmerised by Beyonce's show-stealing performance during Monday's MTV Music Video Awards, there's every chance you might have missed a powerful political message in her set.
We say performance, but what Bey delivered was pretty much a mini-concert - a jaw-dropping medley of hits from her visual album, Lemonade, that still has all of social media talking.
![Beyonce performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty Images](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/WWF7F7PAIFEXJJ5PH7L2RMVIOA.jpg?auth=f507b14d03de17fab31401c4fde77a58aa4a3829b39f8afb44fac6c713c7c2f2&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
After serving up fierce renditions of hit singles, Pray You Catch Me, Hold Up, Don't Hurt Yourself, and Sorry, flanked by her body paint-adorned backup dancers, the reigning queen finished with the very last track on the album - Formation.
Read more:
• Everything you missed from the MTV VMAs
• Kiwi star dominates MTV Awards
The subtle, yet unmistakeable feminist message became evident at the very end, when her dancers arranged themselves on the stage, forming a Venus symbol - the universal symbol for women.
Fans who picked up on the Venus symbol commented that it was the perfect close to Formation, a song celebrating black womanhood.
She was met by a standing ovation, the only appropriate response following such a staggering performance.
Factor in the bold statement she made on the red carpet about Black Lives Matter, along with her record-setting eight wins (including video of the year for Formation), and it's fair to say Beyonce WAS the VMAs this year.
![Beyonce on stage at the MTV VMAs. Photo / Getty Images](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/WPWS2DKMAUIWSISYDFB23CDR7U.jpg?auth=4bbac27e3f0fe036f1d20e99d2829eea496dcb6143cd7cba5df875c13a988993&width=16&height=25&quality=70&smart=true)
![](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/CAP344NTIA2SUOAA3S2T7S4UQM.jpg?auth=cf803525ee22e070950a29b274c291e3f8ca7cb9c99b79d5418f1d18f21b6f2c&width=16&height=3&quality=70&smart=true)