Beyoncé in Formation
Remixing Black Feminism
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Making headlines when it was launched in 2015, Omise’eke Tinsley’s undergraduate course “Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism” has inspired students from all walks of life. In Beyoncé in Formation, Tinsley now takes her rich observations beyond the classroom, using the blockbuster album and video Lemonade as a soundtrack for vital new-millennium narratives.
Woven with candid observations about her life as a feminist scholar of African studies and a cisgender femme married to a trans spouse, Tinsley’s “Femme-onade” mixtape explores myriad facets of black women’s sexuality and gender. Turning to Beyoncé’s “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” Tinsley assesses black feminist critiques of marriage and then considers the models of motherhood offered in “Daddy Lessons,” interspersing these passages with memories from Tinsley’s multiracial family history. Her chapters on nontraditional bonds culminate in a discussion of contemporary LGBT politics through the lens of the internet-breaking video “Formation,” underscoring why Beyoncé’s black femme-inism isn’t only for ciswomen. From pleasure politics and the struggle for black women’s reproductive justice to the subtext of blues and country music traditions, the landscape in this tour is populated by activists and artists (including Loretta Lynn) and infused with vibrant interpretations of Queen Bey’s provocative, peerless imagery and lyrics.
In the tradition of Roxanne Gay’s Bad Feminist and Jill Lepore’s best-selling cultural histories, Beyoncé in Formation is the work of a daring intellectual who is poised to spark a new conversation about freedom and identity in America.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tinsley (Ezili's Mirrors), an African studies professor at the University of Texas at Austin, brings tremendous gusto to her critique of Beyonc 's 2016 album Lemonade. As "the most widely distributed black feminist of the current moment," Tinsley argues, Lemonade "offers a spectacular entry point into black feminist conversations." The album and its accompanying music videos lead to discussions of marriage, motherhood, reproductive justice, and queer and trans politics. In a chapter titled "Queen Bee Blues," Tinsley connects the song "Don't Hurt Yourself" with its sampling of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" and depictions of "self-loving fierceness" to the careers of blues vocalists Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, who "also sang about betrayal decked in furs, feathers, and pearls," and the long tradition of Southern black women's blues. Later she explicates the song "Sorry" and its "boy bye" chant, revealing an ode to "black femmes." The book's final chapter focuses on how New Orleans bounce artist Big Freedia's role in "Formation" marked a turning point that allowed "trans* sisters to publicize their brilliant choreographies of gender and survival." Not solely a love letter to Beyonc or a defense of her feminism, this is an incisive, spiraling celebration of Southern black women.
