Sunday, May 11, 2014

Interesting Quote: bell hooks


I’ve really been challenging people to think about, would we be at all interested in Beyonce if she wasn’t so rich? Because I don’t think you can separate her class power and the wealth, from people’s fascination with her. That here is a young, black woman who is so incredibly wealthy, and wealthy is what so many young people fantasize, dream about, sexualize, eroticize. One could argue, even more than her body, it’s what that body stands for -- the body of desire fulfilled, that is wealth, fame, celebrity, all the things that so many people in our culture are lusting for, wanting. If Beyonce was a homeless woman who looked the same way, or a poor, down-and-out woman who looked the same way, would people be enchanted by her? I see a part of Beyonce that is, in fact, anti-feminist, that is assaulting, that is a terrorist ... especially in terms of the impact on young girls. I actually feel like the major assault on feminism in our society has come from visual media and from television and from videos. Just think, where do we even know, as of late, of any powerful man of any color that has come out with some tirade against feminism? The tirades against feminism occur so much in the image-making business, and what we see.

Really?

source

1 comment:

Bob said...

I can kinda see her point, but she's missing the fact that people became fascinated with Beyonce BEFORE she was super-wealthy; they became fascinated with her talent and her performances.

The wealth, the fascination of wealth, came later.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.