Analysis Of Beyoncé Knowles: An Untraditional Feminism
analytical Essay
1315 words
Beyoncé: An Untraditional Feminist As an ever growing topic of debate in modern society, understanding feminism is critical to modern social and political stances. Beyoncé Knowles, a celebrity pop star has been a figure surrounded by debate for those seeking to define modern feminism. By examining her feminism, a great deal can be learned about different stance on modern feminism. As bell hooks defines it in her book, Feminism is for Everybody, “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (viii). Through this definition, hooks is clear that feminism can be embraced by anyone, male or female, black or white, rich or poor so long as they oppose sexism and its ramifications since opposing sexism does not mean …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how beyoncé's feminism can be embraced by anyone, male or female, black or white, rich or poor, as long as they oppose sexism.
- Analyzes how beyoncé uses her celebrity status to promote women and confidence rather than just using it to achieve her own gains.
- Analyzes how beyoncé embraces feminism through her traditional marriage to promote equality between men and women.
- Analyzes how beyoncé embraces her own femininity through her body, which allows her to be a strong model for modern feminism.
- Explains that beyoncé is a feminist since she opposes sexism and promotes equality. recognizing her feminist stance is vital to understanding modern feminism.
While Beyoncé must be untraditional in her display of feminism as a result of her unique position of celebrity and atypical job, this does not necessarily eliminate her from promoting equality for women despite being in a non-academic or business setting. In order to understand where Beyoncé fits into this explanation, there are a variety of possible angles to take. In particular, Beyoncé’s feminism can be examined through the primary lens of her music video “Who Run the World (Girls)” complemented by various secondary articles which take different stances on Beyoncé’s feminism. While Beyoncé is perhaps untraditional in her display of feminism, her confident embrace of her celebrity position, traditional marriage, and feminine identity allow her to create her own brand of modern feminism. By embracing her celebrity status and using it to promote women and confidence rather than simply using it to achieve her own gains, Beyoncé expresses her feminism in a clear but untraditional way. In the lyrics of her “Who Run the World (Girls)” music video, Beyoncé …show more content…
Her confidence is well illustrated in the music video “Who Runs the World (Girls)” by her fierce, focused expression while dancing in skimpy, feminine clothing. This idea of power coupled with femininity is noticeable throughout the music video by comparing images of Beyoncé and powerful animals such as lions and hyenas as well as by combining feminine clothing of garters and lingerie with powerful clothing of combat boots. These elements work together to illustrate Beyoncé’s acceptance of her own femininity but also show how she allows that to empower her, not weaken her. Her actions in the music video are complemented by her actions in real life such as posing in the GQ magazine in only her underwear. On the other hand, some such as Hadley Freeman feel that Beyoncé is too powerful to need to stoop to posing in such magazines; in Freeman’s words, “It’s another if you are professedly one of the most powerful women in the entertainment business who has no need of such tactics.” While it’s true that Beyoncé does not need such tactics, it does not necessarily follow that these tactics are in fact a bad thing and purely a publicity stunt. Rather, these tactics are her way of embracing her feminine identity in order to promote feminism in her own way. While perhaps not as professional
Related
- opinion
- analytical
- explanatory
- Is Beyoncé A Feminist?opinion essayIs Beyoncé a feminist? Who cares! Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you have most likely heard about Beyoncé’s 17- minutes performance of her latest self-titled album at the MTV Video Music Awards. While many considered her performance to be the highlight of the show, however, the most memorable moment of the performance was while she was performing her song Flawless, where she stood on the stage with the word FEMINIST blazing behind her.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that beyoncé's performance of her self-titled album at the mtv video music awards was the highlight of the show, but the most memorable moment was when she stood on the stage with the word feminist blazing behind her.
- Explains that beyoncé has declared her support of gender equality through reenacted rosie the riveter’s we can do it pose. she has also included, in her song ***flawless, a part of nigerian author and activist, chimamanda
- Explains that girls are taught to shrink themselves to make themselves smaller. they are expected to aspire to marriage and make their life choices.
- Analyzes how beyoncé's performance exploded with reactions, condemning, praising, and a discussion among feminists.
