For my feminist mixtape assignment, I decided to submit Beyonce and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s hit song “Flawless.” For context, Beyonce is a Black woman music artist who grew up in Houston, Texas. According to Wikipedia, Beyonce’s mother is Louisiana Creole and her father is African American. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi is a Black woman writer who spent her childhood in Nigeria. Adichi’s parents are both Nigerian, and according to Wikipedia, Adichi has worked to support LGBT rights in Africa.
In the song, Beyonce sings, and Adichi speaks along to the instrumental. In her singing, Beyonce mentions this line early on: “I took some time to live my life, but don’t think I’m just his little wife.” In this mentioned line, Beyonce challenges a common anti-feminist ideology, which is that women are just the wives of men, and not themselves individuals.
In Adichi’s speech she says “we teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller” and “we say to girls, ‘you can have ambition, but not too much, you should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man’.” I also find it important that she says “but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage, and we don’t teach boys the same?” Finally, she also says “feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.”
As one will notice from the quotes, Adichi also challenges the anti-feminist ideologies that exist in societies across the world. Specifically, she is highlighting that there are differences in the expectations that society has for men and women. More importantly, she calls out society for the limits placed on women and what they should aspire to achieve. She ends her monologue with a clearly feminist approach, by directly defining the word “feminist.”
Although this song addresses feminism broadly, its most obvious limits include its lack of representation of transfeminism and queer feminism. In considering this song’s feminist nature, I was most reminded of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions from the Women’s Right Convention that was held at Seneca Falls in 1848. This piece, although it had many flaws of itself, generally addressed major differences between men and women that existed in 1848 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Kq51NRyKQZ1OhJHh7nlXtWY3icuNzaC/view).
Beyonce and Adichi have suggested here that there are unfortunately still many inequalities from 1848 that feminists are having to address.
Amazing choice! This song also criticises how the expectation to be flawless for the male gaze is an unfair burden too. When it talked about competition of the sexes, it reminded me a lot to the idea of how the white first-wave feminists thought of accessing rights almost as a competition against other minoritised groups, rather than fight that needed solidarity, like the radical feminist did.
Great analysis on how Beyonce challenges gendered expectations! It was really interesting when you mentioned how she is more than just a wife. I also think that the song emphasized her sexual autonomy as well and how she is not only an object to be desired by the male gaze but someone who has the ability to desire sex herself. This connects back to Our Bodies Ourselves and how youth need to form positive, informed relationships with pleasure in order to take back power over their body and lives.
This is such a cool choice. I think it is very interesting how explicitly Beyonce addresses gender roles and women’s (especially Black women’s) treatment in society. This analysis reminded me of Beyonce’s film, Lemonade, where she explores her own relationship with her husband in the wider context of love and romantic relationships for Black women in America in the shadow of slavery.
I love this song. Adichie is an incredible speaker and Beyonce is so talented. I like that you point out the double standards for men and women and how important it is that she clearly defined feminism. It definitely has connections to the Seneca Falls Convention, and it is a good point of comparison to see where we are today.