Thinky post is thinky (but not too thinky)

[loony_moony]

This has been on my mind ever since I saw Beyoncé's performance of "Run The World (Girls)", and the positive review it had in Bitch Magazine.


Performance starts at 3:10:

I've been thinking about it, because of the song's outright message about female empowerment, and how rare songs of that kind are these days. You could claim Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" or Adele's "Rolling In the Deep" send similar messages, but this is not entirely true; while interpreting them this way is perfectly possible, Lady Gaga's song is actually recognized far more as a gay anthem. Adele's song, while strong, is more of the noughties' version of Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know", another controversial female empowerment anthem that hesitates to call itself "feminist".

Now, to her credit, it should be said that Beyoncé has never shied from feminist messages. Her greatest hits have all been about women in charge of their own lives ("Independent Women" with Destiny's Child, "Irreplaceable" and "Single Ladies"). It's just that when she chooses to promote those songs, she resembles more of a sci-fi/army fetish act specifically designed to get men to watch her than lend women some respectability.

In fact, this particular performance reminds me more of T.A.T.U's faux-lesbian, heterosexual male-pandering performance of their big hit "Not Gonna Get Us" (starts at 1:21) -

- than say, a real lesbian singing an anthem about love and the willing loss of power in a relationship. (performance starts at 2:05)

Now, back to Beyoncé. I'm really bothered by her performance. I think it also has to do with the unevenness of it: the spectacular use of projection versus the song itself, which sounds mostly like someone's been playing with the same riffs, putting them in different combinations. The fantastically empowering feminist message for young girls who go to see shit anti-feminist movies like "Twilight" (and want to emulate Bella Swan) versus the fetish stripper costumes Beyoncé and her dancers were all wearing. Seeing as this is a trend in almost all top ten leading female pop singers (Adele notwithstanding), I have to ask:

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO DANCE IN YOUR UNDERWEAR TO OFFSET YOUR MESSAGE?

Seriously. This is a worrying trend in all marketing campaigns of singers like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicky Minaj and Jessie J. They're either just in underwear or they're in fetish gear. ALL THE TIME. Even Lady Gaga is running out of fashion excuses for her horrifying combination of both trends constantly.

I don't know why this particular performance has struck a chord within me like this. I honestly don't. I normally take Beyoncé with a huge grain of salt, considering she's nowhere near the most inventive performer, or the best singer out there, and her marketing has always been this way. I guess it's the outright militant feminist attitude of the song that really got me excited for about long enough to want to write this post.

Now I feel stupid.

Comments

[avellis.livejournal.com]

Can't see the video(s?), but that's more of a connection problem than anything.

I've kind of been turned off by a lot of mainstream hits nowadays because I feel like singers preach just for the sake of it; there's not really any substantial feeling behind it, you know? And yeah, I don't agree with the image and the message that they're projecting - that you have to hide behind a facade and dress like a clown in order to get anyone to notice you. Of course it's fun to play dress up every once in a while, but it's so over the top that their fans are forgetting how to be real - especially the young girls who don't know any better. I found it especially strange in Jessie J's video for price-tag where she's singing about girls wearing high heels, but she herself is wearing a pair of like, seven inch stilettos. She's got an amazing voice. I would've bought her album just for that alone, before I found out that she was poncing around in heels and stockings and very little else and going around telling everybody she's bi.

It's kind of taking sex sells to the next level. I remember when I was growing up, my mother used to say she hated Kylie Minogue because she couldn't sing for two nuts and the only reason she sold anything at all was because she stripped off for every video clip she made. It's kind of worrying that most female singers have zeroed in on that and are letting themselves be objectified for the sake of making money.

Look. If you want to act like a stripper, act like a stripper. If you want to act empowered, act empowered. I'm not a feminist; I'm not saying that anyone with a vagina should absolutely have to stand up and protest women's rights. I'm saying that if you want to talk about female empowerment... don't dance around in your bra and undies because it appeals to the guys. That's just being a hypocrite.

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

That's exactly it, though. The hypocrisy of singing empowering lyrics while dressing like an extra in a misogynistic rap video from the 90s is exactly what every big pop singer is doing right now, except for Adele. I am a feminist, and this is why it deeply bothers me. It's one thing to say women should be able to dress however they want to, but it's a whole other thing if they ALL dress like strippers and pretend they're not. Then there's of course the even more bothering aspect of exactly how many men were behind every single one of those wardrobe choices, and how many of them are making money out of it, because then it's exploitation for the sake of exploitation, and everyone else loses, including the actual singer.