Beyoncé Doesn’t Perform for the Male Gaze

[ismnotwasm]

A disclaimer, while I love what she did at the VMA awards, I don't listen to her music or watch her videos. I keep meaning to. What I thought, was this was a well written, thought- provoking article.

Shortly after the United Nations speech that made her a feminist icon, Emma Watson, inevitably, weighed in on that other feminist icon, Beyoncé. “I felt [Beyoncé's] message felt very conflicted,” Watson said, “in the sense that on the one hand she is putting herself in a category of a feminist, you know this very strong woman and she has that beautiful speech in one of her songs ["Flawless"] but then the camera, it felt very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her.”

Watson’s comments echo a consistent feminist criticism of Beyoncé, who has often been accused of being too sexual and too eager to perform for the male gaze. This criticism has continued even though Beyoncé has recently emphatically claimed the feminist label, sampling Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech “We Should All Be Feminists” and appearing at the Video Music Awards in front of a giant sign reading “FEMINIST.” Nonetheless, Annie Lennox recently called Beyoncé “feminism lite” and added, “I think what she does with [sex] is cheap….” Janell Hobson, an associate professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York, told me that following her Beyoncé cover story for Ms. magazine, she received a ton of pushback from feminists who felt that, in Hobson’s words, Beyoncé was “too sexy to be the ‘perfect feminist.'”

Again, Watson’s assumption, and the general assumption of critics, is that Beyoncé’s sexual performance is a display for men. She’s seen as anti-feminist because she plays into a “male voyeuristic experience.” Beyoncé’s audience, however, is, for the most part, not composed of male voyeurs. It’s overwhelmingly female.

Marcus sees Beyoncé through the historical lens of feminist performance art, which is not staged for the male gaze, but rather attempts to explore the relationship between that gaze, female bodies, and female fantasies.
A study from February ranked artists on a music-listening service based on the gender of their listeners. Beyoncé was the third most popular artist for women; for men, she was 24th. Rihanna, another artist known for her sexualized performances, was first among women and only eighth among men. Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga also ranked higher among women than among men. This ranking dovetails with anecdotal observations: Sharon Marcus, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and a self-declared Beyoncé fan, told me that in her experience, “the straight men I know have no interest in Beyoncé whatever, and even seem to be averse to her…. Beyoncé’s fanbase is primarily women and gay men.”

http://www.psmag.com/navigation/books-and-culture/beyonce-91908/

[arcane1]

1. That reminds me of Emilie Autumn, a similar type of performance style but most fans are female

She's more talented, too

[KitSileya]

2. I think it is very important to remember that Beyoncé has other stereotypes to fight

She doesn't have to conform to what White feminists think is important in order to be a feminist. For example, as Trudy at Gradient Lair points out, for Beyoncé to use her married name is an act of feminism for Black women, because society has made it very difficult for African American families to stay together. African American women have centuries old stereotypes such as Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire, that put the sexuality of African American women in a completely different light than White women's. What would be an act of conformity, and even support of patriarchy, for White women, can be a radically feminist act for women of color.

In addition, while she has studied at Brown University, Emma Watson is British, and white, and she should be careful about the cultural differences she may not have knowledge about - as always, she should check her privilege.

[nomorenomore08]

4. "She doesn't have to conform to what White feminists think is important in order to be a feminist."

Very true. And there's no "book of rules" that anyone has to follow to be a feminist - it's a matter of self-identification.

[redruddyred]

7. thanks for sharing.

too much of what I read about the difference between white and black feminists is too insistent that the difference exists, and not too keen on explaining why.

I mean, I know that there's a rift between black and white feminists, but all I hear is anger.

[seabeyond]

3. the only performance i saw was the superbowl. people talked costume,

but i didnt think to risque. and as far as the performance, too angry and aggressive to be sexually appealing to men, i feel.

i really like what kit stated, and we all need to keep in mind. some do better than others. i would like to hear more, from kit's point of view, on the issue.

oh. and on du, it was the men starting threads complaining about her being too sexual during the superbowl performance and calling her out on her costume, which i found interesting.

i wasnt impressed with the performance, but for other reasons.

i do like here vocal and strong position putting feminist right out there. i really appreciate that. i do not know her music.

[nomorenomore08]

5. "too angry and aggressive to be sexually appealing to men"

I'm not sure that the two are mutually exclusive. Or that there's anything inherently wrong with either.

Personally, given the choice I would prefer the "aggressive" type of woman to the meek and submissive. But no one asked me, I suppose.

Beyond that, I pretty much agree with your take.

[redruddyred]

6. I think the expectation is that women performers ought to be "sexy"

whether or not this appeals to their primary audience.
after all, sexy is what women do.