This entire album is all about women, their strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between. Beyonce represents herself as a feminist throughout this album. In the song Flawless we see the feminist in her come out the most. When the song starts out at approximately :22 we see her, all alone and also in a very powerful stance. This is representing how strong she has become on her own. She wants everyone to remember who she was before she had her baby. At around :44 she says “I took some time to live my life but don't think I'm just his little wife don't get it twisted, get it twisted this my shit, bow down bitches” there’s a lot of women who, once they have children they become the stay at home mom. She doesn’t want people to see her as “just his little wife” she wants them to remember it’s her “shit” too, her music career isn’t over just as Jay Z’s career isn’t over just because they had a kid. The most important part of the song to understand that she wants to put off this image of being a feminist is when she goes as far as to put a snippet from a TED Talk that well known French feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave at 1:26. She ends the snippet with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie giving the definition of a feminist “the person who believes in the social political, and economic equality of the sexes.” I believe she choose to add this to her song because she wants people to know that she can do everything Jay does, because they are equal and her being a new mom shouldn’t and wont stop her.
The title of the song also has a much deeper meaning than what most people associate it with, usually when someone thinks flawless they think of looks, but Beyonce makes it clear that’s not necessarily what she means by it. When she first starts talking about flawless in this song it seems like she is just strictly talking about looks but to her its multiple things. Which she makes clear around 3:03 by saying “momma taught me good home training my daddy taught me how to love my haters my sister taught me I should speak my mind my man made me feel so God damn fine” flawless to her is about being a well rounded person. Which goes back to her showing her feminist side, she wants people to see that she was raised to believe she is just as good as men, and that makes her flawless.
I believe that is her, and all women's belief; that they are as good as men. I believe it is true.
ReplyDeleteI like how you relate this music video and Beyonce's outlook based off of this song/video and show how Beyonce uses her sources such as taking a snippet from a TED Talk. Her music videos flow well with her music in giving a powerful message in whatever category that she is speaking about, this being one of feminism and the power of women. I think that this album is very empowering for women and i like that she tells her audience that even though all these things are happening in her life from having a baby and also being married to Jay-Z, that this isn't going to stop her. She is still going to be the same powerful Beyonce that she has always been, and that she was raised this way to believe in herself and have this strong woman persona.
ReplyDeleteGood way of defining flawless in Beyoncé perspective. Your statement, “people to know that she can do everything Jay does, because they are equal.” This statement maybe true, but what exactly makes them equal? This is because I consider them as two different individuals such as their music, personality, outlooks, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI see them as equal in that she can do every and any thing that he does that if his career continues so should hers
DeleteThere's definitely a feminist ideology being portrayed in this video. Because it's feminist, I think this kind of goes against what neo-Marxists say about media, that it's "the opiate of the masses." Challenging ideologies like this one are meant to empower people rather than make the accept their current situation.
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