Feminism Beyonce

With the release of Beyoncé’s 2013 eponymous album, culture critics charged all in on whether Beyoncé is a feminist figure or an antifeminist product of capitalism, and yet, no one has asked younger people how her music resonates with them. This study examines the attitudes of young girls (aged 11–16) towards Beyoncé. They viewed “Girls Run the World” and “Flawless” in focus groups and were asked about their impressions of Beyoncé and her relationship to feminism. Through a grounded theory thematic analysis of the data, a relationship among the emergent themes manifested as follows. When Beyoncé highlights the girls’ physical, race, class, sexual, and gender vulnerabilities, they counter with sexual respectability politics that result in an ambivalence toward Beyoncé who may be a feminist but is not the girls’ role model.

Tesis dirigida por Amparo Lasén.
Desde hace varios años algo ha cambiado en el panorama mediático, el feminismo como mensaje político ha venido diseminándose en diversas plataformas, medios y ha formado parte de las declaraciones de celebridades de muy distinta índole. Marcas de ropa y productos asocian sus valores al feminismo y movimientos como FEMEN, Pussy Riot o el #MeToo han ocupado portadas internacionales y debates profundos. En esta tendencia insertamos el trabajo que la cantante Beyoncé está desarrollando desde hace varios años, utilizando sus shows y videoclips como escenario para lanzar determinadas consignas políticas que tienen que ver con su género y su raza: sampleando el discurso feminista de la escritora nigeriana Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie en su show de la gala MTV Music Award 2014, homenajeando a las Panteras Negras o haciendo guiños al movimiento #BlackLivesMatter y a la cultura afroamericana. Su caso ha recibido elogios y críticas muy duras por distintos sectores de la sociedad y desde diversas esferas. Muchas mujeres -cis y trans-, especialmente negras, se han identificado con su discurso reconociendo en él un carácter empoderante; otras voces han señalado su falta de autenticidad por diversos motivos...

Depuis quelques années le féminisme bénéficie d’une forte visibilité médiatique via des célébrités qui se déclarent en faveur du mouvement. Il est possible de parler de néo-féminisme puisque celui-ci se détache de façon assez radicale des réflexions classiques. En figure de proue, Beyoncé s’engage d’une manière peu traditionnelle au travers de ses clips et chansons pour ce nouveau féminisme qui prône féminité, sexualité et indépendance. Mais plus que tout, ce féminisme prend en considération la liberté individuelle du choix.



For a few years, feminism enjoys a loud mediatic visibility through celebrities who declare themselves in favor of the movement. It is possible to speak of neo-feminism as it stands quite radicaly from the classical thinking. As a figurehead, Beyoncé commits in an untraditionnal way through her videoclips and song for this new feminism which extol feminity, sexuality and independance. But more than anything, this feminism supports the individual freedom of choice.

Emma Watson is often regarded as a 'game-changer' in modern feminism, and an icon for the movement within our pop-culture. However, upon further inspection, we learn that her strides in the realms of feminism have been short-sighted. In this paper, I take a look at her HeForShe campaign. I also take a close look at other icons in modern feminsim, including Beyoncé, Roxanne Gay, and bell hooks.

Beyonce calls Lemonade a “visual album.” There’s been buzz about the image of Beyonce smashing up cars, and a lot of talk about the autobiographical themes of the lyrics (lines like “better call Becky with the good hair” have been getting attention for the way they call out Jay Z’s mistress). But this 65-minute film’s songs, text and sound design haven’t been talked about in relation to its images. Lemonade’s unusual form—a long-play music video—gives it the capacity to draw connections between the personal pain of infidelity and America’s terrible history of racism. Twelve video clips are linked by brief passages comprised of poetry, visual tableaux and sound collage. These interludes lean toward avant-garde aesthetics. One thing avant garde aesthetics and music video share is the capacity to hold several vantage points in suspension. In Lemonade this capacity allows the work to embody opposites: love and hate, engagement and alienation, forgiveness and revenge.

