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post 1: Lingling Xiao
I think that Beyoncé is a feminist. This has been made clear by Dustin Kidd in his text where he says that people have different interpretations. He says, “There is a common perception about cultural objects that they have no inherent meaning, that the meaning is always open.” This is no different in the video Lemonade. One would say that her way of smashing cars and destroying everything is showing that women have been neglected and need the world’s attention while another person would say that it is a wrong representation of what feminism is. This marries with Hook’s ideas, “Concurrently, in the world of art-making, a black female creator as powerfully placed as Beyoncé can both create images and present viewers with her own interpretation of what those images mean.” Although she represents her ideas and opinions in her own way, she leaves her audience to interpret it however they seem fit. This does not mean she is not a feminist. I do not believe however on equity but equality as one of the subjects in the video What does it mean to be a feminist because if all the opportunities of employment and resources are the same women would not require a higher stool. One of the ladies says that if feminism is not trans-inclusive or intersectional if it is abilist as in the example of equity then something is not right. Beyoncé has explained it well when she says that humanity holds all genders as equal but society has divided it by giving men more power and thus suppressing that of women. Even if our interpretations are different and how we express feminism we can achieve equality if and when we work together especially because women are more than men. I agree with her on this; as feminists, everyone can make an impact where they are just like she is expressing her views in mass media through her songs.
post # 2 Jiaxin Liu
After watching Beyoncé’s video (all the while I have known that she is apparently a feminist) I am confused whether or not she is a feminist. Well, I would argue that there are different types of feminism-as much as that sounds confusing or crazy. My biggest problem with the video is how she walks around the streets with the golden brown gown (which is magnificent btw) smashing cars and the surveillance camera. What this video suggests is rage and violence by women probably because they are not held with the same accord and respect as men. For so long women have fought for their rights hence the birth of feminism but I do not think that “violence” as shown in the video is the right path for women. According to Kidd, “Third-wave feminism has brought greater attention to women of colour, poor women, queer women, and the diverse experiences of women around the globe.” But how we as women react to all the injustices by society is a big responsibility on our part. Unlike the music video Lemonade which has mixed reactions and quite confusing in her writing, I have to agree with Beyoncé. She writes, “Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender.”. In regards to this text, I have to admit that then she is indeed a feminist. For decades our focus as women has been to fix the mentality of the already existing generations and we have failed. How about we teach our boys and all the generations to come that equality is important? It would then become a natural way of life as she puts it.
However, we should be on the same page in regards to what feminist is. Is it equality or equity? In the video, “What it means to be a feminist” one of the ladies say that while equality means equal opportunities for both men and women, equity is more appropriate as it means a more boost to the woman who is “shorter”. She uses the analogy of a stool. While this is true, then it means that feminism is not equality but equity (special treatment). All the same, I think that although our strategies are different, if the destination is the same, we are all feminists and so is Beyoncé. To quote Hooks in her blog, “To truly be free, we must choose beyond simply surviving adversity, we must dare to create lives of sustained optimal well-being and joy.” Let us create lemonade out of the lemons.