The rather surprising and sudden release of Beyoncé’s self-titled visual album has ignited some debate. Unusually, a music video accompanies each track, leading to the discussion as to whether she has ‘let down’ the generations of women who listen to her music by seemingly giving in to the media’s expectation and the claim that ‘sex sells’. In particular, Jameela Jamil described how the feminist ‘lighthouse’ that is Beyoncé ‘has now faded. It has lost its power a little. It’s harder to see. Harder to follow.’ Now I am not completely disputing what Jameela, and others, have claimed about Beyoncé’s visual album; that it is highly sexualised and objectifies women however I am offering an alternative view to the argument – a view that sees that yes, Beyoncé and other women in these videos are highly sexualised and the lyrics of many songs obviously point toward sexual content however this does not have to mean that Beyoncé’s feminist principles have been made void.
Firstly, I think this album is Beyoncé’s least commercialised album yet. Many critics have commented upon the fact that there aren’t any clear singles on the album. This fact, along with the release of the album going ahead without any prior promotion, says to me that rather than adhering to the media’s expectations she has gone against them more than she ever has done. Her desire to do her own thing this is made clear in Haunted: ‘I’m climbing up the walls cuz all the shit I hear is boring/All the shit I do is boring/All these record labels boring/I don’t trust these record labels I’m touring’.
I believe this album is more of a creative outlet than a money-making vehicle; later on in the song she even says ‘probably won’t make no money off this, oh well’. To me, the songs and lyrics and the mere fashion in which she went about releasing this album completely contradict the claims that she has given into the record labels’ desire to follow in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus et al. and use her body to sell records. She doesn’t need to do this, she is Beyoncé and her records sell due to her voice, her originality and genius and this latest offering is no different.
It is clear in songs such as “Blow” and “Drunk in Love” that sex is a main theme. Many of her outfits in the videos released alongside her album show off her body however does this mean that she has finally given into the media pressure of using her body to sell records? Let’s think about this for a moment. Beyoncé has been in the music business for 16 years and is arguably the most successful female artist of all time. She has just completed a sell out world tour and her last album 4 proved to be her fourth consecutive number 1 album. After such success why would we think she has to resort to selling her body in order to sell records? Throughout her career she has dressed provocatively and shown off her curves and meanwhile people have been dubbing her a beacon of feminism however this new album is just one step too far? Why?
After the birth of her daughter Blue Ivy, Beyoncé said how she had worked ridiculously hard to burn off the excess weight she’d gained during the pregnancy. Why can’t we see the presentation of her body in her new album as a celebration that even after a woman has had a baby she can still be sexy, she can still be seen as more than just ‘a mum’ and that ultimately, your life hasn’t ended once you have a child. It seems to me our predisposal to condemn women who show off their bodies as having no self respect is a prime example of what Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie comments upon in the track ‘Flawless’: that we see fellow women as competitors when we should be united. She goes on to define a feminist as ‘a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes’- just because Beyoncé shows off her body in her album I don’t see how any of these beliefs are compromised.
Photo sources
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/12/13/beyonce-surprise-album-release/
Edited by Caroline Chan