Beyoncé’s surprise release of her sixth album, and second visual album, Lemonade, in April of 2016 has raised many questions and started discussion of the many issues the visual album raises. The album, among many other themes, explores the emotional path someone may face if they discovered that their spouse was committing infidelity. Conversely, the visual elements of the album address and celebrate the struggle and success of African Americans, particularly women, in the current social climate of the United States of America, and will be the focus of this paper using selected tracks from the album. The use of social and political statements draw attention to the movement of black feminism in Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album, Lemonade. The album is broken into twelve songs, with interludes between the songs that are titled as eleven different “chapters”. They use imagery and poetic elements to create the narrative that the album follows. The interludes use poetry by Warsan Shire, Young Poet Laureate of London, 2014 (Hess, 2016). …show more content…
The concept of changing one’s self for another continues in the third chapter, “Anger”, with Beyoncé offering to become the mistress to become appealing and lovable to her husband again, with her almost pleading, “Why can’t you see me? Everyone else can?” (Toglia,
In 2013, the self-titled visual album BEYONCÉ sold almost eight hundred thirty thousand digitally in the first three days, while her sixth number one and second visual album, Lemonade, only sold four hundred ninety thousand digitally in the first week. Although Beyoncé’s second visual album wasn’t numerically successful, both show a vulnerable, an artistic, and a controversial side of Beyoncé. Both albums have surprising visuals and stunning lyrical content with either an obvious meaning or a meaning we have yet to figure out, such as the famous line, “You better call Becky with the good hair.” (Beyoncé, “Sorry”). BEYONCÉ and Lemonade show that Beyoncé tries to better herself as an artist and make herself more vulnerable.
Elsa Barkley Brown focuses on the intersectionality of being a black woman in America, in “What Has Happened Here?”. Black women experience different forms of oppression simultaneously. Indeed, racism, sexism, classism, as well as heterosexism, intertwine and form layers of oppression.
It is divided into five parts ‘The Encounter’, ‘Philemon’, ‘The Shore’, ‘The Woods’, and ‘The Lost Children’, These profoundly crafted rhythmic lines will endure and resonate forever in the souls who read it. Rarely does a reader encounter such sheer beauty of timeless and compelling imagery in her debut book to stand apart as foremost publication in English literature.
Many narratives are told in different perspectives these days. I believe the book Make Lemonade is told in the first person point of view.
Sapphire, more commonly viewed as the angry black woman, is viewed as, the bad black woman, the black “bitch,” and the emasculating matriarch (88). The reason there may not be much research on this myth is because many researchers themselves acknowledge the stereotype (89). The stereotype is seen not as black women’s anger towards the unequal treatment and circumstances they endure, but an irrational desire to control black males, families, and communities around them (95). This stereotype bestows yet another double standard on black women in America today. While a white woman’s passion and drive may be seen as ambitious and exceptional, a black woman displaying the same perseverance would be seen in a negative rather than glorified light.
