A Critical Analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade: Hold Up, lets talk about Violence
The beauty of art is that it never amounts to just the summation of the products used in its creation. A painting is never just the blend of its colors, a sculpture never just the form of its clay. Likewise, the artistry of music spans more than just repetition of lyrics and chords; its political, its personal, but its also unifying. Beyonce’s album Lemonade is particularly interesting because it isn’t just a collection of standalone pieces produced for pop-culture consumption; the culmination of these movements spans a broader political perspective of the black female experience, sparking the cross-generational debate between Bell Hooks, queen of radical feminism, and millennial bloggers on what it means to have a black body in mainstream media.
Hooks’ disapproval of what Lemonade had to offer wasn’t subtle, where the music of the album left a sweet taste in many mouths, she spat it back out bitterly. Ultimately, Lemonade wasn’t up to her standard of feminism. In her criticism, Hooks focusses on her perception of female induced violence, discussing her distaste with Beyoncé’s performance by making broad generalization’s of her artistic freedom and grossly misinterpreting the message Beyoncé is sending to the common woman in similar positions. Attaching most of her resentment for how Beyoncé acts in “Hold Up”, she writes:
“[Beyoncé ] dons a magnificently designed golden yellow gown, boldly struts through the street with baseball bat in hand, randomly smashing cars. In this scene, the goddess-like character of Beyoncé is sexualized along with her acts of emotional violence…she destroys with no shame. Among the many mixed messages embedded in Lemonade is this celebration of rage. Smug and smiling… Beyoncé is the embodiment of a fantastical female power, which is just that—pure fantasy. Images of female violence undercut a central message embedded in Lemonade that violence in all its forms, especially the violence of lies and betrayal, hurts.”
“Hold Up” is overflowing with artistic symbolism that Hooks ignores. Beyoncé’s dress isn’t figure flattering to cater to the male gaze—its direct homage to Yoruba Goddess Oshun. Her “golden garb” offsets the dull, blue-grey city streets, announcing that a man’s betrayal doesn’t dull her shine, doesn’t make her any less of the goddess she channels for empowerment.
Yoruba Goddess Oshun
Beyoncé, in Hold Up
While Hooks criticizes Beyoncé for the sexuality and anger she portrays in the fantasy of the music video, she neglects to hold the entirety of the movement in the realm of fantasy, instead cherry picking Beyoncé’s “female power” as the focus of her distaste. Oshun is a goddess of fertility. The curve and bend of her body that we attribute as being ‘too sexy’ are not the fault of Beyoncé and her outfit but of our culture for over-sexualizing women who simply exist. Beyoncé modeling Oshun is enticing the idea of fertility and health, which is so much more than just sex. Beyond her attire, there is symbolism in her violence. During minute 4:08 in the music video, Beyoncé pauses to stare directly into the video camera recording her every move.
After breaking car windows and damaging city property, Beyoncé, without regret or fear, stares into the eyes watching her. She’s actively letting the people behind the camera know that she’s aware of their presence and then destroys it, which is representative of her experience as a celebrity. As a starlet, her every move is recorded for the world to dissect. In “Hold Up”, she reclaims her agency to the privacy of being able to experience anger and betrayal for what they are—violent. In response to Hooks and in conversation with this music video, Bowen asserts:
““Hold Up” is not a hit because women are reflecting on the violence they can, have or will enact as a result of rage. Viewers/listeners relate to the very real and very human emotion of feeling so hurt and angry that violence manifests itself as a thought. Despite the undeniable glamour of Beyoncé, to argue that revealing the complexities of her emotions equates to a glamorization of violence is a gross oversimplification.”
Like Bowen, I also think that simplifying Beyoncé’s entire music video down to sexy and violent mistake the message she’s sending: this is her experiencing, healing, and being human. This music video is the emotional outlet for her to express this pain. Although an entertainer, Beyoncé is a real woman. She isn’t exempt from the emotional reactions to adultery. As the entire album moves through the stages of this pain, it’s necessary that anger and hurt—two very real, acceptable emotions— be in conversation for Beyoncé, like anyone in that situation, to truly heal and move forward. Her smashing the cars isn’t her trying to smash the patriarchy, its an artistic take on the reaction to betrayal. The fantasy of power that Hooks claims Beyoncé has also extends to her violence. The car smashing and window breaking Beyoncé does is also fantasy, a release of the anger welling up inside her mind. Her actions in the film itself are symbolic of the pain and healing through adultery, which Hooks ignores.
Ultimately, Hooks saw a poor assertion of feminism, but she misses that feminism acts within the system of patriarchal domination. Beyoncé, though a performer, took us through her journey of healing. Her path ended in reunion, but many other women choose to leave—and either decision is ok. The album wasn’t to make the statement that if Beyoncé could leave her man than so could we, rather, it was a public moment of personal healing, and we can’t judge her for sharing these experiences with us.
Citations
“Beyonce as Featured in Hold Up.” Pop Sugar. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://media3.popsugar-assets.com/files/2016/04/24/834/n/1922398/7562ca7cae01e26e_beyonce-22CgSOP.xxxlarge/i/Beyonce-Yellow-Dress-Lemonade-Video.jpg>.
BeyonceVEVO. “Beyoncé – Hold Up.” YouTube. YouTube, 04 Sept. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Hooks, Bell. “Moving Beyond Pain.” Bell Hooks Institute. Bell Hooks Institute, 09 May 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Lori Adelman • @ladelman • 10 Months Ago, Reina Gattuso • @reinagattuso • 3 Weeks Ago, Barbara Sostaita • @@BarbaraSostaita • 1 Month Ago, Dana Bolger • @danabolger • 2 Months Ago, Barbara Sostaita, Meg Sri, Reina Gattuso, Senti Sojwal, and Dana Bolger.Feministing. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
“Oshun.” Pintrest. Pintrest, n.d. Web. <https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/47/6d/f6/476df6ac0f1bba1a5d4d9f3733253bc6.jpg>.
Hey Mary,
Wow!!!! I absolutely love your post! The flow of the post was so seamless and your picture choices and insertion of the video clip really helped to cement your argument. Your use of hook’s and Bowen’s quotes supported your argument really well. I think that using another voice from the Feministing article would’ve help your post seem more like a roundtable rather than a one person respond to hook’s essay. What are your thoughts about “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, a song that does not have much visual violence, but has very violent lyrcis? How is Beyonce portraying herself in that scene, especially since it is right after “Hold Up”?
Great job!!!!
Your introduction was very pretty deep. It definitely hooks the reader of your post. I like how your post goes into much detail of Hook’s argument and the music video itself. It seems like you mostly disagree with Hook’s criticism like most people whose post I’ve read. I’m curious if there is a place for Hook’s brand of Feminism. Maybe that is something to think about.