Beyonce's surprise release of her self-titled visual album sparked an ongoing debate on the merits of neo-feminism, particularly the purposeful sexual depiction of a woman of color for mass consumption. Several second wave feminists, including black feminist scholar bell hooks have criticized Beyonce for conforming to traditional patriarchal views on the sexual identity of female superstars. However, third-wave feminism (or neo-feminism) praises Beyonce for her unapologetic ownership of her seemingly conflicting roles of dutiful wife, invested mother, and highly sexual being.
Beyonce started her career at age 15 as one third of the girl group Destiny's Child. She was managed by her father, Matthew Knowles until their professional split in 2011. A look at her album covers, singles, and videos from her near 15 year time period managed by her father portray Beyonce as a sexualized plaything, a mere puppet in the patriarchal music and consumer culture.
Beyonce's first album cover for Dangerously in Love features her in a see-through top, playing up her sexuality. She was only 22 at the time, and not in control of her own brand. Because she was under the rule of male managers, this cover does not empower Beyonce as a sexual being, but as the object of male fantasy and the male gaze.
For example, the single Crazy in Love (featuring Jay-Z) from Beyonce's first solo album Dangerously in Love features lyrics that show Beyonce as nearly delusional under the spell of attraction to Jay-Z. Never once does Jay-Z refer to himself as "foolish" or "crazy," rather favoring a verse that continually references his greatness and desirability. He name checks Beyonce as another "chick you can't get next to" while she repeats over and over how she is "begging [Jay] not to go, dressing to impress [him], looking crazy in love." The music video further diminishes Beyonce as an object by having her dance suggestively on Jay while he raps his verse. The opening still focuses on Beyonce's body. This theme continues throughout Beyonce's music videos and album; she is merely a woman, and though she occasionally sings about independence, at the end of the day she will do anything for her man.
After her split with her father, Beyonce took a year off to explore her personal identity separate from her highly crafted public persona. Her album 4 was created with her as the manager and head of her production company. She had a hand in every aspect of the creative direction of the album, a privilege that had not been afforded to her for the first 15 years of her career. 4 focuses on much more on true female empowerment. She sings about girls running the world, feeling grateful that she ignored chauvinistic men in her romantic life, and her dedication to her husband. Although there is an undercurrent of sexual themes in some of the songs off of 4, there is no where near the same level of commodification of Beyonce's body in the lyrics or music videos (and what sexuality is explored was part of Beyonce's personal creative vision and direction). Rather, the singles from the album are much more upbeat and universally neutral in their intended audience. Several of the less popular songs from the album place heavy focus on Beyonce's ability to sing, and sing exceptionally well, something that had been missing from previous albums.
Beyonce is fully clothed in a majority of her Countdown music video, something that rarely happened in music videos preceding the 4 era. She also makes it clear that the song is about her husband and the mutual love they have for each other.
Unlike Crazy in Love, the Love on Top music video and song talks about Beyonce's husband making her a priority in his life. She is no longer "crazy" or "looking foolish" but instead is treated with incredible amounts of respect. She also used this song to announce her pregnancy with husband Jay-Z, showing her love of family and her ability to control what parts of her body and life the world should be allowed to know.
In the Run the World music video, Beyonce sings about women and the power they have. Her background dancers are all female, and the lyrics promote motherhood, female college graduates, and successful business women.
On Beyonce's most recent album, she unabashedly declares her sexuality, but this time in a way that
places her as in control of her body and what she wants. With a detailed look at the
tracklist for BEYONCE, only four of fourteen songs are actually about
sex, and two of those songs are specifically about celebrating her and her
husband's sex life. The remaining two sexually explicit songs are about female
pleasure and empowerment in sexual relationships, something that is rarely ever
sung about, much less from a monogamous, married mother. The rest of the songs
on the album cover a variety of topics spanning from the negativity and
pressure put on women to be beautiful, struggling to live up to societal
expectations, the harsh reality of the world for women and poor families, being
in love, feminism and reclaiming a sense of personal confidence, and the joys
of motherhood. With over half of her songs not mentioning sex at all, it makes
very little sense as to why Beyonce has received negative attention from
feminists for being too explicit in her content. Perhaps a reason for the
tirade of criticism comes from the fact that Beyonce has incorporated several
different personas into her feminist identity; she sings about being sexually
liberated, but only under the bond of marriage and fidelity, continues to
maintain her status as one of the richest independent business women alive, but
acknowledges her love for her husband and the complete joy and satisfaction
being his wife gives her, and revels in motherhood while daring others to try
and stop her enjoyment of sex and performing (Self 2). This duality of
identity, of wanting to be a liberated independent woman while still enjoying
more traditional roles of femininity goes closely hand-in-hand with third
wave feminists and their argument that proclamations of sexuality, sex
positivity, and the fluidity of gender norms are vital to the empowerment of
modern women, especially those of color (Third).
