#self sexualization

All Eyes on the Queen: The Ambiguity of Beyonce’s Self-Sexualization

In 2014, renowned pop star and public figure Beyoncé unexpectedly released her fifth studio album with a video for every song, calling it a visual album. Flowing seamlessly together as if it were a movie, each video showed a different side of Beyonce: a model, a public figure, a married woman, a mother, a feminist, and an object of desire. It’s a very honest and intimate showcase of her life and what shapes her as a human, and what parts make up her public image. The album contains powerful messages about feminism, marriage, and sexuality, which are at times conflicting. Her album opens with the song “Pretty Hurts” which is a touching story of  growing up in pageants and the modeling industry, and learning to love herself for more than her looks, but the song “Partition” and even “Rocket” seem to delight in her appearance and how she’s seen in the eyes of her husband, and the eyes of the world. As a woman who has been the backbone of girl power in the music industry for many decades, her words carry immense weight and she is widely regarded as a role model for women of all ages. However, she is also a highly sexualized figure, and her album attempts to make her sexuality her own and show it in an honest way. Beyoncé runs the fine line between expressing her sexuality in an empowering way and self-objectifying. Some of the positive messages Beyoncé conveys about body image and sexuality are undermined by the way she objectifies herself and continues to attribute confidence in how attractive she is.

It is difficult to scrutinize a medium that is open to interpretation, such as a collection of music videos, especially when applying universal terms such as objectification, sexualization, and even feminism. Though seemingly ambitious words, objectification and self-sexualization can be defined. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, objectification is defined as when a person is reduced to an instrument someone else uses for solely their purposes. This is characterized by instrumentality, denial of autonomy, inertness, fungibility (treating a person as interchangeable with other objects), violability (treating the person like they lack integrity), ownership, denial of subjectivity, reduction to body, reduction to appearance, and silencing. All of these qualify a situation for objectification. Self-sexualization, on the other hand, is defined by  The Sexualization of Girls and Girlhood, as when “a) sexual appeal is the sole determinant of a person’s value, b) sexual appeal is wholly based on physical attractiveness, which is narrowly defined; c) sexuality is forced on a person” (Murnen 236). Self-sexualization is differentiated from healthy sexuality, defined as “mutual respect, control, and pleasure within the context of an intimate relationship” (Murnen 236). Sexual objectification is seen as non-mutual because the objectifier is always looking for their own gain. Self-sexualization begins when girls are very young and can affect them for their whole lives. Internalizing the gazes of men and being surrounded by impossible beauty standards presented by the media leads young girls to objectify themselves, viewing their bodies as separate from the self, and measure their worth in physical attractiveness and sex appeal.

Beyoncé Knowles grew up competing in pageants, which she describes in her song and video “Pretty Hurts”.  “Girls hear about the advantages of being sexy starting in early childhood, making self-sexualization seem natural and normal” (Murnen 238). In the context of “Pretty Hurts” Beyoncé is shown battling the same insecurity and ridicule of her body every girl faces, which is powerful because Beyoncé herself is one of the faces in the magazines we compare ourselves to. Beyoncé’s early and intense exposure to the world of body shame and objectification of even her body as a young girl shows how deep objectification runs in her past. Perhaps her slew of videos showcasing her own body is her attempt to reclaim her sexuality, albeit in the same way it was objectified in the first place.

Before any further scrutiny of Beyonce’s work, it is important to note her overall goals and messages she hoped to send in her visual album. Fortunately, Beyoncé released a series of behind-the-scenes videos about her new album explicitly explaining what her messages were in her videos. The themes she stressed the most were honesty, growth, finding power in her sexuality, and finding beauty in imperfection. First, she explained the connection she feels music has with visuals, stating that she “sees music” (beyonceVEVO) and has specific images and scenes that come to mind when she’s making music. This means that these are usually vague images in Beyoncés head or scenes or fantasies, which is important to keep in mind in scrutinizing the meaning behind them.  She wanted her album to be a direct transfer of her ideas from their conception to her fans: “that vision in my brain is what i wanted people to experience the first time” (beyonceVEVO). She dives in to deeply personal anecdotes about herself in many instances, including the heart-wrenching story of her history in pageants and the constant stress and negative body image that battered her. She attempts to show how she has grown from those experiences by destroying all those meaningless pageant trophies that cost her so much time as a kid. She has since shifted her focus from superficial beauty and competition to love, happiness, and enjoying life. In her album she describes shooting several videos without any strict script or plan in an attempt to capture the imperfections that make Beyoncé human.

