Formation

• Dance scenes in formation

  Beyoncé and female dancers create a feel of community, the idea of getting in “formation” creates a senes of empowerment, women are sexualised playing into stereotypes of pop music videos and the bounce genre but it is done in a way that makes it seem as though it I not for men . This creates a powerful representation of women, reinforced through low angles and dominant body language.

  • subverts stereotypes and the idea that women are objectified to be looked at
• purpose of formation

  solidifies Beyoncé’s identity as not only a woman but a black woman, speaking out about discrimination that she herself has possibly experienced and political issues that can be understood by her target audiences
• Big Freedia sample

  big freedia is a gay male bounce artist who uses she/her pronouns, as well as subverting the gender binary, she is an ally to the lgbt community

  reinforces Judith butlers theory that gender has no binary and it is a performance of acts
• van zoonen formation

  gender is presented through the discourse which varies depending on context, gender is created through narrative and visual codes, different codes present women as objects to be looked at and men as spectacle, this is a core element of western patriarchy
• bell hooks formation

  feminism I the aim to end unfair treatment and discrimination between men and women, intersectionality says that it is not just gender that effects the extent of discrimination but also class, race and religion
• gauntlett formation

  audiences create identities through role modes, in the past role models were singular and straight forward but not they are more complex for us to pick and mx from, formation creates more progressive identities by flipping the old roles and showing Beyoncé as a slave owner and high class women
• Stuart hall formation

  stereotypes occurr where there is a powerful representation imbalance and is a form of opprssion, reduces people to singular characteristics, creating feelings of otherness, a shared conceptual roadmap is the process by which meaning is exchanged
• Butler formation

  Gender isn’t part of a binary it is created through a ritual set of acts that are said to be its results
• bounce movement

  originated in 1980s new orleans, highly sexualised dance style
• male dancing

  topless male dancing in a hyper sexualised manner without a top subverts what is expected of men showing that progressive representions of gender apply to both men and women
• Beyoncé in car

  Swinging her hair back and forward, behind the sound of a man saying “oh yeah I like that“, shows a vouyeristic tone supporting van zoonen’s theory that codes portray women as objects to be looked at particularly for male pleasure
• Representation of gender in formation

  • woman as sexualised and objectified
  • In a way which is empowering
  • Gender is not binary
  • Progressive gender identities apply to both men and women
  • Intersectionality: identities are made from more than just gender
  • Aligns with and also subverts stereotypes
  • Wide range of female identities
  • Even children are a part of the empowerment, more in the sense of self love rather than sexual liberation