Analysis Of Beyonce's Lemonade

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Recommended: Summary describing bell hooks ideas

bell hooks is trying to convince her readers that the display of black female bodies in Beyonce’s Lemonade does not aid in shifting or masking the sexist narratives and construction of black female identity (page 3). hooks provides five main premises to support her claim. Her first point is that Lemonade is a commodity, just as the black female body has been a commodity from slavery to present day; therefore, Lemonade was not solely produced for the black female audience (page 1-2). Her second point is that there is a commodification difference in Lemonade because its intent is to challenge the current devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body by way of positively exhibiting diverse images of black female bodies. This commodification …show more content…

Although this claim was made in reference to Lemonade, it is a claim that can be applied to many different scenarios. The idea that one can not gain power through violence is important in reference to the feminist movement, but it is also applicable to other situations involving violence. For this reason, I believe that this is the strongest point because not only does it hold up in hooks’ argument, but it holds up in other disputes as well. It is also logical because, that just as hate can not drive out hate, I believe that the presence of violence will never rid of …show more content…

However, I think that hooks makes her conclusion hard to defend because her premises are all debateable. For instance, in her first point, hooks states that the black female body has been a commodity from slavery to present day and although I agree with this premise, the definition of commodity could be skewed in a way in which someone could argue otherwise, even with historical context. Another potential weak premise is the second point, which underlines the intent of Lemonade. Other than the creators themselves, it is hard for one to claim the specific intent of a product, even if it might seem obvious. If hooks is correct in the identification of the intent, the premise is strong and the argument follows; however, if the intent was misinterpreted, then the entire argument is not

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