Black Feminism
The media text that I will be using will be Beyonce's "Lemonade" visual album and this will be based around the Black Feminism issue/debate.
What is black feminism?
The second wave of feminism, which includes black feminism arose during the period of the Civil Rights Movement. Black feminism became popular in the 1960s, in response to the sexism of the Civil Rights Movement and racism of the feminist movement. From the 1970s to 1980s, black feminists formed various groups which addressed the role of black women in black nationalism, gay liberation, and second-wave feminism. Racial privilege allowed White women to have an increased ability to challenge gender-based oppression while still maintaining access and freedoms whereas women of color were routinely denied. It became apparent that is difficult, or impossible, for Black women to separate race from class and sex oppression, because they experienced them simultaneously, therefore black feminist movement had aims to stop this form of oppression.
Social Media:
Black feminist theories reached a wider audience in the 2010s, as a result of social media advocacy:
(http://www.ebony.com/news-views/black-feminism-goes-viral-045#axzz3idJ5gFFi)
Marketing Strategy:
https://www.candoideas.com/blog/the-brilliant-marketing-strategy-behind-beyonc%C3%A9s-lemonade
Analysis of Lemonade:
Lemonade is Beyoncé’s sixth album: 12 tracks, accompanied by an hour-long film, which premiered in the United States on Saturday on HBO. It is available only on the streaming service Tidal or for purchase through iTunes. At about 60 minutes long, it’s more a short feature than a music video in terms of production and vision (Variety reports that HBO will submit it for Emmy consideration).
The visual album is split into 11 chapters: Intuition, Denial, Anger, Apathy, Emptiness, Accountability, Reformation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, Hope and Redemption. Each chapter also has some sort of introduction either through a poem or direct dialogue which allows the audience to have an understanding of the atmosphere of the chapter, meaning behind it and so on. Each chapter carries a theme, whether it is based on the event of Hurricane Katrina or the representation of black culture, the feeling of regret or pain. Some of the most prominent and major themes in the narrative link to the emotions of anger, regret, pain but also survival and happiness. Several ideologies and values are also hinted i.e. black power. This makes mise-en-scene, sets etc. much more significant as these features are used to portray the image each chapter wants to represent. The soundtrack also creates a link between what the audience are seeing (visuals) and what they are hearing (soundtrack) this allows a story to be told, some of the songs have a more aggressive tone.
The visual album carries themes of empowering black women and the harsh experiences they have faced through images, poems, lyrics, it also celebrates Deep Southern culture, and references the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X and so on. A prime example could be the Malcom X extract from his speech: "The most disrespected woman in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the black woman"
The use of cameos from various talented people of colour is also another key feature of the visual album. The album features cameos of British-Somali poet Warsan Shire; the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, holding photographs of their dead sons; and cameos from Serena Williams and a number of young, black celebrities, such as Zendaya, Amandla Stenberg and Quvenzhané Wallis.The use of significant black personalities showcases black talent, this is what black feminism is about. The use of cameos from the mothers of their children who have faced police brutality also allow audiences who have suffered from police brutality to relate.
In terms of iconography, the major themes of the text also have a lot of relevance. For example, the use of tribal painting on the dancers, majority of the women wearing their hair in afros/braids etc. links back to the idea of black woman loving themselves and their roots, and to not be ashamed of where they came from. The use of setting also creates a link, the images of flooding link back to Hurricane Katrina. There is also use of iconography, the black panthers had a major influence in terms of costumes i.e. the black berets, leather jackets. The use of Black Panther images, links back to the roots of black feminism and the unrest of the 1960's. The black panthers style of clothing was very iconic back in the 60's and their fierceness got them a lot of media attention, so it is not hard to be missed by the audience.
The topics that Beyonce has mentioned in her album have a historical link between the past Civil Rights Movements/Black Panthers, however these themes are still currently recurring through the Black Lives Matter movement and social media phenomena, recent events make it part of today's society as these issues have not yet been defeated.
Relevant books, article, websites:
- "Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought"
- "Ain't I a Woman?" - Bell Hooks
- “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” - Kimberlé Crenshaw
- Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia
- The Damnation of Women
Relevant Individuals/organisations
- Beyonce
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall
- Kathleen Cleaver
- Ericka Huggins
- Malcolm X
- Chimimanda Adeche
- Black Girl Magic/Black Lives Matter
- The Black Panther Party/ Civil rights movement
- The mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Michael
- Amandla Stenberg, Winnie Harlow, Serena Williams, Warsan Shire etc. (The use of successful black women links back to the idea of self-empowerment)
- W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Damnation of Women, published in 1920, makes a case for the improvement of living conditions for Black women and is considered one of the first Black male feminist writings.
Relevant theories:
The intersectionality theory: Kimberle Crenshaw created the Intersectionality theory to describe the fact that it is difficult for black women to diffrentiate race from class and sex oppression, because they experience them simultaneously. Black feminism is more than just trying to empower women, as its roots lie in the struggle black women have been facing for centuries.
