When it came out, Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade was all anyone could talk about. Some people praised it highly while others found many faults in the new sound. Along with the regular comments about style, came the idea of politics in her album. A consensus was made about its association with race, and its thoughts on the matter, but feminism was harder for people to agree on. It certainly seems that Beyoncé is supporting feminism’s cause with things such as her mostly female cast, but at times the subject matter of the songs and poems seem to contradict Bell Hooks’ definition of feminism. More than that, though, is the issue with brevity of feminism in the album itself. Since Lemonade chooses to focus on the empowerment of a repressed race
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While the two coincide and sometimes mean the same thing, they are mostly different and this can be seen by Hooks’ definition and the subjects which Beyoncé portrays.
There are important lyrics in Lemonade that talk about feminist ideas; while most of the other lyrics focus on the cheater these lyrics are no doubt powerful and equally as important. In “Formation,” Beyoncé throws back her arms and sings “I might just be a black Bill Gates in the making” (Formation, 3:25-3:28). This sentence works with Hooks’ main definition of feminism: “’Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression…’ I love it because it so clearly states that the movement is not about being anti-male. It makes it clear that the problem is sexism” (Hooks, viii). Having already forgiven the cheater, Beyoncé now focuses on the power that men have in general rather than the one who had …show more content…
This is where the problem of calling Lemonade a feminist piece comes in. While there is a lot of female empowerment, and with it feminism, the main goal of this piece is not overall empowerment. Instead, Lemonade focuses on black female empowerment. While this is a parmount issue in today’s society, Hooks argues that without the equality of everyone feminism cannot correctly succeed. Hooks notes that “There is no one path to feminism. Individuals from diverse backgrounds need feminist theory that speaks directly to their lives,” so in some ways it is important for Beyonce to approach race issues in regards to feminism (Hooks, 116). In fact, this is probably the best way for Beyonce to reach out with this important issue while making sure she can relate to it. Also, Hooks further states that feminism starts to accomplish its goal when “any male or female of any age works on behalf of ending sexism” which is what Beyonce is doing in her album (Hooks, 116). The only issue, is that it is not the forefront of this album, and if the album wants to claim itself as a feminist piece then there needs to be a bigger emphasis on it. Despite the myriad of examples I provided, some of them contradict themselves, and thus feminism, while others touch too briefly on the matter. Her acknowledgement of female power comes from
While the two coincide and sometimes mean the same thing, they are mostly different and this can be seen by Hooks’ definition and the subjects which Beyoncé portrays.
There are important lyrics in Lemonade that talk about feminist ideas; while most of the other lyrics focus on the cheater these lyrics are no doubt powerful and equally as important. In “Formation,” Beyoncé throws back her arms and sings “I might just be a black Bill Gates in the making” (Formation, 3:25-3:28). This sentence works with Hooks’ main definition of feminism: “’Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression…’ I love it because it so clearly states that the movement is not about being anti-male. It makes it clear that the problem is sexism” (Hooks, viii). Having already forgiven the cheater, Beyoncé now focuses on the power that men have in general rather than the one who had …show more content…
This is where the problem of calling Lemonade a feminist piece comes in. While there is a lot of female empowerment, and with it feminism, the main goal of this piece is not overall empowerment. Instead, Lemonade focuses on black female empowerment. While this is a parmount issue in today’s society, Hooks argues that without the equality of everyone feminism cannot correctly succeed. Hooks notes that “There is no one path to feminism. Individuals from diverse backgrounds need feminist theory that speaks directly to their lives,” so in some ways it is important for Beyonce to approach race issues in regards to feminism (Hooks, 116). In fact, this is probably the best way for Beyonce to reach out with this important issue while making sure she can relate to it. Also, Hooks further states that feminism starts to accomplish its goal when “any male or female of any age works on behalf of ending sexism” which is what Beyonce is doing in her album (Hooks, 116). The only issue, is that it is not the forefront of this album, and if the album wants to claim itself as a feminist piece then there needs to be a bigger emphasis on it. Despite the myriad of examples I provided, some of them contradict themselves, and thus feminism, while others touch too briefly on the matter. Her acknowledgement of female power comes from