Beyonce. Bootyliciously brilliant with her bouncy blonde hair, she sweeps across stages throughout the world belting out the anthems of a generation. But one of the best things about beyonce is that she is interchangable. Whether she's foxy cleopatra in Austin Powers, swaggering down an alleyway in khaki or "releasing" lady gaga from Prison in Telephone she is the walking, talking, singing head swinging definition of global beauty.
I'm sure you are aware of the recent controversy surrounding the 'changing' shade of her skin. I don't think it is my place to conclude whether or not she actuallly has been using skin bleaching creams. But I do think that the speculation and discussion surrounding this is interesting. What is this saying about the perceptions of dark skin and femininity in entertainment?
Well...here are my two cents.
I'm not sure if this was to counteract the accusations of bleaching, but Beyonce posed this week with her face "blacked up" for a french magazine 'L’Officiel Paris' as part of a shoot in homage to Fela Kuti.
How ironic...one of Fela's most well known songs, "Yellow Fever", is all about bleaching. As Fela puts it,
"You go get your double colour Your yansh go black like coal"
You can bleach as much as you want, but your backside will still remain your original colour. But I guess, if one had beyonces wealth this would not be a problem...
What I get from this is, by Beyonce "blacking up" a message is being sent out that black skin is a commodity, to be desposed of and utilised when needed. I believe one of the reasons why Beyonce is a 'global beauty' is because she encompasses desirable "black" qualities without having the commercially undesirable skintone. This doesn't just apply to Beyonce. Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Fergie and Lady Gaga are also examples. With their display of 'sassiness' and collaboration with well known black male artists, they tread the thin line between assimilating "black" qualities without going the 'whole hog' (sidenote: I really don't like using phrases like "black qualities" but I'm trying to talk the langauge of a rather narrow minded, popular media perspective- so please, don't take offence). On a more local level, I think Jessie J is a good example of this. One of the reasons why she is such 'big news' is becuase she is "egdy" and "fresh". Why? Because she is a non-black female assimilating "black" qualities. Krumping in a dank cellar in her video doing it like 'the man'dem' is 'urban enough' for the brits and mainstream magazines. Why not? Beyonce did something similar in Diva. Different sounds and looks to appease different fan bases.
However, these observation are not reflections on them personally, but they are bourne out of the perceptions and acceptability of beauty that is constructed by global entertainment media. Beyonce and her management have mastered the ins and outs of global beauty's contstuction, and have constructed an insatiable product that appeals to all, but mostly to the ones who can/will buy into the product... The black paint will be wiped off, and the machine will continue.
I guess now big bums are all the rage, maybe thats the next 'look' our global beauties will focus on (again)- Nicki Minaj has had success with that already, I guess-Jlo kicked the proceedings off a few years back. It's a crying shame the ladies who have died for this don't realise that Nicki and Beyonce (allegedly) wear butt pads. Stick-onable/rip-offable/interchangable/sellable.
I'm back and free to write whatever I please! I had my last exam yesterday. And to celebrate a friend and I went to Covent Garden to celebrate by tucking into some lovely Thali. Being in Covent Garden got me thinking about its rich history of vice and prostitution.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it enjoyed the status as London's prime Red Light District, peppered with brothels that catered to a variety of tastes. Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies (1795-1797) was a directory of prostitutes in the area, written by 'impoverished Irish Poet', Samuel Derrick . It provided not only the biographical details of the prostitutes, but also described their appearance and personality and listed their sexual specialities, too. Costing two shillings and sixpence, it sold over a quarter of a million copies over 38 years.
One of the most notrious hot spots in 18th century Covent Garden was Moll King's Coffee house, which was open from the time taverns shut in the evening until dawn. And since it provided no beds, it technically couldn't be legally classified as a brothel- thus Moll and her girls slipped through a legal loophole and avoided getting shut down by the police. One of the highlights of the Coffee House was a pretty black barmaid, 'Tawny' Betty. She was amongst a number of black working girls in Covent Garden at the time; there are records suggesting that there were even exclusively black brothels. One of the most famous prostitutes at the time was West Indian widow and former slave and "Black Harriot". Her clients were said to include 20 members of the House of Lords and 50 members of the House of Commons.