In Flawless Beyonce sings about her power and status, while reassuring other women that they are all "Flawless". The beat is hard and heavy on harsh hooks and hip-hop sounds.
In the middle of Flawless, Beyonce samples a speech from Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Adichie, highlighting exactly what a feminist is and why feminism is important. At her performance at the MTV VMAs, Beyonce stood in front of a sign spelling out Feminist. Several criticized her, saying that the display was corny and too conventional.
After her VMA performance Beyonce called up her husband and daughter to the stage to help her accept her award. After just displaying her individuality, power, and sexuality on stage, she ended her performance with an ode to her daughter and cried when expressing thanks for her family and opportunity to perform. Many public displays of emotion from women are criticized or mocked to mark women as fragile, but several commented on how inspiring it was to see a married woman be able to excel both in her personal and professional life.
Beyonce has long toyed with
displays of sexuality and female empowerment. However, these declarations have
often been under the hand of controlling patriarchal figures, and the belief
that women must conform to traditional expectations of beauty and femaleness.
By gaining control over the creative direction of her albums, Beyonce has been
able to continue exploring what it means to be a free women in ways that
inspire, uplift, and challenge critics from those who believe her to be nothing
more than a puppet of the industry. She believes in love, sex, motherhood, hard
work, and equality, and promotes those values in her songs and music videos.
Although she is a sexual person and is comfortable with displaying her
sexuality, she does so in a very controlled and purposeful way. By being
comfortable with all aspects of her female identity and having the power to
control what she shares about herself, Beyonce has reached the status of
feminist icon, and is following in the footsteps of other female artists who
continually challenge the expectation placed on women to act and think a
certain way.
The early days of American television saw traditional 1950s morals and ideals played out on screen in lighthearted sitcoms. As television became a more popular medium for entertainment purposes, producers and creators began to play with the idea of expanding the type of content television shows dealt with and provided for consumers.
Lucy and Ricardo had their differences, but ultimately followed strict 1950 gender guidelines for behavior.
The Leave it to Beaver family represented traditional roles in their marriage: the husband came home from work and his wife had dinner on the table.
A popular show in the 70s, The Brady Bunch family held on to almost outdated notions of gender and marriage roles.
In 2014 there is a TV genre for everyone: science fiction and fantasy, crime, hospital, nature, cooking, and reality programming. However, one the most popular television genres is the drama. Usually a sweep at awards shows, television dramas are the ones that receive the highest primetime ratings, the most reviews and promotion both in online and print media, the largest propensity for "binge-watching", and the largest amount of cultural currency.
Sue
Thornham and Tony Purvis theorize in Television
Drama: Theories and Identities that the shift in popularity from sit-coms
to dramas came as a result of a growing global society. Sharing entertainment
with other cultures and being made more aware of economic and political
scandals has increased general audience dissatisfaction with fluffy or light
entertainment. Instead, viewers want their television shows to put more
emphasis on narrative, character development, and real-world connections (Thornham).
Because dramas are the most watched type of programming on television, they
have an extraordinary platform to comment on social issues and political ideals.
Their portrayal of life comes the closest to examining real-life issues that
many Americans face on a daily basis (more so than science fiction or reality
shows), and can have the power to influence the way viewers think and act. Though
the television drama attempts to connect with audiences through realistic and
harrowing portrayals of the hardships of life, there is a lack of
representation of happily married couples on American television dramas, and
dramas centering on secure married couples receive lower ratings than rival
shows of the genre. However, the overwhelming representation of poor marriages
on TV is actually helping reinforce traditional values on the institution, by
centering the marriages on unlikeable spouses whom audiences would not want to
emulate.
