In Moving Beyond Pain the author is saying that in Beyoncé’s lemonade video she is showing woman empowerment and how they are just like man and that woman should be seen the same no matter the shape or size. “there are diverse representations (black female bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and textures with all manner of big hair).” She also used images and families and made black people the center of attention on this video that made them even seem like royalty. However the author points out that although the video is intended to mean something positive it also has its negative meaning  in the way Beyoncé expresses the woman empowerment. Such as the scene where “ Beyoncé’s character responds to her man’s betrayal with rage.” Which she uses violence to express her anger by destroying a car to use it to help her with the betrayal. What she does not realize is that this is a “ Contrary to misguided notions of gender equality, women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts.” In a way it makes sense because violent doesn’t ever help wether you are a women or male.

Something I found intresting was the article when the author talks about at the end like I feel like I know what the author is saying but I am a bit confused. Is he saying that woman should stop fighting each other as they do in society but instead support each other physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Throughout the article, “Moving Beyond Pain” by Bell Hook, the author states a contrast of good intentions and of various issues throughout Beyonce’s album. For example, in Beyonce’s Lemonade video she demonstrates black women in a new perspective that the world has not interpreted. In this video, she shows that black women’s bodies are supposed to be seen as royalty so she purposefully puts these women as the center of attention in her video. Beyonce tries demonstrating that black women should be seen as they are, through a new perspective and a new interpretations. As states in the article, “… its purpose is to seduce, celebrate, and delight—to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body.”

Furthermore, Bell Hook addresses several issues with Beyonce’s album Lemonade. For instance, it states, “And even though the father in the song ‘Daddy’s Lessons’ gives her a rifle warning her about men, she does not shoot her man. She dons a magnificently designed golden yellow gown, boldly struts through the street with baseball bat in hand, randomly smashing cars.” Beyonce decides to use violence throughout her album to demonstrate that when women are being lied to and betrayed they should use violence to act onto the issue. Some women might actually view her video with this interpretation and might go an extra mile even if Beyonce herself did not physically hit someone. As Hook said “Violence does not create positive change.” I agree with her statement because the more violence there are the more chaos and issues can come.

In “moving beyond pain” the author, Bell Hooks, discusses the positives and negatives of Beyonce’s album lemonade. Hooks claim that the purpose of lemonade is to: “seduce, celebrate, and delight—to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body”. This is clearly shown in the album when hooks says, “it shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture. It challenges us all to look anew, to radically revision how we see the black female body”. This proves Hooks’s claim about the purpose of lemonade and how it is meant to change the way black women are looked at and thought about. The author however talks about a song in which she was betrayed, “he was my man alright, but he done me wrong”, then goes on to say, “[her father] gives her a rifle warning her about men, she does not shoot her man. She dons a magnificently designed golden yellow gown, boldly struts through the street with baseball bat in hand, randomly smashing cars”. Although this shows empowerment in a way, I personally disagree with the method because it can be easily misinterpreted with the promotion of violence especially because stereo-typically people tend to associate blacks as being more violent. I feel like there could have been a much better way than fury and violence to depict empowerment. one point that confused me in the article is where she states, “No matter how hard women in relationships with patriarchal men work for change, forgive, and reconcile, men must do the work of inner and outer transformation if emotional violence against black females is to end”. I feel like Hooks is making it seem like only black women experience emotional violence in relationships when in reality many women not just black women and even in some cases men feel emotional violence in relationships.

After reading “Moving Beyond Pain” by Bell Hook, I better understand the messages Beyonce conveys in her songs and music videos from her 2016 album Lemonade.  Bell discusses several issues highlighted within the album and yet one peaked my interest most. Beyonce’s visual essay from her sixth studio album depicts black women in an honest and realistic manner – a way in which black women are typically not seen in.  The appearances of the performers in the videos reflect the typical African American woman, and the metaphorical expressions within her videos provide insight on the true feelings of black women in America. For instance, in Beyonce’s video for “Hold Up,” the singer walks through the streets, bashing in random parked cars as a means of releasing her anger.  In American media, it is uncommon to convey the anger felt by black women without the attachment of negative stereotypes. However, in her video, Beyonce chooses to remove the negative connotations typically partnered with angry black women in the media and instead chooses to celebrate rage (Hook). This depiction of black women is not often portrayed in the media and is instead replaced with images that aid in the “devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body.”  As a young black woman myself, I recognize the misrepresentation of black women within media and I commend Beyonce for aiding the eradication of prejudice against black women. As Bell Hook discusses, this misrepresentation of black women leads to not only the world viewing them in a negative light but to black women negatively viewing themselves as well. Beyonce’s Lemonade album allows black women to be heard, and understood.