Fast foward 150 years or so to 1863, Edouard Manet paints his masterpiece, Olympia
Many critics have speculated over the identity of the reclining woman in this famous depiction of feminine beauty, and many have concluded that she was a prostitute. However, the black maid in the background hasn't courted as much critical attention. Questions over who she is and what she represents has been a topic of discussion amongst a handful of academics, most of whom are from Feminist and/or Queer backgrounds. Some have argued that, like her mistress, she too is a prostitute. Others have said that, like the black ribbon around thecentral figures neck, or the flowers being presented to her that the black woman is simply as aesthetic device; i.e. that her 'shade' brings out the 'lightness' of the central figures complexion. I'm yet to make up my mind about her, but what I do find fascinating is the tension between the visibility and invisibility of the maid. She is glaringly visible as she is "exotic", yet she sinks into the dark green drapes in the background and, like her absence in the critical cannon,becomes invisible. Is this because she does not add any aesthetic quality to the painting? Is she simply not visually accepted and recognised as beautiful and therefore, not worth the attention?
Or is she , along with her mistress, representative of the hidden beauty rooted in vice? E. J. Bellocq (John Ernest Joseph Bellocq, 1873-1949) was a photographer who used the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans, as his private muses. Many of the photographs he took of these women have since been destroyed, but the ones that survive-in my opinion- are stunning. They offer a haunting kind of beauty, a beauty that makes me question-which kinds of beauty are we more likely to hide? And which kinds of beauty are more publicly except able? Here are some examples of Bellocq's work that I would stash in my "private collection":
There's nothing seedy about these photographs in my mind. These forbidden images summon an age-old profession in which "beauty" is paramount. And its not only the beauty of these women's outer appearance that makes Olympia and Bellocq's photographs so alluring. I think the inner beauty of their expression, uniqueness and strength to survive in what must have been particularly difficult environments is just as, if not more important, than their physical appearance.
Welcome to my blog. I have been harbouring it in my intellectual womb for a few months now, and I figured it's time I gave birth. You are its godmothers/fathers.
I'm writing this, in total honesty for selfish reasons, but my wider intentions aren't, so stick with me! I'm currently writing a dissertation discussing concepts of Black Beauty in English literature. I'm focusing on one particular decade but I'm bursting with thoughts and feeling around concepts of beauty in Western culture. I'm particularly interested in how "black" beauty is transmitted and received in the UK, Europe and beyond.
Yesterday I watched Alex Hayley's (of 'Roots' fame) 'Queen'. It's about the story of the illegitimate child of a slave owner, and a pre-nose job Halle Berry plays the starring role of the child as an adult. I must admit, I enjoyed it- lots. Maybe that was something to do with the essay that I was meant to be doing, I don't know... Whilst I enjoyed the melodrama ("Massa" proposing to the archetypal vile, moneyed Southern Belle whilst his slave mistress is giving birth to his child in a cabin on the plantation) I couldn't help but noticing that the time distance between when this drama was set (civil war America) and when it was made (early 90s america) had more or less collapsed. When Queen goes to work for two eldery Christian Spinsters, one of the reasons why they hire her is that she is 'nice and light'. I wonder, was this one of the premises on which Halle Berry was chosen for the role? I'm not questioning her ability as an actress- she did a fine job in 'Queen' but I thought that casting her, as well as Jasmine Guy (another light skinned, caucasian featured woman) was making a statement. That a) we being made aware of a history of the oppression of black peoples in America, and that oppression was under no circumstances acceptable BUT b) the instilled psychology of the beauty hierarchy of value in accordance to how 'white' one looked may not apply to men anymore (Danny Glover being Queen's love interest) but it certainly does to women, and that is acceptable.
Well... the point of this blog is certainly not to probe the "racial" identity of "black" female beauty icons- this is not constructive to my aim of deconstructing norms that have been constructed by a relatively small number of people orchestrating consumer culture. Besides, if you believe "race" is purely a social construct-something I'm grappling with- then that is a futile discussion.
Sing Hosanna for that!
And I'm writing to argue that this is not acceptable.
I'm sitting in the SOAS occupation room at the moment: I've just heard the superb Paul Gilroy speak. And he has urged us not to continue arguing the how, what and wherefore's within current ideological systems. But we must question the roots of where these ideologies come from, and work within the system to start deconstructing them brick by brick. This does not just apply to the matter of university fee hikes, but concepts of beauty also. They are relevant, they are real and they affect everyone.
I'm genuinely hoping that this blog and your contributions will act as a catalyst to smashing down illusory barriers of oppression surrounding validility and valuations as females according to beauty standards- regardless of which colour, race, orientation or any other catagorisation that has been thrust upon you.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.