Mad Men follow corporate advertising executive Don Draper, who struggles to remain faithful to his wife and family
A prime example of this comes from Vince Gilligan’s critically acclaimed
Breaking Bad. The show follows the
life of high school chemistry teacher Walter White, and his reaction to finding
out he has cancer. In order to provide for his family, Walt decides to join
forces with an old student of his and together the two agree to make a rolling
meth lab. Walt goes to extremes to keep his drug making hidden from his family,
and must do several illegal things to remain safe from rival drug lords and
kingpins. A central part of the story in Breaking
Bad is the deterioration of Walt’s marriage to his wife Skylar. Even before
Walt’s diagnosis, the two have a one-sided relationship, with Skylar taking
control of family activities and decisions. She insists on Walt working at more
than one job so he can provide for their family, while she stays at home at
tries to continue her career as a writer, which has never been successful. When
Walt is diagnosed he immediately turns to making meth without even telling his
wife about his illness. Later, he employs a series of lies and elaborate
stories to keep Skylar from finding out about the meth, and is shocked that she
does not approve of his involvement with drugs when she eventually uncovers the
truth. With back and forth arguments, and threats of divorce, the pair never
come to a compromise. Each party uses manipulation and guilt to get what they
want from the marriage, and very rarely do anything that is for the benefit of
the other, even though each insist they want the best for their family. Audiences
are not supposed to like Walt or Skylar, as the way they handle very real,
everyday situations (cancer diagnosis, disagreements in marriage, struggles
with finances), are so irresponsible and far from the norm that everyday
Americans cannot relate to their relationship with one another.
Walt and Skyler's relationship remains built on lies, cheating, and lawlessness.
Another
popular example of the dissolution of marriage can be found in Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal. Part political drama, part
romantic drama, the show begins with a central focus on the relationship
between President Fitzgerald Grant and his press secretary-turned mistress
Olivia Pope. In the beginning seasons of the show, viewers are meant to root
for Olivia and Fitz because Fitz’s wife Mellie is seen as such an abhorrent
character. However, as the show progresses, background information is given on
Mellie, and viewers come to learn that her tragic past was overlooked by her
husband. As a sympathetic character, Mellie holds the power to turn audiences against
Fitz and his philandering. The two are constantly fighting, and like Walt and
Skylar, employ cheating, guilt, and blackmail to get what they want politically
and emotionally. Even the quasi marriage of Olivia and Fitz, which original
draws in audiences, becomes tiresome and loathsome to watch as the two
constantly ruin friendships and trusts with others to satisfy their selfish
need to be with one another. Similarly political advisor Cyrus and his husband
James are constantly untruthful with each other and so selfish in their
desires, that one of them dies because of their horrible marriage. Because the
married characters in this show are such terrible people, Rhimes is helping lay
a foundation of what marriage is not supposed to look like in the twenty-first
century, thus giving power to traditionally happy marriages.
Scandal's Fitz and Mellie have little to no respect for each other, and constantly fight to get what they want.
Fitz puts all of his trust with Olivia, and promises her things that will never be a reality.
Other
popular dramas like Mad Men, Orange is the New Black, and How to Get Away With Murder deal with
infidelity in marriage and poor communication from partners. These shows
portray the after effects of a poor marriage in almost every discernible form.
When the marriage of two lead characters is unhealthy and unstable, loss is
suffered in general character happiness, the behavior of children, performance
at work, and general morality. The early sitcoms of the 1950s and 1960s often
portrayed marriage as an overly simplistic part of life. These shows were meant
to uphold cultural morals of the necessity of marriage and the importance of
conforming to traditional gender roles to remain happy. When the married
couples in these shows strayed in the slightest bit from the norm of gender
roles, every possible thing that could go wrong did. In this way, early sitcoms
were doing their part in ensuring that Americans understood the importance of happy,
traditional marriages. While television dramas portray life in a more realistic
and grounded way, they also exaggerate the relationships between spouses just
as old-school sitcoms did. Because many of the husbands and wives in popular
dramas use deceitful strategies to get what they want as individuals, rather
than a unified team, audiences are shown that extreme individualism and the
expectation for intense gratification in marriage is wrong and undesirable. In
this way, television dramas are fulfilling consumer desires for more
emotionally captivating entertainment, while taking on the traditional duties
of sitcoms by making a case for the importance of stability, communication, and
unity in marriage.
Called the greatest TV couple of all time, Friday Night Lights' Eric and Tami Taylor show that couples can work out their problems without resorting to cheating, manipulation, or lies. Sadly, the show received low ratings throughout its 5 season run.
Works Cited
Thornham, Sue, and Tony
Purvis. Television Drama: Theories and Identities. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print.