Another key message in Beyoncé’s visual album is her celebrating her body and her sexuality. She recorded the album shortly after having her baby, and writes a lot of songs celebrating marriage but also maintaining identity after becoming a mother. In the song “Mine” she expresses the doubts she’s had in her marriage and also mentions that “I’m not feeling like myself since the baby” (Beyonce) but at the end of the album dedicates an entire song to her baby, saying “Each day I feel so blessed to be looking at you, Cause when you open your eyes, I feel alive” (Beyonce).  Beyoncé says she regained her confidence and sense of identity after she had her baby by losing 65 pounds and “getting her body back” (YouTube). She worked incredibly hard to do so, so her album and many of the highly sexual videos she released  - Partition, Blow, Rocket, and Drunk in Love - were a celebration of her body. This shows how strong of a connection Beyoncé has between her body and herself.  

A great amount of her confidence seems to come from “getting her body back”, and she believed that that would be an empowering message for women. Of course, losing weight can be a great source of confidence for anyone, and after having a baby women’s bodies typically change a lot in some way or another, so it’s a completely relatable and valid experience to want your old body back. However, losing 65 pounds and regaining that coveted 24-inch waist is a tall order for anyone, and for many its simply unrealistic. Sometimes birth changes the actual shape of women's bodies, and the expectation that they can get back to their own body is simply impossible. Also, Beyoncé is an incredibly wealthy person, so she can afford cream of the crop personal trainers and dietitians. Some women simply do not have the resources or time to get a gym membership or buy healthier, fresher food. It’s a nice sentiment, and may be inspiring to some, but overall she’s doing more harm than good in implying that the changes to your body are inherently negative. Instead of implying that the only way to regain a possible loss in confidence after having a baby is changing your body back, Beyoncé could have showed herself accepting the natural changes that come with time and a baby. This is one of the main missteps Beyoncé makes in her efforts to empower women.

Beyoncé makes a conscious effort in her newest album to create something real. “When you’re famous nobody looks at you as a human anymore. You become the property of the public. There’s nothing real about it” (Yours and Mine). So in her album, she wanted an honest portrayal of the many sides of herself. This means herself as a mother in “Blue”, as a model and public figure in “Pretty Hurts”, and this also means the sexual sides of herself, in marriage in “Drunk in Love” and “Rocket” and even in the dark, BDSM-themed “Haunted”. “Rocket” is perhaps the most interesting video in terms of objectification. The song is about sex, and Beyoncé boasts about her body, and expresses her own pleasure in knowing that someone else is enjoying the sight of her body. The video is almost completely slow-motion clips of Beyoncé’s body, and everyday household objects made into metaphors for sex. The song itself is a celebration of sex and mutual love, and is a perfect description of healthy sexuality without a trace of objectification. However, when we get to the video, it’s a battery of shots of Beyoncé’s body sans her face and a multitude of typically sexual images. Part of it feels like a home movie made by her husband. It’s very sweet and sensual, but it makes sex look all about appearance. The video is a diary of self-sexualization: Beyoncé is expressing how she hopes she looks during sex and gaining pleasure from that. Of course I’m not one to deny her experience, if it works for her that’s great and I’m glad she’s turned a phenomenon rooted in insecurity and made it empowering for herself. However, what’s worrisome is that viewing yourself from the outside is probably already a dominating view of sex for women, and she’s not challenging that. Of course, being proud of your body and expressing sexual confidence is never a negative thing, and Beyoncé is paving the road in pop music where the dominant narration of sexuality comes from men.

