In mainstream music videos, which have long been dominated by men, there is always an attempt to promote overt, regressive female characteristics. This criticized tradition has been vigorously corrected after feminism entered mainstream culture with great fanfare. Artists may play with stereotypes or subvert them to make a statement, Music videos often reinforce or challenge traditional notions of femininity.

In 2016, Lemonade aired its world premiere on Saturday on HBO, and Beyoncé cleverly ditched MTV and Youtube. This album breaks industry rules in subtle ways, not only developing a unique multiple audiovisual language, but also a bold and avant-garde artistic statement. The album has 12 songs and through a clever combination of music, lyrics, visuals and poetry, it tells the story of Beyoncé’s emotional journey after her husband Jay-Z’s infidelity in the context of time and race. This experience can be simply summarized into a girl’s mental journeys.

At the beginning of the song “Hold Up”, Beyoncé sinks into the water. This monologue reveals the changes a woman makes to herself in order to gain the love of men. But the sad ending is that she is still asking: Are you cheating on me? Then, we saw her emerging from her cocoon, accompanied by cheerful reggae melody, as she details the evil deeds of men while smiling and wreaking havoc with a baseball bat.

After experiencing forgiveness, in the song “Sandcastle”, she finally chose to be full of hope for this relationship, just as she said she wanted to break the curse among generations of women. The song opens our eyes to the pain and struggle women go through in a lyrical and powerful way.

Of course, the underlying theme of the entire album is also to speak for all black women. There is no second male presence on the album other than his husband, white men appear few and far between, and black women are always at the center. All the stories basically revolve around Beyoncé gathering, uniting and leading black women. We see a series of celebrity cameos in later scenes: Serena Williams, Zendaya…The camaraderie between black sisters weaves a story of self-discovery and mutual salvation.

 “Don’t Hurt Yourself” quotes a speech by black civil rights leader Malcolm X (who was killed in 1965): “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman”. Beyoncé boldly questions the issues of black women and American society as they suffer betrayal and abuse, as well as the horrific impact slavery has had on black families and marriages throughout history.

It can be said that Beyoncé embraces her black identity in this album and gives voice to the silent black women group so that they can be seen and respected.

Posted by Xiaojun Wang