Although Beyoncé’s visuals are spectacularly beautiful, we are allowed to criticise ‘Black is King’ as reducing Africa for the gaze of the capitalist West
Beyoncé
Posted inGeneral
Beyoncé: A gallon of Lemonade (Part 1)
When watching Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, one cannot help but be reminded of the boldness and daring of one Michael Jackson’s Thriller. In 1983 the Thriller music video was received as a masterpiece in how to create a visual spectacle to narrate a soundtrack. That said, Lemonade and Thriller are different beasts. Lemonade is a […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Some spaces exclude white people, and that’s a good thing
The Sunday morning after Mumford & Sons’ first Pretoria show, I woke up to a newsfeed and timeline going berserk — but about Beyoncé rather than banjos. I’m not part of the Beyhive, but I watched the Formation video out of curiosity. It’s incredible. What struck me most, though, was the fact that I felt […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Beyoncé, ‘Girls’: The new prophets of self-obsession
I don’t like Lena Dunham, but I have my reasons. Dunham is the writer and creator of Girls, one of those “edgy”, sometimes-women-are-naked shows on HBO. Girls follows the lives of four young (and almost permanently and perhaps proudly unemployed) New Yorkers as they navigate the melodrama of their loveless love lives and self-induced trauma. […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle, Media
Feminism isn’t for everybody, but it could be
This morning I read Danielle Bowler’s commentary on the good versus bad feminist debate in her column “We are all bad feminists, and that’s okay”. While I’m all for a nuanced and reflexive critique on feminisms and their limitations in order to better develop and strengthen the movement, I found myself puzzled by what read […]
Posted inGender violence
Jay-Z has 100 problems and physical abuse is now one
The standing joke is that Jay-Z has 100 problems and Solange Knowles is definitely one. If you don’t know the story, the first family of music ended up in a southern-style brawl in an elevator at a prestigious event. Jay-Z caught a kicking and punching from his sister-in-law, Knowles the sister of queen bee, aka […]
Posted inEquality, Media
Beyoncé: A feminist in her own terms
Beyoncé is undoubtedly one of my generations’ most iconic and influential global figures and sheroes. Titans such as Oprah Winfrey, Barack and Michelle Obama, and our very own Nelson Mandela have hailed and expressed awe at her extraordinary talent, groundedness and the humble personality she oozes. At just 32 years she has a net worth […]