Women and Pop Culture Entry 8

Alexandria Scudder
27 March 2015
Entry 7

“Check On It” Beyoncé and the Southern Booty

           Beyoncé is a "hip hop icon.  She is known for her voluptuous body than her body of work that crisscrosses multiple culture industries. Unlike her hip hop contemporaries, Beyoncé successfully performs a range of Black femininities, speaking at once to Black working and middle class sensibilities while fulfilling her dynamic roles as both a hip hop belle and US exotic other globally.” (35) As the writing progressed it discussed classes and body image portrayed in the media and how artists, such as Beyoncé, are conforming to different standards.

            Before choosing our quotes for our discussion this week we watched Beyoncé music videos, some that were mentioned throughout the writing and some that were not, for example “Say My Name”, “Check On It”, “Love On Top”, and “7/11”.  “Say My Name” was the first video I watched by Destiny’s Child released in 1999.  Beyoncé and the rest of Destiny’s Child wore long skirts or business-like suits.  The most risqué outfit in the whole video consisted of sports bras and leather pants.  “Check On It” released in 2006 portrayed Beyoncé in an array of pink outfits but only two resembled leotards while the other outfits all resembled the outfits worn in the “Say My Name” Video.  “Love On Top” was released in 2011 and “7/11” in 2013 both showing a drastic change from the other two videos.  The videos progressed from women dancing with each other to women dancing on each other.  Although Beyoncé’s videos are not as risqué as other artists but it is clear that Beyoncé has had to change her appearance and that women have progressively began to accentuate the small waste and larger booty.

“Music videos featuring Beyoncé work through class by representing femininity through style, speech, and dance. Hair, for example, is a signifier of classed femininity. In an MTV television interview concerning the multiple looks in the video Check On It, Beyoncé acknowledges that her cornrows in the urban scene pay homage to her musical past the home girls from Black working class section of Houston’s third ward”  (40)  “Disenfranchisement can be attributed to personal style choice. For others, the finger waved, multicolor track, synthetic and locked coifs reify the out-of-control Black female body that needs to be-like her hair- tamed. In both film and music video, hair signifies class.”(41)  This quote shows the change of in times how hair and body image signifies wealth and class.  As Beyoncé has progressed into the 2000’s she wears less braids than she once did in the late 90’s and early 2000’s but she is constantly seen in public with her natural curls proving that hair does not have to define a person.  Even though hair and the booty have been glamorized Beyoncé portrays a classy image wearing her hair the way she likes and wearing outfits that are comfortable not just outfits that show off her famous asset.

After reading this piece about Beyoncé I was able to compare her to the other groups discussions based on Nicki Minaj and Rihanna.  Although hip hop is sexualizing women Beyoncé still holds herself to a higher standard inspiring girls and women everywhere.