To Beyoncé’s credit, I think she’s trying to show the duality of a woman’s sexuality. Positive objectification is not a new concept, and many couples enjoy role playing dominant and submissive roles just for the sake of sex, without viewing their partner in that way in reality. Leslie Green is a philosopher in favor of positive objectification but only when “if we at the same time respect their integrity as agents with their own purposes” (Papadaki). We as people use each other for many different means, from their skills to their company to their bodies (Papadaki). Where objectification becomes positive and negative lies in context. If objectification is occurring in a context of “equality, respect, and consent” (Papadaki), and if the objectification is only happening in that instance and is not part of the relationship otherwise, it is positive. In Beyonce’s case, she describes going to a strip club with her husband on their honeymoon, and wishing she could perform that way for her man (beyonceVEVO). That’s perfectly fine if she wants to do that in the context of her own relationship with her husband, but it should be understood that the entire industry of sex work was founded on objectification and dehumanization, and they should have an understanding with each other that Beyoncé’s worth is way more than just her body. Assuming that her marriage is healthy, that shouldn’t be a problem. However, when Beyoncé pole dances and inconically dances on a chair in silhouette in the video for “Partition”, the context is greatly changed. Blogger Lavender Blume, who is not a fan of Beyoncé, articulated the problem with this. She argues that even though a Beyoncé’s own choices are liberating to her, that doesn’t mean they are liberating to all women, which is what a pop star making content for millions of people is really trying to do. “When women like Beyoncé become sexual objects, which in this context are essentially commodities or products to be consumed, they’re not in any way challenging the idea that they’re sexual objects. Nor do they explain how pimping themselves out negates the pimping” (Blume). She criticizes the song and video “Partition” for presenting such a talented an influential woman as solely an object of desire, and mentions how some men aren’t likely to interpret Beyoncés messages as ones of empowerment: they see the same old message that women are more than happy to oblige the fantasy of making themselves sex objects. Of course, this is not Beyoncé’s fault that people have been conditioned to perceive her that way, but the medium in which she chooses to reclaim her sexuality for herself is warped when it looks just like every other female pop star who sexualizes themselves for the media.

Beyoncé herself says “I don’t have any shame about being sexual. I don’t feel like I have to protect that side of me, because I do believe that sexuality is a power that we all have” (beyonceVEVO). If Beyoncé is expressing her sexuality in a way that builds her up, this is commendable, and incredible given all the battery of self esteem and self-concept she went through at a very young age. Her album is a triumphant story of her growing up and growing to love her body and celebrating it in the context of marriage and self-love. However, she is a role model for thousands, and unfortunately that does entail some responsibility. Beyoncé has been famous for so long that her latest album is a statement of identity that has been scrutinized and warped by the media her whole life. In a reflective video Beyoncé posted a year after the album came out titled “Yours and Mine”, Beyoncé expresses she feels stifled by her varied audience, from young and new fans to older fans that have grown up with her (beyonceVEVO). This album, in its honesty and attempt at a ‘real’ look into a celebrity’s life is her effort to break free from expectations. This is admirable, but unfortunately the impressionability of her audience is something she still needs to consider.

In 2011, a psychological study was conducted by Halliwell, Malson, and Tischner and it explored the effect of sexualized images that appeared to also be empowering on women that viewed them.  The study measured the effects on body image after participants viewed sexually objectified women in ads, women who were sexualized in ads but still appeared to have agency or power, and control ads. The participants were found to exhibit the same weight dissatisfaction after viewing either sexualized image, whether the woman was in power or not. Feelings of self-sexualizing and being critical of one’s body and sex appeal increased in both cases (besides the control). This is a problem for a pop star like Beyoncé, because even if she shows herself owning her sexuality and being in control (and that in itself is questionable in her case), the sexualized images will have the same effect on her viewers if she had been in a more negatively objectifying  video. This shows that taking the tools of objectification and sexualization that make Beyoncé a sexual object and making her the sexual subject really aren’t the problem, it’s the sexualization itself.