In the article “Moving Beyond Pain” by Bell Hooks, the author talks about Beyonce’s album “Lemonade”, the author makes the claim that “is intent; its purpose is to seduce, celebrate, and delight—to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body”. This is because through the album it shows “the construction of a powerfully symbolic black female sisterhood that resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent”. The author also makes the claim that that this album even though shows an empowerment of black women in one had, it also continues with a stereotypical idea that black women is always the victim. She claims this because the album starts with “a story of pain and betrayal highlighting the trauma it produces”. The article also criticises how in the album it also present black women  as violent since in one of the songs she “boldly struts through the street with baseball bat in hand, randomly smashing cars”. which is very important because another of the author’s main point was about how “women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts”. Meaning that even though the song had the right motivation of showing women as free and empowered, violence is not the correct way to do it, since it defeats the whole purpose.

One of the points that confused me about this article was on the second to last paragraph, where the author talks about beyonce’s album as a fictional world. And from this assertion she start talking about how in Beyonce’s world black women get to actually have a voice, their “emotional pain can be exposed and revealed”. Which makes me wonder, if she is trying to say that black women in real life don’t get to say how they feel, or to have a voice? And that this shows that black women are going through emotional violence. Which she then says in order for this problem to be solve “men must do the work of inner and outer transformation”, which also confuses me because I got no idea of what that’s suppose to mean, and how is it going to solve anything.

In the analysis “Moving Beyond Pain” the author points out a criticizes the grows and glows of Beyonce’s album Lemonade. In the analysis the author points out one of the glows of the video,  “Obviously Lemonade positively exploits images of black female bodies—placing them at the center, making them the norm. In this visual narrative, there are diverse representations (black female bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and textures with all manner of big hair). Portraits of ordinary everyday black women are spotlighted, poised as though they are royalty.” the author also points out how Beyoncé is wearing rather casual clothing than the other women in the video. At first, this confused me but then I realized it was a clever way to draw attention away from her and more into the image of the black body. In the analysis, the author also states how the video constructs black female sisterhood and changes how we see the female black body “it shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture. It challenges us all to look at a new radical revision of how we see the black female body”. The author also points out cons of the music video stating “Even though Beyoncé and her creative collaborators daringly offer multidimensional images of black female life, much of the album stays within a conventional stereotypical framework, where the black woman is always a victim. “. In the video a scene of a character smashing cars after being betrayed by her man portraying all black females to be this way. The author responds to this by saying “Contrary to misguided notions of gender equality, women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts”.

One point I agree with in the analysis is when she said “Female violence is no more liberatory than male violence. And when violence is made to look sexy and eroticized, as in the Lemonade sexy-dress street scene, it does not serve to undercut the prevailing cultural sentiment that it is acceptable to use violence to reinforce domination, especially in relations between men and women. Violence does not create positive change”. Violence should never be an option in a relationship no matter if it’s done by a man or women, in all cases it is wrong.

In Moving Beyond Pain, author Bell Hooks analyzes the music video Lemonade, a song written by Beyonce. In one part of the critical essay, Bell Hooks credits Beyonce for the visuals throughout the musical video for positively praising the black female body. Hooks points out that in Lemonade the female black body is the center of attention throughout the music video and the artist, Beyonce, is not. She even goes on to say, “It is the broad scope of Lemonade’s visual landscape that makes it so distinctive—the construction of a powerfully symbolic black female sisterhood that resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent.” Surprisingly, Hooks then goes on to say how the female violence, the misguided notions of gender equality, and the whole “sexy” theme did not cut out for this music video and just undervalued the whole concept. She says, “ simply showcasing beautiful black bodies does not create a just culture of optimal well being where black females can become fully self-actualized and be truly respected.” So basically this contradicts her entire thesis and confused me. But i understand her in the way how Lemonade shows that the woman is always the victim of a man’s betrayal and she always responds with rage. The author argues that this is not completely true, portraying black females in this manner acts as a stereotype. Mainly. Hooks criticizes Beyonce for her representation of black females in the music videos and goes through all its highs and lows.

