Girls run the world! That is what Beyoncé Knowles-Carter proposed in her 2011 single “Run the World (Girls)”. A music video, starring Beyoncé as the leader of a band of women, confronting and conquering a rival band of men, was released alongside the song. Since its release, the video has garnered over 280 million views and received critical praise for its inspiring message (Wieselman). While it is true that Beyoncé’s song delivers an unapologetic message of women empowerment, this message obscures underlying racism and sexism within the video and lyrics. Throughout the lyrics and music video, Beyoncé shows women as powerful agents of their own desire, capable of dominating and captivating men. The chorus “Who run the world? Girls” is repeated
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Lyrics like “My persuasion can build a nation” and “You will do anything for me” cast women in an inactive role even though they are supposedly in control. Rather than actually building a nation or doing things for themselves, these lyrics imply that women simply “persuade” others (presumably men) to do their bidding. This focus on passiveness comes from emphasized femininity, which stresses compliance and inaction for women (Williams Lecture, 10/20/15). The video also presents traditional stereotypes for men. The men of the rival group are dressed in military garb and wield weapons, representing the glorification of violence associated with hyper-masculinity. As Megan Vokey explains in “An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements,” hyper-masculinity proposes that violence is manly (562). Furthermore, Beyoncé’s power is shown primarily through aggression. This is apparent through Beyoncé’s sharp, violent dancing and angry facial expressions throughout the video, as well as a scene in which she attacks and assaults men in the rival group. These scenes equate masculinity with power, implicitly endorsing the patriarchal idea that masculinity is inherently superior to femininity. Beyoncé’s aggression is further complicated by her race. Black women are often viewed as more masculine than white women, due to the …show more content…
Nearly all of the women in the video are dressed scantily. Beyoncé’s group of women are adorned in lingerie and Beyoncé dons a variety of revealing outfits. The video and song portray this behavior as empowering, with Beyoncé proudly in control of her own sexuality, proclaiming “Boy, don’t even try to touch me,” as well as using her sexuality to distract and disarm a man. The idea that hypersexuality is a form of liberation comes from the Girl Power postfeminism narrative, which constructs a world where women are granted power based on consumerism and hypersexuality (Pomerantz, Raby, and Stefanik, 189). But is this really empowering? Women presenting themselves as knowing, active sexual subjects is what Rosalind Gill calls sexual-subjectification in “From Sexual Objectification to Sexual Subjectification” (103). Gill claims this is not empowering, but rather an internalization of the male gaze that institutes a “new disciplinary regime” focused around women policing themselves (Gill, 104). With this reading, Beyoncé’s actions perpetuate this ideology of self-policing and are not actually empowering. This issue is further complicated when racialized gender is considered. Emerson discusses how this focus on appearance and sexuality reflects the racist stereotype of the hypersexual “Jezebel” (129). This image undermines Beyoncé’s sexual agency and
Lyrics like “My persuasion can build a nation” and “You will do anything for me” cast women in an inactive role even though they are supposedly in control. Rather than actually building a nation or doing things for themselves, these lyrics imply that women simply “persuade” others (presumably men) to do their bidding. This focus on passiveness comes from emphasized femininity, which stresses compliance and inaction for women (Williams Lecture, 10/20/15). The video also presents traditional stereotypes for men. The men of the rival group are dressed in military garb and wield weapons, representing the glorification of violence associated with hyper-masculinity. As Megan Vokey explains in “An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements,” hyper-masculinity proposes that violence is manly (562). Furthermore, Beyoncé’s power is shown primarily through aggression. This is apparent through Beyoncé’s sharp, violent dancing and angry facial expressions throughout the video, as well as a scene in which she attacks and assaults men in the rival group. These scenes equate masculinity with power, implicitly endorsing the patriarchal idea that masculinity is inherently superior to femininity. Beyoncé’s aggression is further complicated by her race. Black women are often viewed as more masculine than white women, due to the …show more content…
Nearly all of the women in the video are dressed scantily. Beyoncé’s group of women are adorned in lingerie and Beyoncé dons a variety of revealing outfits. The video and song portray this behavior as empowering, with Beyoncé proudly in control of her own sexuality, proclaiming “Boy, don’t even try to touch me,” as well as using her sexuality to distract and disarm a man. The idea that hypersexuality is a form of liberation comes from the Girl Power postfeminism narrative, which constructs a world where women are granted power based on consumerism and hypersexuality (Pomerantz, Raby, and Stefanik, 189). But is this really empowering? Women presenting themselves as knowing, active sexual subjects is what Rosalind Gill calls sexual-subjectification in “From Sexual Objectification to Sexual Subjectification” (103). Gill claims this is not empowering, but rather an internalization of the male gaze that institutes a “new disciplinary regime” focused around women policing themselves (Gill, 104). With this reading, Beyoncé’s actions perpetuate this ideology of self-policing and are not actually empowering. This issue is further complicated when racialized gender is considered. Emerson discusses how this focus on appearance and sexuality reflects the racist stereotype of the hypersexual “Jezebel” (129). This image undermines Beyoncé’s sexual agency and