Uses and gratications theory, personal relationships: The audience can relate to some of the issues that Beyonce mentions, the use of cameos from specific people such as the three mothers would appeal to audiences who's family have suffered from police brutality for example
Views against Lemonade
Beyoncé’s “going all political” comes much to the dismay of Piers Morgan, who reminisced in a column in the Daily Mail about a simpler time when the pair of them enjoyed scones
Piers Morgan article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3557867/PIERS-MORGAN-Jay-Z-s-not-one-needs-nervous-Beyonce-born-black-woman-political-mission.html
Comments:
Migraine key concepts research:
Media Representations
Lemonade aims to represent black women and the hardships they have been going through for many centuries. The representations are quite positive and portray black women as strong despite the hardships they may have to go through. The subject is being represented as a visual album because it allows a narrative to take place, which allows the subject to be explained. The representations are presented in several ways, either through the mise-en-scene, the music, setting and so on which create a better atmosphere and easier understanding for the audience.
Media Languages and Forms
Each chapter carries a theme, whether it is based on the event of Hurricane Katrina or the representation of black culture. This makes mise-en-scene, sets etc. much more significant as these features are used to portray the image each chapter wants to represent. The soundtrack creates a link between what the audience are seeing (visuals) and what they are hearing (soundtrack) this allows a story to be told, some of the songs have a more aggressive tone for example. The major themes of the text have a lot of relevance to the images and iconography in the visual album. For example, the use of Yoruba tribal painting on the dancers, majority of the women wearing their hair in afros/braids etc. links back to the idea of black woman loving themselves and their roots, and to not be ashamed of where they came from. The use of setting also creates a link, the images of flooding link back to Hurricane Katrina. There is also use of iconography, the black panthers had a major influence in terms of costumes i.e. the black berets, leather jackets. This suggests that Beyonce believes in the cause the Black Panthers carried, also their style of clothing was very iconic back in the 60's and their fierceness got them a lot of media attention, so it is not hard to miss by the audience.
Narrative
The narrative is organised and structured as a book, there are 11 chapters: Intuition, Denial, Anger, Apathy, Emptiness, Accountability, Reformation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, Hope and Redemption. Each chapter also has some sort of introduction either through a poem or direct dialogue which allows the audience to have an understanding of the atmosphere of the chapter, meaning behind it and so on. The audience are in the position where it is as if Beyonce is directly speaking to them. They may also put themselves in the shoes of those who have suffered, as the vivid dialogue and images of the mothers can either relate to them or help them understand. The roles of features such as music, mise-en-scene and editing within the narrative is to create the mood for each chapter as each chapter is associated with a different emotion or event. Some of the most prominent and major themes in the narrative link to the emotions of anger, regret, pain but also survival and happiness. Several ideologies and values are also hinted i.e. black power
Genre
The visual album contains many pop and R&B elements, but it also breaks boundaries. It contains country, reggae, electronic, hip-hop, rock and jazz, soul too. The major genres don’t really mean anything anymore, and they’ve since given way to more specific titles. Iconography in the album link back to Black power, the black panthers for example. Martial relationships, lack of privileges for black women are also mentioned too. The text necessarily does not conform to the characteristics of the genre, as it can be linked back to all forms of music, it is breaking the boundaries. There are several featuring artists that are strongly associated with the genres of R&B and Rap such as the Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar.
Media Institutions
The text is from a commercial institution, the labels that contributed have an influence due to the fact that the record label (Parkwood entertainment) belongs to Beyonce meaning she has control over the content of her music i.e discussing controversial topics such as black feminism, misogyny, and society’s ever-present racial tensions. The album was released exclusively on Tidal first ($50 million in revenue over the course of the ingle weekend – Source; Reel Network). Prominent black rapper Kendrick Lamar was on a track, Serena Williams appears in one of the videos, and Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown's mothers all make cameos, this attracts a wider audience.
Media Values and Ideology
The main major values of Lemonade would be to speak on behalf of the voiceless and the forgotten black women of the United States. Lemonade addresses issues faced by black women while also empowering them, and promoting self love.
Media Audiences
The target audience in terms of psychographics would be the mainstreamers, the explorers and the reformers. In terms of demographics it would appeal to an ABC1 audience, mainly consisting of the young adult group and older. It may also appeal to white, middle aged men and women who at first may not like it as it is quite explicit, but it allows them to have a greater understanding of the issues faced. The size of the audience would be quite large as Beyonce is a worldwide known artist. As an audience member I read the text in a positive manner. I believe my age, gender and background is a great influence as I come from an British-Somali background, being a young female also has an impact as females are generally more open minded towards the concept of feminism, which is often hard to digest in todays society as it is very controversial, especially black feminism.
Powerpoint:
