#diplayed labors

[florasportfolio]

Beyonce: 6 inch

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Mainly a song about women empowerment, made evident by the refren (read)

Money is presented as manifestation of her power - similar to the traditional saying that money is power. The weekend says “stackin’ money money everywhere she go”; “pesos out of Mexico”; later they also say “she works for the money; she worth every dollar” 

Continuous references to money, linking it with Beyoncé’s own worth. This may be seen as her attempt to restore her self confidence. Despite feeling unworthy in her personal life, she tries to feel better by remembering about her exterior presentations, as a famous rich celebrity

6 inch heels - used in the song as a metaphor for female power. Traditional masculine behavior, such as being the provider (hence the money references) 

Drinking alcohol (reference to Yamazaki, a Japanese whisky and Hennessy, french cognac) 

There is also an interpretation that Beyoncé embodies multiple women, instead of one, in the song. A sex worker who walked in the club like its nobodies business; a sleepless workaholic who grinds from Monday to Friday then from Friday to Sunday’ or the girl who is to smart to crave m,arterial things or maybe the woman who murdered everybody?

Beyoncé actually represents multi strong women in her song and she connects sensuality and even eroticism with power.

Come back - final helplessness

Includes sample of song - “Walk On By” - Isaac Hayes - 1969 - the song was originally written by Dion Warwick in 1964 (highlights the artistic labor of black women) - the voices of the three backup singers in the original are amplified.

An allegedly accidental reference is to -“My Girls” - Animal Collective for the phrase “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things” as “ 

Emptiness:

Visual: inside, fire cracks, red dress, beyonce in the middle surrounded by fire, big headpiece and necklace → very feminine, erotical imagery 

The poem: women crave intimate connection and attention, it can erase grief or anger (negative emotions), making a woman bleed becomes a conquest for men (a sense of submission a women has to a man in terms of lust) 

“Floods”, “flush of blood”, “blaming the moon” - menstruation → return to female ancestors?

She sleeps all day. Dreams of you in both worlds. Tills the blood, in and out of uterus. Wakes up smelling of zinc, grief sedated by orgasm, orgasm heightened by grief. God was in the room when the man said to the woman, "I love you so much. Wrap your legs around me. Pull me in, pull me in, pull me in." Sometimes when he'd have her nipple in his mouth, she'd whisper, "Oh, my God." That, too, is a form of worship.

Her hips grind, pestle and mortar, cinnamon and cloves. Whenever he pulls out ... loss. Dear moon, we blame you for floods ... for the flush of blood ... for men who are also wolves. We blame for the night for the dark, for the ghosts.

Accountability:

Visual: Black and white (past) - a house, little girls watching their mother, mixed with images of the present 

Letters - “your father’s old prison letters” - a way of connecting with the past, letters remain (black tube)

“You desperately want to look like her” - when we are born we want to be like our mothers, they seem perfect → “you look nothing like your mother” - when we are a little older we want to do anything against our mothers, look and be different, “You look everything like your mother.” - when we are older again we suddenly realize we look and behave like out mother, whether we want it or not

“Red lipstick” - girls stealing their mother’s makeup, trying to be like them

Second part of the poem: present, passing on femininity, relationship with men, abuse passed onto the next generation → repeating cycle of women being submissive to men (“Am I talking about your husband or your father”) - striking 

You find the black tube inside her beauty case where she keeps your father's old prison letters. You desperately want to look like her. You look nothing like your mother. You look everything like your mother. Film star beauty. How to wear your mother's lipstick. You go to the bathroom to apply your mother's lipstick. Somewhere no one can find you.

You must wear it like she wears disappointment on her face. Your mother is a woman and women like her cannot be contained. Mother dearest, let me inherit the earth. Teach me how to make him beg. Let me make up for the years he made you wait. Did he bend your reflection? Did he make you forget your own name? Did he convince you he was a god? Did you get on your knees daily? Do his eyes close like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his head?

Am I talking about your husband or your father?

The three main characters featured in the track are Beyonce, her partner, and the stripper. Instead of making his mistress the villain, Beyonce empowers her by showing how she ‘works hard for the money’.  Beyonce herself acts the part of the mistress in the video, swinging a red ball on a chain around the house, symbolising a destructive power, possibly a homewrecker. Instead of antagonising her, beyonce sympathises with her by one; playing her part herself, and two; associating her character with the colour red, the colour of lust, sex/ love , power, anger

, six inch heels that symbolise the grind and hustle of strippers and exotic dancers, as well as the limousine which is a symbol of wealth and power/class. We see beyonce sit in the back, where a person of power usually sits when being driven by a chauffeur .

Fire is another major part of the visual side of the music video. Beyonce first sets the door on fire, while walking away from, exhibiting power in her expression, as well as in her stance and gait. She wears a white lace outfit, very reminiscent of a wedding dress. Then, the entire house catches fire. It is the same house where we see a bed lit in red lighting for a few split seconds in the video, as well as where beyonce swings the red ball around on a chain, again exhibiting her power in dim red lighting. The fire itself can be seen as a symbol of burning down and destruction, as well as enlightenment and renewal. Beyonce herself does not burn, she walks away from it, letting the house burn down, symbolically leaving a chapter behind and letting it burn. While beyonce stands calmly in front of the burning house, we see flashing camera lights, observing her and putting her life on diplay, just like beyonce felt the affair was on display. Her home and her relationship are on fire, and its all on display for the world to see.

[jamiedewolf]

#diplayed labors #oakland metro #freeky deeky #pain #black and white