- Explains that the anti-beyoncé debate has intensified after that performance. the f-word has been associated with a lot of negative imagery.
- Explains that feminists have considered changing the name feminism to something more appealing, such as womanist and humanist, to change the negative image that is associated with the word.
- Explains that beyoncé is the most successful female artist of all time. she is also a successful businesswoman, mother, wife, and black woman.
- Analyzes how feminists criticize beyoncé's version of feminism based on their observation of her songs and her performance on stage.
- Opines that the major assault on feminism in our society has come from visual media and from television and videos.
- Opines that the beyoncé debate is a sign of the larger problem within the feminist system of thoughts. the concept of sexuality is different between different women across racial, ethnic, and economic lines.
1127 wordsRead More - Essay On Lena Dunhamanalytical essay“Feminist” has a negative connotation nowadays; we often times here people call feminists “feminazis,” “man haters,” or even just a “bitch.” Many people think that “feminism is anti- male” (Hooks). Many female celebrities stay hush about the issues surrounding females every day, but Lena Dunham is not one of them. Stemming from a family of artists, Lena became a writer, actress, producer, and director and was put in the spotlight. Instead of keeping hush about the world and Hollywood’s issues pertaining to the mistreatment of not only women, but those of different genders and other oppressed people as well. Lena Dunham shows her bold character and feminist visions by using her pedestal to speak out on social and political issues.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes dani di placido's article titled "lena dunham is a monster of our own creation," wherein lena is described as an ugly, annoying, femin-azi.
- Explains that lena dunham is privileged in many different ways; she is white, grew up in a wealthy household, and is heterosexual.
- Analyzes how their background gives them the upper hand in society, and how they are oppressed in certain aspects.
- Analyzes how lena dunham has used her fame to speak out on her feminist views. she is not afraid to share her political and social opinions and views, which is why she receives hate.
- Analyzes how lena dunham, a self-proclaimed feminist, uses her pedestal to speak out on social and political issues.
1205 wordsRead More - Feminism: The Women's Suffrage Movementexplanatory essayFeminism is a political movement that seeks equality between the sexes. Motivated by the search for social justice, feminist analysis provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political ideologies. Important topics for feminist politics and theory include: the body, class and work, family life, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, sex work, human trafficking, and sexuality. From early beginnings, to its current state, feminism has been a pervasive movement that has incited social, political and economic change and advancements. Generationally speaking, over the decades feminism has taken on many different meanings. Feminism has become a spectrum; each generation, or wave,
In this essay, the author
- Explains that feminist analysis provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political ideologies.
- Explains that the first wave of feminism, or women’s suffrage, emerged in the late 1800s, followed by the second wave, which was coming off the heels of world war ii.
- Describes the women's suffrage movement, which began in the 1830s and would span into the early 1900s.
- Explains that susan b. anthony and elizabeth cady stanton formed the national women's suffrage association in 1869. the organization aimed to achieve voting rights for women through a congressional amendment to the constitution.
- Describes how alice paul and her colleagues formed the national woman's party (nwp) in 1916, introducing some of the methods used by the suffrage movement in britain.
- Explains that feminism was not inclusive and many spoke loudly against african american women and their right to vote. sojourner truth remained unwavering in her support of women's rights.
1567 wordsRead More - Black Women’s Role in Popular Culture: An Analysis of The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghettoanalytical essayIn modern day society, popular culture has gained equal status to world issues and politics. Music, movies, and literature have started cultural revolutions and challenged the straight-forward thinking many individuals have accepted in the past. But while popular culture can advance new ideas and create movements, it also has the ability to challenge advancements society has made. Imani Perry’s essay, The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, focuses on hip hop and its negative impact on women and body image.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how perry creates strong arguments about how models in music videos could create a lack of self-esteem in young girls but fails to support the arguments.
- Analyzes how perry tries to show that young girls have very few role models in hip hop that promote positive feminist values and body images.
- Analyzes how lauryn hill's untraditional style of baggy clothes was replaced by designer clothes, which led to less attention from the media for her individuality as an artist.
- Analyzes how imani perry's essay, the venus hip hop and the pink ghetto, focuses on hip hop and its negative impact on women and body image.
