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Maximo Martinez Analysis of “Moving Beyond Pain” by Bell Hooks

Posted by Maximo Martinez Grullon on

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.

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Ruben Genao – “Moving Beyond Pain”

Posted by Ruben Genao on

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.

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Response to Moving Beyond Pain

Posted by Christopher Lara on

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.

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Moving beyond pain

Posted by Jeffery Rivas on

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.

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“Moving Beyond Pain” – response by Christopher C. — Classic Editor

Posted by Christopher Collaguazo on

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 bodiesplacing 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.

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Moving Beyond Pain

Posted by Anahis Garcia on

“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.

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“Moving Beyond Pain” – response by Ali Husain

Posted by Ali Husain on

In the article “Moving Beyond Pain” the author analyzes  Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade. With in the article the author mentions that there are enticing backdrops and Black female bodies were put in the center. “ black female bodies—placing them at the center, making them the norm “. Which is to represent how dignified Black female Bodies are through the use of symbolism. This also is to represent the sisterhood of Black females who have remained invisible and silent are no longer. Now they “resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent.” Which is challenging people to change the way that the black female body is seen. However the author also states that, “Among the many mixed messages embedded in Lemonade is this celebration of rage.” An example would of this would be the “ sexy-dress street scene.” This is showing that women always need to respond with rage to show domination. Not all Black females respond with violence and to say this characterizing them all as violent. On top of that, the violence in the video is made to look Eroctic and appealing. Showing and promoting violence is not a way to change peoples views positively of the Black Female Bodies.

 

One quote that Intrigued me was ““ Violence does not create positive change”. This quote intrigued me because through history it has been proven right and proven wrong. An instance where this is true is with Martin Luther King. He promoted the idea of nonviolence. Even though the whites were constantly attacking the blacks in violent manners. Eventually he was able to get his goal through, which was the integration of Blacks and Whites. One instance where this in not true is with the Revolutionary war. Great Britain at the time was not listening to the needs of people who were living in the Thirteen Colonies. Eventually the people in the Thirteen Colonies got fed up with this and started pushing back against Great Britain. This led to British redcoats and Colonist exchanging fire at lexington and Concord (which is Massachusetts) and marked the start of the Revolutionary war.

 

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“Moving Beyond Pain” Response – Jamirka De León

Posted by Jamirka De León on

         In “Moving Beyond Pain” the author praises the way Beyoncé’s music video Lemonade depicts black female bodies but also exposes readers to how the video fails to celebrate the idea that women can move past pain instead of simply enduring it.  The video clearly positively illustrates black female bodies by “ . . . placing them at the center, [and] making them the norm,” but the author explains that it goes beyond that. The author explains that this very illustration of the black female body transgresses societal boundaries and “ . . . its purpose is to seduce, celebrate, and delight – to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body.”  They go further into explaining that the video is “ . . . the construction of a powerfully symbolic black female sisterhood that resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent.”

 

         However, the author then challenges their original statement by saying that “ . . . this radical repositioning of black female images does not truly overshadow or change conventional sexist constructions of black female identity.”  The author explains that the video portrays “black women as always being the victim and as expressing their pain and emotions through anger. She points out two things the video lacks: an illustration that “ . . . men must do the work of inner and outer transformation if emotional violence against black females is to end” and also a representation that “It is only as black women and all women resist patriarchal romanticization of domination in relationships can a healthy self-love emerge that allows every black female, and all females, to refuse to be a victim.” The video Lemonade shows both a positive representation of black women bodies but also shows that women must endure pain instead of being able to move past it.

         I first found this article extremely confusing because of the authors initial statement: “Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, was WOW – this is the business of capitalist money making at its best.”  I didn’t know what the author would be focusing on but it became more clear as I continued reading.  I especially like the part where the author mentions: “ . . . 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 sediment that is acceptable to use violence to reinforce domination, especially, in relations between men and women.”  I feel this is very important to note that although this video portrays a very important message it also enhances society’s ideas that using violence to portray pain (especially when it comes to men) is acceptable therefore reinforcing the violence will inflict change.

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Tyara De Jesus- Response to “Moving Beyond Pain”- Classic Editor View

Posted by Tyara De Jesus on

“Moving Behind Pain” analyzes and critiques Beyonce’s album Lemonade. Beyonce is a considered one of the most successful artists in the music business. Bell Hooks thesis is “…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. ”  I personally do not listen to Beyonce’s music, but Bell Hooks describes her album very positively but not at all perfect. For example she says “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.” At points I felt Hooks was very contradicting,  she says that Lemonade promotes black females so powerfully and she makes sure it is known black women are powerful but goes on to state other parts of her album that do not do the job. Hooks says that in Beyonce’s album there is fantastical female power, and it promotes and celebrates rage. Isn’t that just adding on to the stereotypes of black women being violent? Hooks also goes on to say that Beyonce made “violence” look sexy which does not even help. I don’t really understand how it helps her thesis. I guess she should emphasize the work “intent”.  Hooks also goes on to say how Beyonce does not voice how men have to do the work to change both physically and mentally for violence against black women to end.

 

Beyonce is influential. Towards the end Hooks says “If change is not mutual then black female emotional hurt can be voiced, but the reality of men inflicting emotional pain will still continue (can we really trust the caring images of Jay Z which conclude this narrative).” She had many points but this particular part interests me. Can we not trust Beyonce as a black women because she stayed with Jay-Z, the father of her kids? Her critical essay made me want and not want to listen to her album all at the same time. Beyonce’s “intent” to portraying black women positive, is just as it is, an intent, from my understanding of Hooks voice.

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Michelle Ortiz – Response to “Moving Beyond Pain”

Posted by Michelle Ortiz on

In Moving Beyond Pain, the author analyzes the music video of Lemonade by Beyonce. The author mentions that in Lemonade the female black body is poised as royalty, as they are the center of attention in the music video. However, Beyonce who is the star actually appears in casual clothing and hoodie. This is very unusual because it most standard music videos the artist is the main subject and its often praised by others around him/her. This video also shows the black female sisterhood that “resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent.” According to the author, this challenges us to change our views on how we see the black female body. The author implies that Lemonade fails at changing conventional sexist constructions of black female identity because it depicts black females as always being the victims. It shows that the women is always the victim of a man’s betrayal in while she always responds with rage. I agree with the author that this is not always the case. Black females do not always respond with violence or emotional violence and anger and it it very stereotypical for Lemonade to portray black females in this manner. The author of this text criticizes Beyonce for her representation of black females.

 

A quote that I most definitely agree with is when the author states “Contrary is misguided notions of gender equality, women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts . . . Violence does not create positive change” (page 5). This quote implies how if women experience betrayal from a man she DOES NOT have to express her feeling s or boost up her self-esteem through violence and anger. I do understand that many times anger does occur is such frustrating moments but it does not have to lead to violence or revenge. A woman does not have to use violence to lover herself and gain confidence.

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