In Bell Hooks article, “Moving Beyond Pain”, she talks about her first response to Beyonce’s visual album, Lemonade. According to Hooks, she states, “Lemonade is intent; its purpose is to seduce, celebrate, and delight—to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body . . . This in and of itself is no small feat—it shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture. It challenges us all to look anew, to radically revision how we see the black female body”. The album made the black body more noticeable and changed the norm in society that they have no power. One thing I found interesting is that Hooks states that male and female violence is the same and both are to not be condoned. She states, “Contrary to misguided notions of gender equality, women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts. Female violence is no more liberatory than male violence. And when violence is made to look sexy and eroticized, as in the Lemonade sexy-dress street scene, it does not serve to undercut the prevailing cultural sentiment that it is acceptable to use violence to reinforce domination, especially in relations between men and women. Violence does not create positive change”. I completely agree with this because if people want gender equality, women have to treat the same way as men. In order to have equality, violence amongst each gender isn’t a way to attain it.

Throughout the article “Moving Beyond Pain” the author criticizes and analyzes Beyonce’s album Lemonade. In the album Lemonade the author Hooks talks about some positive aspects of the album by mentioning how there are  “positively exploits images of black female bodies—placing them at the center, making them the norm.” There are diverse visual representations of ordinary black females who are portrayed as if they are royals, but Beyonce was seen with a casual sports clothes which confused me a bit because if the other black females were seen as royals, then why wasn’t she. Hooks goes on by talking about negative aspects of Lemonade since it portrays black females as always being the “victim” which is not completely true in my cases. Adding on, there is also a portrayal of black females being violent when they are betrayed by their men. Hooks criticizes Beyonce for this and mentions how in general, violence is never the answer to “seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts”, but Beyonce fails to showcase this among black females. Instead there is a scene in Lemonade where Beyonce’s character immediate response to her man’s betrayal is rage in which the character destroys cars with a bat and destroys with “no shame”.

Something that I agree with Hooks is how the scene in Lemonade made violence look sexy and eroticized and how it is not a way to “undercut the prevailing cultural sentiment that it is acceptable to use violence to reinforce domination, especially in relations between men and women. Violence does not create positive change.” Violence is never the answer for relationships, there should always be peace among every relationships, there are times when relationships get into arguments but it should be resolved without violence involved.

“The black female body is utterly-aestheticized—its beauty a powerful in your face confrontation.” Black female bodies in the video, as portrayed by this critical analysis, is shown to take back control in a sense. The author introduces the “how” throughout history and have been devalued. The reference to slavery and how women were “bought and sold” strengthens the idea of how, in present day, black woman bodies is as beautiful and powerful; “royalty” some may say, without excluding any body types or hair types. I found it very intriguing and interesting how the author calls attention to the misconception and shallow interpretation of the album. Many believe it to be simply about black women and solely to black women. However, the essay pulls apart the album and demonstrates the audience was meant to be the world. In reality, this makes a lot of sense because in our society we are guilty of this; taking away black woman value through objectifying their bodies. Although Hook portrayed the visual album to be a success she also addressed how she believed it failed. The author contradicts herself in this sense, which confused me as to which she agreed with or not. For instance when she stated, “It is the broad scope of Lemonade’s visual landscape that makes it so distinctive—the construction of a powerfully symbolic black female sisterhood that resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent. This in and of itself is no small feat—it shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture.” In my opinion this quotes means that women have to voice and at any means possible show that they are “powerful,” however this often fall into common stated things about them. I found it interesting because she wanted to demonstrate the “how” in the album but it had failed because although it did portray positive things about black women, it did not fulfill deliberating and delivering this exigence. It focuses only on the woman but does not focus on the change that needs to be made. Especially since Hook specified the audience goes beyond just black woman.