- Analyzes how perry's essay, the venus hip hop and the pink ghetto, emphasizes feminism and body image as a problem for future young black girls.
1165 wordsRead More - Feminism Essayanalytical essayThe apparent discrimination of women and consequential psychological and physical effects call for social and political reform concerning women’s rights in all aspects of life. Feminism is needed to promote and facilitate that reform by promoting and establishing the advancement of women. Feminism is the advocacy of women 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality with men is a necessary movement in modern American society because there is a multitude of ways in which women are oppressed and discriminated against. This is evident when considering the gender pay gap, the objectification of women in the media, and rape culture.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the apparent discrimination of women and consequential psychological and physical effects call for social and political reform concerning women’s rights in all aspects of life. feminism is needed to promote and facilitate that reform.
- Explains that feminism has grown to encompass more cultural issues instead of focusing on political rights. sexual objectification of women in the media displays harmful gender role expectations.
- Analyzes how rape culture in america is the way in which society blames victims of sexual assault even if it is verbal and normalizes male sexual violence.
- Opines that the gender pay gap inhibits women in two major ways, namely, by not paying women at the same rate as men and by perpetuating poverty amongst women.
949 wordsRead More - Feminism Essayexplanatory essayOne can hardly talk of a single united feminism, but rather, manifold feminisms. The US feminist movement ‘s main global struggle has been to enable ‘womankind’ to fully lead her existence and live her humanity by standing against the injustices of the dominant patriarchy and sexist discrimination . Throughout history, the dominant mainstream Feminism ( with capital F) tends to have been related to conform to the aspiration of the educated middle-class heterosexual white women who have traditionally been given unequal power to widen their significance--but the movement has lately had more ramifications. Currently, there are different kinds of feminism whose disagreements stem from fundamental intrinsic understanding of what feminism, sexism or phallocentrism mean. Each trend views it from a different perspective as in accordance with its motives or concerns. Nonetheless, they share common claims as to “the body, class and work, disability, the family, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, science, the self, sex work, and sexuality.”
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the us feminist movement's main global struggle has been to enable ‘womankind’ to fully lead her existence by standing against the injustices of the dominant patriarchy and sexist discrimination.
- Explains that the essay aims to survey the temporal and spacial evolution of the literary movement of feminism in the united states.
- Explains that feminism is an intellectual commitment and political movement that advocates women's rights and combats different forms of sexism.
- Explains that the first wave appeared in late 19th to early 20th century, was concerned with suffrage. a few years after the second world war, a radical "second wave" was born.
- Explains that the american first-wave feminism rose in light of industrial society and liberal politics in late 19th century to 1920s.
- Describes the second wave of feminism, which sprung up after the second world war.
- Explains that the second wave focused more on life style and economic issues. feminist philosophy emerged in the 1970s a decade after the rise of the us women's movement.
- Explains that between 1975 and 1985, the united nations called three international conferences on women's issues. these conferences acknowledge that feminism is the political expression of the concerns and interests of women from different religions.
- Explains that the third feminist wave has been rising since the mid-1990s due to a new postcolonial and post-socialist world order, in the context of information society and neoliberal, global politics.
- Explains that third-wave feminism manifests itself in "grrl" rhetoric, which seeks to overcome the theoretical question of equity or difference and the political question
- Explains that american women's literature originated around 1880s. its primarily concern was to fight for suffrage, female education rights, temperance, socialism, and reforms in.
- Explains stanton and gage co-produced the book the woman's bible, where they criticized the male dominance in judea-christian religious traditions.
1052 wordsRead More - Strong, influential women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony—women who changed the face of American politics for women—are the embodiment of feminism at its finest. They, along with many other men and women, fought for equality between men and women. However, to many people the word “feminism” is representative of man-hating, excuse-making, manly women who play the victim to gain advantage over men. This negative image of feminism prevents both men and women from fulfilling their potential. If people removed that barrier, men and women would have the power to break free of gender stereotypes and accomplish feminism’s purpose—gender equality.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that influential women like elizabeth cady stanton and susan b. anthony are the embodiment of feminism at its finest.