In this special issue of Taboo, the authors use Beyoncé's album, Lemonade, to introduce the concept of the Bad Bitch Barbie, a term used to identify a woman who embraces her body while simultaneously using it as a commodity. Representing a Black body ideal in Lemonade, Beyoncé uses images of Black women's bodies to express empowerment, boldness, and resilience as Black women struggle to live in a racist and sexist society. There has been recent interest in the ways Black women have been portrayed in current media and popular culture, and many individuals have taken the opportunity to honor Black women's beauty, power, and resilience in the era of #BlackGirlMagic by paying homage to women who use music, sound, and the arts to tell their stories (Wilson, 2016; also see Jessica Care Moore's website, " Black Women Rock " [http://www.blackwomenrock.com]). In this article, our aim is twofold: first, we offer a historical review of the ways Black women and their bodies have been portrayed in music as well as in the political, cultural, and social spaces associated with Black women's worldviews. Second, we review songs from Lemonade to describe the Bad Bitch Barbie, who welcomes glamorization and embraces the profitability associated with the racialization, sexualization, and subjugation of Black women's bodies. This information is vital in discussions about how young African American girls emulate the likes of Beyoncé, and represent themselves in a mainstream culture whose beliefs are informed by socio-historical experiences concerning sexual imagery. The Bad Bitch Barbie figure recognizes—and, to some

Graded 94/100 at UC Riverside

I made this Nevsky digram inspired double Graphical Score to be able to conveniently present to my readers a way to parallel and contrast two of our visual materials screened in class. I was first of all interested , in my first project, in studying Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love’’ music video; the freedom that perspired from the video, the aesthetic beauty and catchiness of the music, as well as the mystery of black and white choices of film editing made me choose this one in January. Somehow, it remotely reminded me of a Herb Ritts' video for Madonna’s song, “Cherish’’ that seemed to, if my memory served me right at that time, share the same aesthetic qualities with Beyoncé’s video and respond to it.



I realized in a few months that Beyoncé’s open display of sexuality was not done in a ‘’loose’’ way or in a way to attract viewers, but rather to embody a feminist vision of African American artists and claims versus those of male rappers/singers..Just like the music and the video shared this essayist quality of freedom and beauty, Beyoncé Knowles tries to carry them in her life but also as an artist in her albums. She wants women to rise and take back the power History ravished from them and affirm their eroticism, their proud, free and pure sexuality.The Texan star constantly conveys this message in her videos.She also, in this quest to voice the empowerment, speaks for other communities, not just Black Americans, but for instance the LGBTIQ community. By so doing, she desynchronizes the current dynamics of sexual politics through the erotic and other means that demonstrate her and others’ agencies.

Avant de débuter cet écrit de recherche qui marque le point final de ma scolarité, je voudrais faire part de ma gratitude envers toutes les personnes qui m'ont accompagnée ces deux dernières années particulièrement, et aussi pour toutes les autres années. Merci d'avoir cru en moi et de m'avoir encouragé à dépasser ce que je pensais être mes limites. Dans un premier temps, je voudrais remercier mon directeur de mémoire pour la deuxième année consécutive, Monsieur Martin-Breteau pour sa patience, ses conseils, et surtout pour m'avoir parfois dit ce que je ne voulais pas entendre afin de me dépasser et à faire ce que jamais je n'aurai cru pouvoir. Plus généralement, j'aimerai remercier tous les professeurs de la mention LLCE et particulièrement les professeurs de civilisation américaine depuis ma première année à l'université : Mme Célestine, Mme Quanquin, Monsieur Martin-Breteau et Mme Ramdani. Cette formation, cette transmission de savoirs avec passion n'a fait que de m'inciter à repenser les choses, à me faire grandir et à me définir. Je tenais aussi à témoigner de ma gratitude envers mes camarades du master Langues et Sociétés, ou plutôt devrai-je dire mes ami.es pour leur aide, leurs avis et leur soutien moral. Un remerciement particulier pour Thibault Lefebvre, Capucine Wambre et Vincent Soubeyrand sans qui ces années auraient été bien plus fades. Finalement je tenais a remercier mon petit-ami et professeur de mathématiques préféré, Léo, pour son soutien sans faille cette année malgré les doutes qui m'envahissaient.

RESUMO: O que torna uma diva pop autêntica? Norteado por esse questionamento, proponho neste trabalho analisar as várias possibilidades de construção da autenticidade no reino pop feminino. Para tanto, recorro à noção de “semblante midiático” (Goodwin, 1992; Soares, 2009), evidenciando que a autenticidade não é uma característica imanente da artista, nem um aspecto objetivamente constatável e mensurável. Trata-se, antes, tanto de um construto sociocognitivo e discursivo quanto dos efeitos de sentido evocados pela imagem da pop star diante de seu público. As discussões teóricas baseiam-se em Frith (1996), Zumthor (2000), Middleton (2006), Janotti Jr. e Soares (2014), entre outros.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Música pop; Cultura pop; Diva pop; Cantora pop; Autenticidade.


