BriaClassBlog

As a huge Beyonce fan myself, I was very familiar with Lemonade prior to this unit in class. However, getting the chance to watch it again and re-analyze the visual album was very interesting. I remember the first time I saw it I was completely in awe of how meticulously structured the entire thing is. You can quite literally see Beyonce's artistry come to life through the visual elements, color, landscape, acting, and poetry accompanying the music. That mixed with the power ballads on the album had me instantly sold. However, as Bell Hooks points out there are flaws in the piece as well. Most of her critics lay in the capitalist gains surrounding Lemonade along with its somewhat conflicting message. While, she makes decent arguments I'd have to counter them by noting that you have to put everything into a realistic context. For example, Bell Hooks states that Lemonade is "the business of capitalist money making at its best." She calls out the fact that Beyonce promot...

Alison Kaefer's novel "Feminist, Queer, Crip," starts with an introduction discussing the various reactions to her disability that she's observed over time. She first notes that through her own physical appearance, it seems that to others, her future is written on her body. I think this idea of making assumptions based on peoples disabilities is one that everyone can relate to. The word disability in itself means a limitation within someone due to an uncontrollable circumstance; therefore creating the damning connotation that people associate with disabilities. Further in the intro, Kaefer refers to all the outrageous and hurtful things people told her once she became disabled such as recommending suicide, warning her of loneliness, and extreme dependence. I think the idea that disabled people are helpless is highly perpetuated in society. Being able-bodied, while obviously preferable, isn't and shouldn't be considered as superior as it really is.  In all of h...

Jack Halberstam's article on the transgender population and the generational divides on the subject made me think of Magic Johnson's Son. EJ, or Earvin Johnson the third, became a sensation in HollyWood a couple of years ago when he starred on "Rich Kids of Beverly Hills" on E. I'd personally never heard of Magic Johnson's kids before or about their sexuality at all until all of a sudden EJ became the center of conversation. He's a big guy, 6'6, with a loud personality, and an affinity for fashion. This combined with him being a black man and an openly gay caused quite a ruckus online and in my own social circles. I found that in the black community especially, theres a major generational divide with the acceptance of gay and trans men. It seemed like everyone my age either didn't care about EJ at all or thought his openness was cool. The only disparaging remarks came from older people that I knew or backhand compliments given from older women at...

When I read Sarah Ahmeds piece on feminist killjoy's I was instantly reminded of the famous YouTuber Jackie Aina. Jackie is a black woman who runs an incredibly popular beauty channel and during her time on YouTube she's accumulated almost 1.7 million subscribers. I've personally been watching her videos for years now and find her content to be refreshing, funny, and honestly incredibly helpful; however in hindsight you could say she's the "feminist kill joy" of YouTube. In the past couple of years Jackie has been able to use her platform to raise awareness on the racial inequality within makeup companies. Her main point being that many beauty brand cater their products only to white or fair skin tones which leaves out a huge portion of people, both men and women, who want to purchase it. Usually, this point is brought up when she's sent PR packages from brands who have a clearly skewed shade range with possibly 10 shades of light foundations and 4 dark...