- Analyzes how the media and anti-feminists exploit sensational statements to stereotype feminists.
- Explains that feminism is about equality—equal opportunities, equal value. susan b. anthony and elizabeth cady stanton fought for the legal rights of women in the us.
- Analyzes how emma watson invited men to join the fight for gender equality in her address as an ambassador to the united nations. many would argue that sexism does not apply to men because women haven't oppressed men the same way.
- Argues that feminism must focus on raising men and women to their greatest potential rather than pitting the sexes against each other.
- Opines that there is no simple answer to the problem of gender inequality. feminism is only a word and only has the meaning people give it.
1020 wordsRead More - The Second Wave Feminismopinion essayThere is no denying that Feminism had been a rising topic of conversation in the past years, yet it is difficult to find a conversation about it without heavy controversy. One question from a recent poll shows that only a mere 18 percent of Americans consider themselves Feminists, yet when prompted again, 85 percent of Americans responded that they believe in equality for all women (New York Times/ Women in the World). The responses to these two questions show the confusion surrounding the term and the movement in general. The term feminism is defined as a series of social movements working toward equality for all gendered persons (Nelson). In no way does that definition imply that feminists think women are superior, yet the word can’t seem
In this essay, the author
- Opines that feminism is a series of social movements working toward equality for all gendered persons.
- Opines that the third wave of feminism emphasizes everyday acts of resistance and embracing all people in the feminist movement.
- Compares liberal feminism to other forms, stating that it is individualist and focuses on a person's ability to maintain their equality through their actions and choices.
- Explains that they have been a fan of the feminist movement for as long as they've been aware of it. feminism is not about women claiming their superiority, it's about striving for equal rights for everyone.
777 wordsRead More - The Glass Ceilinganalytical essayThroughout time, there have been certain influential individuals that have dominated their age and have forever marked that era with their name. Among them are Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and Nefertiti, with many others. One thing these leaders have in common is their gender: they are all females. In this day and age, it’s a rarity to come across strong, powerful women who have been allowed the opportunity to be powerful. It begs the question, if these women were alive today, would they have the same chance to change the world as they did? However, it’s not only the powerful who feel the sting of sexism, because the misogyny in today’s society affects each and every woman, of every color, age, and shape. The most important lesson to learn for the cultural and societal growth of people is to understand the causes and affects behind anti-feminism. Sexism takes many forms, yet it can be broken down into three main parts: the portrayal of women in media, the oppression of women in society, and the boundaries of women through laws.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that the portrayal of women in the media is the most atrocious of influences to pop culture’s spread of feminist ideologies.
- Argues that men are equally sexualized characters, arguing that the chiseled out abdomens in the costumes of iron man and captain america are inappropriate and unnecessary.
- Opines that sexism is a cultural phenomenon that affects every woman, of every color, age, and shape.
- Explains that the topics discussed when a female celebrity is being interviewed are starkly unique to that of male interviewees.
1136 wordsRead More - Feminism Incanalytical essayThrough these conversations Zaslow situates girl power discourse in a neoliberal framework, one that highlights achievements by the individual and is less concerned about collective social change. Ultimately girl power can be seen as a “commodification of opposition to traditional femininity” (pg. 159), Zaslow argues. The girls are internalizing watered down feminist ideas that have been repackaged i...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how emilie zaslow examines the influence of the media's promotion of girl power discourse on the processes through which teenage girls construct their gender identities.
- Analyzes how zaslow introduces the voices of a diverse group of teenage girls from new york city.
- Analyzes how zaslow situates girl power discourse in a neoliberal framework, one that highlights achievements by the individual and is less concerned about collective social change.
- Analyzes how feminism inc.'s inclusion of interviews with the girls is where it shines. the study examines the intersection of girl power discourse in the media and how girls make sense of them.
- Explains that zaslow's findings cannot be generalized to all girls, and does not attempt to make broad statements about her findings.
- Analyzes how zaslow examines the intersection of media and real life on the part of teenage girls. the struggle that these girls face as they try to reconcile media conceptions of girl power with the realities of their everyday life is an important issue.
756 wordsRead More