MEST 4 Coursework Blog

Friday, 14 October 2016

Turorial 1

Fantastic text and issue – the makings of a superb investigation already. Brilliant presentation and that passion and critical autonomy needs to come through in the essay.

Your research plan has the potential to be outstanding. Two writers to look up (from the new Media specification) are Van Zoonen and bell hooks – bell hooks in particular (radical black feminism).

One critical part is your title or question – work on this and we’ll go over it at the next tutorial.

Linked production – music video with potential visual poetry element. Sounds great.

Next steps: finish project proposal and start building a comprehensive research plan.

Post this to your blog with a brief plan for what you will work on in the next 10 days.

In the next 10 days I'll be continuing to work on my notes and qoutes, and I'll make sure to do research on the writers Van Zoonen and Bell Hooks and their books. I'll also attempt to create links with the theories I have researched for the project proposal to my text, and start to break down articles and university research and incorporate it to my work. I'll also start to look for inspirations in terms of the linked production.

Friday, 7 October 2016

How far does Beyonce's Lemonade promote the views and values of Black Feminism in current day society?

Angle
What impact has the release of Lemonade had on the views and values of black struggle and empowerment amongst mainstream society, has Lemonade aided the cause of raising awareness on these issues in a positive manner?

Hypothesis
Black Feminism is a growing movement in society, and is finding its way into mainstream music. Themes of black empowerment as a whole is growing in the music industries.

Linked production piece
Music video/visual poetry that links back to the theme of Black Feminism/Black struggle

MIGRAIN

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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.

Social

Racial equality being synonymous with gender equality in current day America
Privileges of white women over those of colour who are degraded and shamed
Representation of coloured women in the media
Western perception of beauty
Police brutality
Black discrimination in America

Historical

The Black Panthers movement
The Civil Rights Movement
Slavery in America
Segregation in America

Economic

Marginalisation
Black struggle and the lower status contributing to the slim rates of employment.

Example of statistics that support this

Political

The political state of America today and also in the past in terms of civil law etc. how it relates to the current day
Violation of rights of African-Americans

Issues/Debates

Representation and stereotyping: Does Beyonce defy the negative represenations of black women? Stereotypes of black women and also black people as a whole, historical context and also modern day social issues.
News Values: Coverage of the events that have recently taken place and how the news industry portrays them, i.e. Black Lives Matter representation on the news
Ownership and control: The music industry and the record label of Beyonce, how it has had an impact on Lemonade
Regulation and censorship: The power that Beyonce has to be able to discuss issues that Black women and also men in America are facing

Theories

Semiotics: The cinematography, mise-en-scene and so on of the visual album
Gender and ethnicity 1): http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-rol6.htm 2) http://www.slideshare.net/MissOzzy/theory-theorists

Paul Gilroy: Black music articulated diasporic experiences of resistance to white capitalist culture. Employs the notion of ‘diaspora’ and how ethnic minorities (particularly black people) experience dislocation from their homeland. E.g. feeling as if you do not totally belong in Britain but you also are considered ‘English’ in the Caribbean, Africa or Asia etc

Post-colonialism (Feminist version): A response to the fact that feminism seemed to focus solely on the experiences of women in Western cultures. Postcolonial feminism seeks to account for the way that racism and the long-lasting political, economic, and cultural effects of colonialism affect non-white, non-Western women in the postcolonial world. How does Beyonce represent this view?
Audience theories: Uses and Gratifications of Lemonade etc.
Genre theories: Style of the visual album, the music itself and how Beyonce is breaking boundaries and conventions within music, more political

Other related theories:

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.

Blaxploitation: The exploitation of black people, especially with regard to stereotyped roles in films/media. (Could Lemonade just be an aesthetic for black struggle as many claim?)

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts

Beyonce - Lemonade

Other media texts

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
Joey Badass -Like Me
Solange - A Seat at the Table

TV documentaries

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
A Place of Rage

Academic texts/books

Beverly Guy-Sheftall "Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought" (1995)
Bell Hooks: "Ain't I a Woman?" (1981)
“ Kimberlé Crenshaw: "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” (1989)
Darlene Clark Hine: "Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia" (1993)
W. EB DuBois "The Damnation of Women" (1920)

Internet Links

Newspaper websites
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11826051/Black-feminism-is-sadly-still-necessary.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/black-feminist-movement-fails-women-black-minority
http://www.factmag.com/2016/04/27/lemonade-beyonce-meaning-visual-album/
http://www.ebony.com/news-views/lemonade-taught-me-black-girl-magic#axzz4I53Oo7hA
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/beyonce-formation-black-american-narrative-the-margins

University websites/academic papers online.

Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents

Other relevant sites/articles

http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/black-feminist-thought.html#.V-5tQPmAOkocheck
http://www.spin.com/2016/04/beyonce-lemonade-hbo-album-film-analysis/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lindsay-hoffman/black-woman-white-movemen_b_8569540.html
http://www.mit.edu/activities/thistle/v9/9.01/6blackf.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_feminism
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/movies/the-panthers-revolutionary-feminism.html
http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/black-feminist-thought.html#.V7SkX1srLIV
http://www.factmag.com/2016/04/27/lemonade-beyonce-meaning-visual-album/
http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/24/were-going-nuts-over-all-of-the-cameos-in-beyonces-lemonade-5838344/
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7341839/beyonce-lemonade-black-feminism
http://www.ebony.com/news-views/lemonade-taught-me-black-girl-magic#axzz4I53Oo7hA
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/beyonce-formation-black-american-narrative-the-margins
http://www.fuse.tv/2016/04/beyonce-genre-lemonade
http://www.bustle.com/articles/156634-beyonces-lemonade-has-8-musical-genres-you-need-to-hear-them-all
http://www.indiewire.com/2016/04/watch-7-minute-video-essay-explores-the-film-influences-behind-beyonces-lemonade-292056/

Monday, 26 September 2016

Ignite Representations: Learner Response

Feedback

Nice opening, went straight into the background of the issue and primary text works well. Clear knowledge, and authority coming through. Slides were text heavy, often more than maximum 20 words. Other issue is timing, brilliant research but too much to go through on some slides. The image analysis was promising but needed 2 slides worth of time. Media concepts are addressed well, particularly institution and the power Beyonce has by having her own institution. Superb theory, intersectionality and research such as Piers Morgan criticism. Importance of Lemonade as a mainstream text is very significant, addressed in presentation and needs to be picked up in essay. Ending works really well, a personal take on the issue and clear passion/engagement. This bodes well for the essay. Superb first question, a new wave of protest/movement? Question answered with passion and knowledge, strong opinions. Another great Q - are male artists part of feminism. Again, a strong, comprehensive answer addressing issues, history and motivation of certain groups. Another good Q - does this issue appear on mainstream TV, and if so, what effect? Good answer.

Content - 5

Clarity - 5

Presentation - 3

My presentation will lead into my critical investigation by applying several theories to create a link between my text and issue, I will also make sure that I make detailed notes on the media forms of the video itself so I can have detailed analysis. I will also focus more into the institutions of music industry and how the fact that Beyonce owns her own media institution benefits her in terms of the music she creates. I will look further into the criticism of Lemonade and Black Feminism, and make sure that I include my own views and opinions on the issue. As for my feedback, I will take on how the issue appears on mainstream TV and what effect it has, and will look at how male artists may be part of the Black Feminism movement. I will also make sure I look at the issue from a historical perspective and see how it may be a new wave of protest/movement. I will also look at the concept of blaxploitation and see whether this links back to Lemonade and whether black suffering is just another current trend or aesthetic for the music industry.

Monday, 5 September 2016

MEST4 Summer Project

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: