Tag: Beyonce

caitlinflavurd:

susiethemoderator:

thequeenbey:

Lately, feminists like Annie Lennox, bell hooks and Emma Watson have taken issue with Beyoncé’s sexual openness. While trying to discredit Beyoncé as a feminist, they seem to have forgotten one of the most important parts of Chimamanda’s speech in ***Flawless.

“What does a lady dress like, exactly? And who decided what a lady looks like? What bearing should one’s clothing have on one’s identification as a feminist? This is exactly the kind of misogynist policing we’ve fought tooth and claw against for decades, and to level this line of “reasoning” at Beyoncé is not only antifeminist, it is despicable.” (x)

We should also note that Black Women are perceived and fetishized as hyper sexual. Which is why mainstream feminists willingly call Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea, and Katy Perry revolutionary and in charge of their bodies meanwhile demonizing Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Beyonce.

“As I was watching [Beyonce’s visual album] I felt very conflicted. I felt her message felt very conflicted in the sense that on the one hand she is putting herself in a category of a feminist, but then the camera, it felt very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her.”

Not even kind of shocked that Emma Watson said this. I had a feeling she didn’t really get a grip on feminism, and now I know she doesn’t. 

Women can have and celebrate their sexual identities without being objects for men.

Women can have and celebrate their sexual identities without being objects for men.

Women can have and celebrate their sexual identities without being objects for men.

And the fact that all Emma saw in the video was a woman acting/dressing/dancing a certain way to ultimately please a man, proves she has a long damn way to go. She hasn’t even retaught herself how to think and see women.

Feminism is not a free-for-all where anything goes, but I would like to think that feminism (in addition to helping women overcome oppression in all forms) allows for women to make choices – even choices with which other feminists would disagree. It allows for women to be sexual and sexually provocative because they want to be. It allows for them to do with their bodies as they choose.

Roxane Gay, “Beyonce’s control of her own image belies bell hooks’ ‘slave’ critique” (via marinashutup)

Beyoncé is arguably the only current artist who creates enormously popular music where so much of what she presents is completely outside the experiences and knowledge of a mainstream audience. (I’m talking about her singing about twerking back in 2005, patting her weave and of course, “Bootylicious.”) Her art is rooted in black womanhood—celebrating and stomping, both figuratively and literally, on the systems and individuals that attempt to suppress it.

Kara Brown, We don’t need to defend Beyoncé’s feminism anymore because we have ‘Beyoncé’

Noisey Music by Vice

Beyoncé’s feminist credentials are always in question. Whether it’s her attire, her husband or her concert tour titles, you can always find pieces that declare she isn’t feminist enough on almost any pop culture site. Not all of the criticism is unwarranted, but the tone of the critiques often hinge on the idea that feminism is an either/or proposition. Admittedly, feminism has always struggled with representing all women. Whether the discussion is racism in feminist circles, or arguing that disability should be why abortion must remain legal (despite the protests of disabled feminists), feminist discourse has a problem with inclusion. As a result, women who are reaping the benefits of the work done by proclaimed feminists often shy away from the label. Even when they do claim the label, their individual interpretations may not be in line with existing academic theories. Yet, they are living many of the tenets of feminism—just on their own terms.

Mikki Kendall “Why Beyoncé’s Feminism Is the Same As Yours: Unconventional and Flawed”
(via newwavefeminism)