Woman Empowerment: Jealous or Crazy?

In light of yesterday being International Women's Day, I thought it quite fitting to analyze the queen of feminism herself, Beyoncé. Beyoncé's latest creative album, Lemonade, expresses the trivialities that women often go through at the hand of men. Out of the many songs in the creative album, I found one song titled "Hold Up" to be particularly symbolistic of women's movement from oppression to empowerment.

For reference purposes, you may find the full segment of Beyoncé's music video for "Hold Up," here.

The music video "Hold Up" begins with Beyoncé being submerged under water saying in a defeated sounding vocal tone, "I tried to change... Closed my mouth more, tried to be softer, prettier, less awake." This first line is already hinting towards the male gaze which supports the idea that a woman should be quiet, attractive, and know her place to not have an opinion. With little movement and no room to breathe, it shows that she is just going through the motions of life, not really living.

Photo taken from Google Images

As the video progresses, Beyoncé is shown in a normal bedroom setting - though still under water. This symbolizes the oppression she felt by man, despite her efforts to keep a normal life. The continuation of this first scene begins to pick up pace while she seems less complacent to the oppression of her male counterpart; she begins to fight and struggle with the water surrounding her signifying her dissatisfaction with remaining oppressed.

Then, as she comes to terms with the question that troubles her most -"Are you cheating on me?"- the scene changes and she bursts out of the oppressive bounds of the water (i.e. her male counterpart) dressed in a jaw-dropping, bright yellow gown. This moment can be taken as her realization of her oppression and by fighting against it, she accomplished freedom. However, she is still soaked by the water suggesting that though she has broken through the oppression, it has left its mark on her to some degree.

Gif taken from Google Images

She then goes on to accept that she can't and won't change herself to make a man feel more empowered. Instead, she accepts that she is hard around the edges and speaks her mind; in the music video you can tell that this acceptance frees her. She struts down the street, showing her individual power without any man to hold her down.

For the remainder of the music video, Beyoncé powerfully destructs items around her with a bat such as shop windows, old masculine muscle cars, a fire hydrant, and a security camera. Each of these destructions symbolize her ridding herself of the bounds that man held over her. Her actions represent the fierceness of women - actions that in itself could inspire a movement of female empowerment.

While it is largely known that Lemonade was a personal work for Beyonce, it is able to connect with the broader spectrum of women in order to empower them - they can overcome the oppression of men too.