Destiny's Child By Beyonce Essay

Her clothes accentuate her cleavage or have a sexual shock factor, such as wearing “sequined pasties…[that] coordinate with the rest of her attire”. The vulgar, sexual nature of her raps makes it impossible for her to not receive attention from the media. Another artist, Eve, dresses sexually to accentuate her body and appears in videos with music video models but raps about social issues like domestic violence. By comparing the nature of these artists and their music, Perry tries to show that young girls have very few role models in hip hop that promote positive feminists values and body images. But, she neglects to discuss other feminist artists she mentions in the essay such as Destiny’s Child and Mary J. Blige and how their lyrics and actions in the media allow young black girls to have positive role models that show a woman can be independent, strong, and beautiful in their own way. Perry’s focus on the more sexualized female artists in hip hop and how their shocking appearance and lyrics allow them to be as successful as their male counterparts took away from the development of her argument about conservative artists and their success. By leading the reader to believe that artists are either overly-sexual or conservative, Perry limits how the reader forms an opinion on why or why not young girls’ body image may be threatened by the media and the hip hop

The song I picked for this homework assignment is called Runaway Love by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige. The song is describing the hardships of three young girls and their struggle to survive. Finally, the girls are fed up with the lives they are forced to live and decide to pack up their things and run away. I think this song can relate to many aspects of sociology that we have learned in class. Some examples shown through the song are poverty, education, healthcare, marriage and family. All three girls’ different stories and struggles they face.

Beyoncé Knowles, a well-known singer, songwriter uses two of her songs: “Freedom” and “Formation” to tell the story of herself. “Freedom” is the beginning of her story where she is searching for freedom and equality showing that there is still much inequality and injustice for African Americans in America today. The song slowly transitions to a more positive tone when she seems to have made something beneficial out of her difficult situation. “Formation,” however, has a completely different tone. While she does address negative situations from the past at the beginning of the song, she quickly transitions to a more positive tone full of pride in where she came from, who she has become, and what she has overcome. Together, the two songs

The main purpose of Beyoncé’s songs is to emphasise feminism and invigorate gender equality through her lyrics. She does so by using by conveying feminist philosophy in her lyrics. In Run the World, Beyoncé sings “strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business.” Figurative language is used to express be that women give birth however then after they proceed to work. Throughout the song used is both repetition and rhetorical question as this is how Beyoncé portrays the women empowerment theme, domination as well as confidence in her tone whilst preaching the line “Girls, we run this motha (yeah!)” and “Who run the world? Girls!”. Having expressed the line “My persuasion can build he nation” Beyoncé is building women up by speaking

With that being said, she is all for women’s political, economic, and social rights/equality. Readers who understand the definition of feminist may want to associate sexism and the degradation of women with feminism. Morgan intergrades her own personal views of hip hop along with her feminist and antisexism views to create a dramatic shift within the passage. One that draws in the readers in order to make them focus on one problem, she has with hip hop, then she interrupts that with the problem the hip hop industry as a whole as. Morgan goes on to say, “My decision to expose myself to the sexism of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, or the Notorious B.I.G is really my plea to my bothers to tell me who they are. I need to know why they are so angry at me”. (Morgan,456) The latter part of the quote truly stands out. Using ‘why are they so angry at me’ suggest degrading even one woman in not only lyrics but also music videos, is also degrading every single women and girl. Morgan looks beyond the artist by going to look beyond what the hip hop artist wants you to hear, see, or believe. Joan Morgan suggested the sexism in rap music is undoubtedly a complex mask African Americans wear to hide and express their pain, similar to what poets do within their works. Morgan is not as concerned with the name calling and degradation, her concern is mainly the failure to love women especially the black women. The author makes the

“We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.” This quote was said by Beyoncé, a famous female singer who embraces the woman she is. Even though gender inequality is present for women in both societies, there are many differences between the expectations of females in the 1930’s to females today.

For nearly twenty years, Beyoncé has lived her life in the public eye yet she has always kept her cool, been submissive, and rather quiet when it came to her personal endeavors however after releasing the film “Lemonade”, we are able to see her in a vulnerable light. In Jeremy Helliger’s article: “Dear Beyhive: Stop Whining. Beyoncé Still Hasn’t Earned Her Album Of The Year Grammy” he addresses the idea that although Beyoncé was able to encourage black women to be proud and free, she also she missed the mark by adding raunchy, over the top content to her vulnerability.

There’s a powerful source brainwashing young minority women today, specifically the language expressed in Rap lyrics which is often embraced by the Hip Hop Culture recently. These young gems are being conditioned to value their worth centered around hollow, vain, and degrading measures. The lead directors of these measures are strong, empowered, talented men who come across as if they detest woman. They disclose and describe detail stories of lifestyles involving “model chicks” who degrade themselves for acceptance, money, and opportunity. Consequently, this behavior leaves impressions for young ladies to follow after; because most young ladies of minority tap into the hip hop culture as a guide for social behavior. Although, the Hip Hop culture allows a window into the challenges faced by the black community it has also been the lead contributor to the desensitization of exploitation towards women due to the negative messages and images portrayed in music lyrics and music videos today.

