Is Beyoncé a Feminist?
Summer and I are huge Beyoncé fans. We were also considering doing a project together, so we thought that we would combine our love for Beyoncé with some of the techniques learned in class.
As a self proclaimed feminist, Beyoncé is cited as an example of feminism in the modern age. However, some people critique her brand of feminism or state that Beyoncé is not actually a feminist. We are hoping to answer the question of whether or not Beyoncé is a feminist by looking at her song lyrics.
We plan on erasing the song lyrics so that we highlight the feminist messages inside the lyrics. We will then remix the lyrics to (hopefully) make a feminist poem, similar to the Kabe Williams work with Virginia Woolf.
Possible sources:
Aagerstoun, Mary Jo, and Elissa Auther. “Considering Feminist Activist Art.” National Women’s Studies Association Journal 19.1 (2007): Vii-Xiv. Web.
Chatman, Dayna. “Pregnancy, Then It’s “Back To Business”” Feminist Media Studies 15.6 (2015): 926-42. EBSCOhost. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Durham, Aisha. “”Check On It”” Feminist Media Studies 12.1 (2012): 35-49. EBSCOhost. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
This seems like an interesting project that covers a contemporary topic that remains hotly contested in today’s news and media. I like that you want to incorporate some of the tools we have used in class–specifically the erasure poems–in your foray of pop culture and feminist studies.
I wonder if you can achieve the opposite effect when you erase words in Beyonce’s song lyrics. Meaning, you might find anti-feminist messages or themes embedded into her songs, and how might this change the way you look at this project, or Beyonce, or the music industry in general?
One thing that is important to determine is a sort of procedure for your erasure texts. How will you decide what words to keep? What words to erase? If your agenda is to push for poems that are pro-feminist, how might this affect the way you select lyrics and words to create your poem? Can there be a neutral approach to this process?
I think it’s a great idea to work critically with Beyonce — both playful and analytical. I’ll be interested to see which songs you look at specifically, and also how you think her race plays into her feminism (in re: intersectionality/”The Day Beyonce Turned Black” response to Formation, etc etc). As for the erasure/making your own feminist poem, I feel like that can go in so many interesting directions and I’m eager to see what y’all come up with — what “remixing” will look like to you. Traditional erasure? Moving the words around like Williams? So many cool options.
I really like this idea–so cool. I have two thoughts: 1. I think that for your project and the critical analysis it will be important to offer a specific definition of feminism so that the audience understands what you both mean by that. 2. It might be interesting to see how her music can be BOTH feminist and not. Maybe try doing an erasure of the same song but one with a female empowerment message and one without. It might be confusing but something to consider.