Visceral. Raw. Controversial. Powerful. The works which Kara Walker creates have elicited strong and diametric responses from members of the art community. She manipulates the style of antebellum era silhouettes, intended to create simple, idealistic images, and instead creates commentaries on race, gender, and power within the specific history of the United States. She has also been accused of reconfirming the negative stereotypes of black people, especially black women, that the viewer and that the white, male dominated art world may hold. This perspective implies that both her subjects and her artworks are passive when confronted with their viewers. Personally, I believe that more than anything, Walker’s work deals in power -- specifically, the slim examples of power black individuals have over their
As it opens with imagery reminiscent of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, an event that devastated the black communities in the areas affected. The delayed assistance in New Orleans by the U.S. government stirred some controversy that led many to question how much America really cares about its black communities. Nonetheless, Beyoncé’s video is full of imagery that is associated with black culture, including historical references to black communities in the south. But what is really important about “Formation” are the lyrics. With lyrics like “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana, You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas Bama” and “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros, I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils,” Beyoncé is undoubtedly declaring her pride for her blackness as well as defending her child Blue Ivy who has always been scrutinized for the way her hair looked. Thus, this song is obviously geared toward the Black community which is obvious due to the lyrics and the imagery in the music video. To put it plainly, this song is a proclamation of Black pride and shouldn’t be thought of in any other way. However, after performing it at the Super Bowl people of other ethnicities became aware of the song and became offended by her performance as well as the lyrics. Controversy arose as people pointed out her backup dancers were dressed similarly to the Black Panther
To be labeled as a feminist is such a broad classification therefore it is divided into various subsections, one such subsection is known as hip hop feminism in which Ruth Nicole closely associates herself with throughout this essay I will thoroughly discuss this form of feminism. Ruth Nicole is a black woman that categorizes herself as a girl, by her definition a girl is far from independent. Black girlhood discusses the shared experiences of the ever-changing body, which has been marked as vibrant, Black, and female, along with memories and representations of being female. As a result, Ruth Nicole wrote Black Girlhood Celebration in order to share her personal and political motivations of working with black girls within the community. A conversation that is not often articulated about due to a language barrier. In which this discussion accurately details a means to work with black girls in such a way that does not control their body or pilfer black female individuality. Under those circumstances, Brown believes that black girls are being exploited for their physique through the use of music and instructed to conform to white norms constructed by society.
In mainstream America, black women are often stereotypically portrayed as sex workers, welfare queens, blue-collar service workers, video vixens, and entertainers (Collins 2004). Within these stereotypical depictions, black women are viewed as loud, angry, ghetto, hypersexual, and sometimes violent (Chavous et al. 2004; Childs 2005; Collins 2004; Nguyen & Anthony 2014; Wilkins 2012). In contrast, positive stereotypes of black women showcase them as strong, independent, resilient, loyal to their families and romantic partners, and responsible for sustaining the African American family. These images promote constructive illustrations of black women, even though popularized images negatively portray black women (Chavous et al. 2004;
bell hooks is trying to convince her readers that the display of black female bodies in Beyonce’s Lemonade does not aid in shifting or masking the sexist narratives and construction of black female identity (page 3).
On the night of December 13, 2013 Beyoncé, released her fifth self-titled album on ITunes. The album caught many people by surprise because Beyoncé did not set a date for the album, nor did she use any promotion; she did release a video on her Instagram asking her followers if they “were ready”. The buzz spread through social media like a wild fire. With no promotion or no warning, Beyoncé album took the world by storm and made it for her audience and critics to take in the album and it contents. Many people loved the album for not only its catchy songs, but also the growth and “looser” conservative Beyoncé. On the other hand many people did not feel that her album was growth, but a way to catch up to the overly sexual generation. Beyoncé has always been aware of her sexual side, pop side, and feminist side; this has been documented through her four previous albums. Yet, a lot of people have questioned if Beyoncé a feminist because of the content of her newest album. In order to answer that a person must ask him or her self; what is a feminist, why some people believe she is feminist, why others do not believe she feminist, and whether or not Beyoncé think she is a feminist.
In other words, Carbado meant to prove that not only Black women fit into this definition of intersectionality, and therefore there are other groups of people, aside from Black women, who can share their same experiences. Carbado’s theory about gender and colorblind intersectionality comes close to being able to explain Audrey Lorde’s understanding of the Black women identity. But applying Carbado’s theory it becomes more inclusive towards other oppressed groups of people, and it highlights Carbado’s expansion of intersectionality within Lorde’s essay.
EBSCO HOST. Web. The Web. The Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Madison, D. - Soyini, S. "Pretty Woman Through the Triple Lens of Black Feminist Spectatorship."
The album is a story told in two parts, the first half is a description of a life that is unfulfilled. This is the first half of the album which includes the tracks Speak to me/Breath, On the Run, Time and
In a news about the 32 years old pop star Beyonce “Gender Equality is a Myth” (CNN Wire 13 Jan. 2014). She wrote an essay about this on Maria’s website, The Shriver Report. She wrote that we need to...