ABSTRACT: What makes a pop diva authentic? Guided by this question, I propose in this paper to analyze the various possibilities of the construction of authenticity in the female pop realm. Therefore, I make use of the notion of “media imagery” (Goodwin, 1992; Soares, 2009), showing that authenticity is not an inherent characteristic of the artist, nor an objectively verifiable and measurable aspect. It is, rather, both a social cognitive and discursive construct and the meaning effects evoked by the pop star image in front of her audience. The theoretical discussions are based on Frith (1996), Zumthor (2000), Middleton (2006), Janotti Jr. and Soares (2014), among others.

KEYWORDS: Pop music; Pop culture; Pop diva; Female pop singer; Authenticity.


RESUMEN: ¿Qué hace una diva pop ser auténtica? Guiado por esta cuestión, propongo en este trabajo analizar las diversas posibilidades de construcción de la autenticidad en el ámbito pop femenino. Por lo tanto, nos volvemos a la noción de “media imagery” (Goodwin, 1992; Soares, 2009), lo que demuestra que la autenticidad no es una característica inherente de la artista, no un aspecto objetivamente verificable y medible. Es, más bien, tanto desde un constructo cognitivo social y discursivo, como los efectos de sentido evocados por la imagen de la estrella pop en la frente a su público. Las discusiones teóricas se basan en Frith (1996), Zumthor (2000), Middleton (2006), Janotti Jr. & Soares (2014), entre otros.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Música pop; Cultura pop; Diva pop; Cantante pop; Autenticidad.

This book explores, as one of the priorities of the feminist agenda in the 21st century, feminist education and awareness in pre-service and in-service teacher training. Although feminism is constantly present in political discourse and social media, it is not examined sufficiently in the classroom. This situation means that students approach feminism through media culture, lacking the feminist knowledge necessary to teach disciplinary knowledge from the feminist perspective. Feminist theory, as a critical theory, provides teacher training based on the formation of critical-creative thinking and the resolute interpretation of the relevant social issues of the world in which we live. We understand the process of ‘Feminist Critical Literacy’ outlined here as a plan to find a feminist utopia, specifically, in the training of teachers from all disciplines, although more oriented towards the Social and Human Sciences and Artistic Education through the use of multimodality as a pedagogical approach. If future teachers do not develop feminist cognitive lenses, they will not be prepared to teach women’s experiences and gender perspectives to their own students. This would then contribute to the endurance of an androcentric culture where there are no women’s models that can serve as a stimulus or be historical references for female students. Our idea of Feminist Critical Literacy stems from feminist literary criticism and critical literacy. Feminist Critical Literacy is defined as the hermeneutical process of suspicion (mainstream culture) and of performative deconstruction of multimodal texts (didactic produsage), the purpose of which is to generate feminist consciousness in teachers from an intersectional perspective; through the acquisition of critical, creative, empathetic, aesthetic, and empowering competencies that contribute to the formation of a fair, equal, and equitable glocal citizenship.

English: How can popular culture be used as a resource for discussions of stereotypes and prejudice attached to religion, race and gender? In this chapter, I will analyze Beyoncé’s music video Formation from 2016 to look at how representations of religion in this video challenge traditional models and definitions of “religion”. With a focus on four selected, recurring scenes, I will examine prejudice and stereotypes in representations of African diaspora religion and discuss how the video confronts and subverts these stereotypes. In conclusion, I discuss why and how this knowledge can be transferred to religion education.

Norsk: Sammendrag Hvordan kan populærkultur fungere som brekkstang for å diskutere stereotypier og fordommer knyttet til religion, rase og kjønn? I dette kapittelet analyserer jeg Beyoncés musikkvideo Formation fra 2016 for å se på hvordan fremstillinger av religion utfordrer tradisjonelle religionsmodeller og -definisjoner. Med fokus på fire utvalgte scener undersøkes fordommer som lenge har vært knyttet til afrikansk diasporareligion, og hvordan Beyoncé både spiller på og konfronterer disse
fordommene. Til sist diskuteres hvorfor og hvordan dette kan overføres til religionsundervisning i klasserommet.

Charla-Seminario en las jornadas del colectivo Play It Together, de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, en torno al feminismo y raza en la música popular, con especial atención al caso de Beyoncé, y las articulaciones en torno a la ignorancia blanca y la noción de blanquitud hegemónica.

Sesión a estudiantes de tercero de Sociología (UCM, Mayo 2017) sobre las 4 principales discusiones en torno al trabajo de Beyoncé y el feminismo y antiracismo.
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Seminar session (Complutense University of Madrid, May 2017) about the four main arguments on Beyoncé's last work.