Over the past few years tragic events seem to be surrounding our society. An array of killings, social protests, police brutality and racism have startled the nation. Lately celebrities have been addressing these issues more and more on TV, in interviews and in the public eye. One incredible artist just used her talent to address all of these issues and more in her new music video "Formation". Beyoncé is an iconic figure in our culture, spreading her talent, feminist views and activism worldwide. This video is one of a kind. It is not centered on her but on Black America. There have been many critics disagreeing with Beyoncé 's video. They felt that she spread negative messages of police throughout her video. Others, however, loved her video. They felt she used her platform to reach out and address issues. Supporters and critics of the video have expressed their opinions in many different ways. In this paper I will analyze this video that has been shared worldwide. The question I ask is: "How does Beyoncé depict the complexity of Black Americans?" In order to answer this question, I will apply Pentadic criticism to analyze this discourse.

Many people find identity in their culture, art and literature. Both in Maya Angelou’s “Africa” and Mos Def’s “Hip-Hop” both have themes of identity and exploitation. Both show that the black experience in the Americas and mostly all over the world is based on being the one’s who are exploited. Both poems have to do with one’s identity or autonomy being stolen from them. They do differ when it comes to the genre and the context but they do share the themes of identity and exploitation. Angelou in her poem uses the examples of the slave trade and using a women to convey two different means of exploitation. Her poem can even connect towards today, where Africa is still being exploited for its natural resources. Def’s song has to do with mainly a commentary of hip-hop as a genre and a culture. This song jam packs a myriad of subject matters such as history, progression, warnings, friendship, perfection, and identity. Def in a song that should seem like a celebration for hip-hop, instead criticizes it for it’s exploitive nature. In both poems you could get to hear the voice of the exploited.

Stanford mentions, “This song, this performance, is the epitome of Nashville womanhood: active, empowered, and take-charge,” (Stanford, 279). Stanford argues that women can be both feminist and feminine at the same time. Also, it shows them that they can be equal to the men in the society. Even though both articles is successful at presenting their point about social commentary, Stanford’s article is more effective at providing evidence and clarity, while Serpe’s

Whitney Houston is a superstar. She works with a lot of people who struggle with additive behaviors. This social exposure has been difficult for her to handle. From media reports, Ms. Houston appears to be very stressed over family matters. She reports that she had a tumultuous marriage; suffering through many years of infidelity and public scandals in addition to the drug and alcohol arrests of her husband. Additionally, Whitney has been embroiled in another legal battle with her father for failure to settle a $100 million debt she owed his company (Whitney Houston, 2011).

Very rarely, are women portrayed in a way that does not view them as any more than an object. This way of depicting females “constructs black culture as though black women have had no role in black cultural production. ”(hooks) They are simply “honeys Biggie got to creep wit’” or “Hoes [that] ain’t loyal” or “bitches [kanye can] own”. Women in this industry are disrespected and devalued and the most interesting part is that it has become normal to hear lyrics such as those and not react.

Beyoncé owns her feminism by talking about one of the biggest taboo topics for women: sex. She argues that sexual pleasure should be a two way street. In her song “Blow”, she uses many metaphors for oral sex. Male rappers often rap about oral sex (with them being on the receiving end) in very degrading ways towards women. Finally, Beyoncé performs a song that lets women know that they should be getting theirs too. This addresses the double standards we see in society. Men can have lots of sex and be seen as “studs”. If a woman has the same amount of sex, she’s a “slut”. Beyoncé wants to level the playing field for the sexes, thus making her an advocate for women’s sexual rights. In addition to her message about women’s sexual pleasure being as important as men’s, Beyoncé interestingly argues that pleasing and wanting to be sexy for men is feminist. In her song “Partition”, Beyoncé sings “I just wanna be the girl you like” and other lyrics referring to submission during sex. In the early stages of the feminist movement, women believed solely that it was not feminist to be a housewife, be passive with men, or serve any men who expected you to do so. I’m sure the lyrics “Driver roll up the partition please/I don’t want you seeing ‘yoncé on her knees” would make Mary Wollstonecraft roll over in her grave. However, it is possible to be an independent woman who also wants to be desirable towards men. Beyoncé also adds dialogue (in

When one hears the word “feminist”, many different things may come to mind. One may think of the “bra burning” feminists of the 1960s or the “riot grrrl” feminists of the 1990s. It can bring to mind issues such as abortion, birth control, and unfair wages. There are many different aspects of feminism, some of which are understood only by those involved in the movement. But like most things people are passionate about, feminism has held a strong place in music since its very beginning, and can be seen in its festivals, its politics, and in the average American’s everyday life.