Co-authored with Donna Y Ford, Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, author of Recruiting and Retaining Culturally Different Students in Gifted Education, Mother, Grandmother, and Advocate for Racial Justice
For the record, we both acknowledge Beyoncé's talent and appreciate why so many people, and women in particular, are applauding Lemonade, and perhaps seeing themselves in it. That's not our issue or focus. The impetus for this conversation was a post on Facebook discussing feminist scholar bell hooks' response to Beyoncé's visual album, Lemonade. While hooks offered numerous positive statements about the album, she also raised serious concerns about Beyoncé's ideas regarding gender equality and feminism, some of which we will take up in our conversation. We had both also noticed that feminist scholars, and Black feminist scholars in particular, were actively promoting Lemonade and suggesting its potential use in college courses. The combination of this rush to promote Beyoncé's latest work, as well as bell hooks' important critique, spurred a conversation about the societal value placed on pop stars' reflections on social issues as compared to scholarly reflection. It is here that we begin this conversation as two women scholars, across race.
Patricia Leavy: As a feminist scholar who has written and lectured about feminism and gender inequality for many years, I'm less troubled by the content Beyoncé's Lemonade than I am by how it has overtaken the conversation of feminism. It's actually not specific to this album but ever since Beyoncé stood in front of a sparkling feminist sign, she has been a major player in the conversation surrounding gender inequality. It isn't a question of whether she is well-suited to represent feminism, but rather, an issue that no one person should come to overtake a multi-generational and global movement. It is the response to pieces of art like Lemonade. To be clear, Beyoncé is not alone in this. For another example consider Madonna, particularly in the late 1980s and 1990s. Cultural conversations about feminism and women's sexuality centered on the pop star. Videos such as those for the songs "Express Yourself " and "Justify My Love" became lightning rods for conversations about women's sexual autonomy. "Madonna Studies" quickly popped up across universities. What Beyoncé and Madonna have in common is that regardless of the intent behind their art, they are firmly located in commercial culture, cashing in on their representations of these issues.
So Beyoncé, a pop star, serving as a quasi-feminist role model, is not itself entirely new. I use the word "quasi" because one of the issues is what kind of feminism is she portraying? As bell hooks pointed out in her May 9th piece "Moving Beyond Pain"-- a response to Lemonade-- Beyoncé's version of feminism does not truly challenge patriarchal power. As hooks noted, Beyoncé is merely representing one interpretation of feminism. Consequently, it bears significant differences from the interpretation of feminism espoused by many leading scholars. While hooks is an example of a highly successful and well-known scholar, most who publish and teach in the area receive little recognition and few material rewards. This is disconcerting. It also goes back to the impetus for this conversation, our concerns that scholars are promoting Beyoncé's work more than they are promoting each other's work. There is an irony with women, and women of color in particular, who are systematically disadvantaged in the academy in terms of both recognition and material rewards, promoting a mega rich superstar's work, more than they generally promote each other's work. This is by no means to imply that feminist scholars do not promote each other's work but if you spent any time on social media since Lemonade dropped there is no comparison to how many scholars have posted and re-posted about this work, discussed incorporating it into classes, blogs and other opinion pieces. Our colleague, Dr. Claudine Candy Taaffee recently received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign noted how we need to support each other in the "dark holes of the academy." She also noted that in her own work she tries to be "sensitive and respectful" to those younger than her, especially younger Black girls, for whom Beyoncé's message is powerful and meaningful. This brings me to what I think one of the biggest issues is: talking about the roles of artists and scholars in society.
I am not someone who does not see the value in the arts in relation to social issues. Quite the contrary. Although I am a trained sociolog
For the record, we both acknowledge Beyoncé's talent and appreciate why so many people, and women in particular, are applauding Lemonade, and perhaps seeing themselves in it. That's not our issue or focus. The impetus for this conversation was a post on Facebook discussing feminist scholar bell hooks' response to Beyoncé's visual album, Lemonade. While hooks offered numerous positive statements about the album, she also raised serious concerns about Beyoncé's ideas regarding gender equality and feminism, some of which we will take up in our conversation. We had both also noticed that feminist scholars, and Black feminist scholars in particular, were actively promoting Lemonade and suggesting its potential use in college courses. The combination of this rush to promote Beyoncé's latest work, as well as bell hooks' important critique, spurred a conversation about the societal value placed on pop stars' reflections on social issues as compared to scholarly reflection. It is here that we begin this conversation as two women scholars, across race.
Patricia Leavy: As a feminist scholar who has written and lectured about feminism and gender inequality for many years, I'm less troubled by the content Beyoncé's Lemonade than I am by how it has overtaken the conversation of feminism. It's actually not specific to this album but ever since Beyoncé stood in front of a sparkling feminist sign, she has been a major player in the conversation surrounding gender inequality. It isn't a question of whether she is well-suited to represent feminism, but rather, an issue that no one person should come to overtake a multi-generational and global movement. It is the response to pieces of art like Lemonade. To be clear, Beyoncé is not alone in this. For another example consider Madonna, particularly in the late 1980s and 1990s. Cultural conversations about feminism and women's sexuality centered on the pop star. Videos such as those for the songs "Express Yourself " and "Justify My Love" became lightning rods for conversations about women's sexual autonomy. "Madonna Studies" quickly popped up across universities. What Beyoncé and Madonna have in common is that regardless of the intent behind their art, they are firmly located in commercial culture, cashing in on their representations of these issues.
So Beyoncé, a pop star, serving as a quasi-feminist role model, is not itself entirely new. I use the word "quasi" because one of the issues is what kind of feminism is she portraying? As bell hooks pointed out in her May 9th piece "Moving Beyond Pain"-- a response to Lemonade-- Beyoncé's version of feminism does not truly challenge patriarchal power. As hooks noted, Beyoncé is merely representing one interpretation of feminism. Consequently, it bears significant differences from the interpretation of feminism espoused by many leading scholars. While hooks is an example of a highly successful and well-known scholar, most who publish and teach in the area receive little recognition and few material rewards. This is disconcerting. It also goes back to the impetus for this conversation, our concerns that scholars are promoting Beyoncé's work more than they are promoting each other's work. There is an irony with women, and women of color in particular, who are systematically disadvantaged in the academy in terms of both recognition and material rewards, promoting a mega rich superstar's work, more than they generally promote each other's work. This is by no means to imply that feminist scholars do not promote each other's work but if you spent any time on social media since Lemonade dropped there is no comparison to how many scholars have posted and re-posted about this work, discussed incorporating it into classes, blogs and other opinion pieces. Our colleague, Dr. Claudine Candy Taaffee recently received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign noted how we need to support each other in the "dark holes of the academy." She also noted that in her own work she tries to be "sensitive and respectful" to those younger than her, especially younger Black girls, for whom Beyoncé's message is powerful and meaningful. This brings me to what I think one of the biggest issues is: talking about the roles of artists and scholars in society.
I am not someone who does not see the value in the arts in relation to social issues. Quite the contrary. Although I am a trained sociolog