04/01 cont. Formation & bell hooks

THEORISTS: bell hooks, Paul Gilroy

RECAP

According to bell hooks, what 3 characteristics of a person determine the extent to which they are discriminated against, oppressed or exploited

Ethnicity, gender and social class

Intersectionality: Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how individuals' various social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege.

Intersectionalist media according to bell hooks has 5 conventions:

Says it explores the interlocking nature of oppression (e.g. the connections that exist between different forms of oppression e.g. racism and sexism)
Highlights white male privilege (e.g. critique the mechanisms that reinforce white male hegemony)
Outlines economic oppression (e.g. draw attention to the huge wealth gap that exists between privileged white groups and the rest of society
Give a voice to invisible social groups (e.g. fill in the gaps that absent representations create)
Celebrates otherness (e.g. used to construct positive and critical effects)
Q: TO WHAT EXTENT DOES FORMATION USE INTERSECTIONALIST IDEOLOGY
Says it explores the interlocking nature of oppression
Black, gay men
Highlights white male privilege
Representation of white men, video is critiquing the power structure of America
Outlines economic oppression
Flooded and cheap (shotgun) houses, slavery, hurricane Katrina, Jim Crow laws (swimming pool scene) (outlines economic oppression), plantation, antebellum houses
Give a voice to invisible social groups
There are black women and black queer men. It simultaneously critiques the legacy of black slavery while also celebrating those identities that mainstream American culture marginalises
Celebrates otherness
Claw fish/lobster- popular working class food (creole food), new Orleans mardi gras vs indian mardi gras, southern belle costumes, wig shop, high school basketball, black cowboys

Bounce music

Can you spot any shots which were used in Formation?

Houses flooded, street houses

From where does Bounce music originate?

New Orleans

What makes many of the Bounce artists different from mainstream hip-hop artists?

They’re openly queer.

1980s- The Southern sub-genre has a raw, celebratory, infectious block-party sound which has influenced Beyonce and Rihanna.

2000- bounce experienced an emergence of openly gay rappers, such as Big Freedia. Other artists such as Sissy Nobby and Vockah Redu challenged homophobia within hip-hop culture.

Hurricane Katrina was a catalyst in spreading bounce music as many artists dispersed and performed in other major cities.

New Orleans bounce, perpetuates the fact that the city fosters some of the most influential and notable African-American expressive cultures in the world.

05/01 Formation- Gender

bell hooks calls Beyonce a terrorist

She says you have to constantly be fighting patriarchy, not just following the ideology (radical feminist views). Performative activism is not enough, you need to be pro-active in fighting patriarchy.

Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess
Paparazzi, catch my fly, and my cocky fresh
I'm so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress (stylin')
I'm so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces
My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana
You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bama

I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros
I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils
Earned all this money but they never take the country out me
I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag

I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow-bone it
I dream it, I work hard, I grind 'til I own it
I twirl on them haters, albino alligators
El Camino with the seat low, sippin' Cuervo with no chaser

Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard)
Get what's mine (take what's mine), I'm a star (I'm a star)
Cause I slay (slay), I slay (hey), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
All day (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
We gon' slay (slay), gon' slay (okay), we slay (okay), I slay (okay)

I slay (okay), okay (okay), I slay (okay), okay, okay, okay, okay
Okay, okay, ladies, now let's get in formation, cause I slay
Okay, ladies, now let's get in formation, cause I slay
Prove to me you got some coordination, cause I slay
Slay trick, or you get eliminated

When he f-k me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay
When he f-k me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay
If he hit it right, I might take him on a flight on my chopper, cause I slay
Drop him off at the mall, let him buy some J's, let him shop up, cause I slay

I might get your song played on the radio station, cause I slay
I might get your song played on the radio station, cause I slay
You just might be a black Bill Gates in the making, cause I slay
I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making (billionaires can be black and women)

I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow-bone it
I dream it, I work hard, I grind 'til I own it
I twirl on my haters, albino alligators
El Camino with the seat low, sippin' Cuervo with no chaser

Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard)
Take what's mine (take what's mine), I'm a star (I'm a star)
Cause I slay (slay), I slay (hey), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
All day (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
We gon' slay (slay), gon' slay (okay), we slay (okay), I slay (okay)

Okay, ladies, now let's get in formation, I slay
Okay, ladies, now let's get in formation
You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation
Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper

VAN ZOONEN-

Gender is constructed through discourse, and its meaning varies according to cultural and historical context

The display of women’s bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of western patriarchal culture (e.g. male body = spectacle vs. female body = objectified)

The media can contribute to social change by representing women in non-traditional roles

Visual codes

Technical codes

Audio

Q. To what extent does Formation reinforce or challenge stereotypes of gender?

1. Is Beyoncé objectified or empowering women and contributing to social change? (van Zoonen)

She leads the women to dance in synchronisation

2. Is Formation a part of the struggle to end patriarchal oppression or another example of patriarchal oppression? (bell hooks)

08/01

Beyonce in a collective groups of female, in an ‘x’

*-B+eyonce’s framed in a midshot, surrounded by males who are blurred

Female empowerment

There are several choreographed sequences of “ladies in formation” which signifies the need for all women to “stick together” as a collective.

Beyoncé frequently uses direct mode of address and stands in strong, powerful stances at the front of groups (of both men and women).

In contrast, there are no dominant male characters throughout the video. Men are often represented as passive and relegated to the background of the composition.