It was never easy being a black woman in a culture whose standards were determined by white men. In the US, the blacks were traditionally designated as a model for everything that is "uncivilized", belonging to the primitive who came from the jungle and hasn't evolved much since. Among the blacks, on the other hand, there were always those who aspired to accept the values of the "civilized" world and show that they too could be civilized, but also those who regarded this attitude to be a capitulation of black identity, and aspired instead to emphasize the traits that were considered as characteristic to the black man. The former scolded the latter, accusing them that they were justifying the stereotypes that whites ascribe to them, while the latter saw the former as "Uncle Toms". This inner-split in the soul of the black man made it harder for African-Americans to be comfortable with their identity and advance in society, and for black women, of course, it was even worse.
But the situation became gradually better over the years, thanks mainly to pop music, which caused those elements that were considered "primitive" to be incorporated by the dominant culture and start to be regarded as civilized, thus projecting more favorably on the black identity. This process allowed African-Americans to build an identity and culture of their own, but there was always a new generation who came and dug deeper into "primitivism" to create a new split, until this split was healed as well, and some more elements would become socially acceptable. Thus, step by step, the inequality between the races diminished.
By the eighties, the (originally) black styles of blues, jazz, gospel and soul, which in the past were all regarded as "jungle music", have been accepted by the dominant culture and gained much respect. But not funk. Funk means stench, usually associated with body odor, and the funk did indeed emphasize those elements that were connected to the body, and which so terrified the puritan culture: multiple rhythms, physical pleasures, wild dancing and explicit sexuality. The funk was still considered uncivilized by conservative Reaganist America, as were its offshoots, disco and hip-hop. Hip-hop took the funk as far as possible, and also attached it to elements of black ghetto culture, which white America didn't really want to see. And so, a new split was formed: on the one side was the culturally accepted R'n'B, whose values were derived from blues and soul; on the other side the "primitive" hip-hop, based on funk. The female R'n'B singers aspired to represent the fineness, sophistication and versatility of the new black woman, while female hip-hoppers affected a dirty slutty demeanor, and aspired to represent the funkiness of the black woman. Both of them had something missing, showing the difficulties in creating a wholesome black female identity. And then came Beyonce.
In Beyonce, the split was overcome. On the one hand she was the world's number one good girl, with a lovely smile, delicate behavior and elegant look, writing and performing songs that were rooted deep in blues and soul. On the other hand she was the world's number one bad girl, with moves like an exotic dancer, a vocal dripping with eroticism, and funky-to-the-bone music. She serves as a model to a healthier femininity, and actually to a better humanity, a humanity that combines African sensuality with European sublimation. In this record she resurrects the most notorious record of female sexuality, Donna Summer's 'Love to Love You, Baby', famous for its orgasmic moans. Summer's record, of course, got almost no airplay - dominant culture doesn't like to hear women enjoying themselves. Beyonce bypasses the problem by giving up on the moans, but any regular pop fan hears them in their head once she launches into "Ahh, love to love you, baby", and her seductive voice does the rest. To a man that would be good to her, Beyonce promises the perfect male fantasy: a lady in the living-room, a whore in bed.
It was too good to last. Beyonce was unable to keep this inner-tension going, and in the middle of the decade she split herself, creating an alter-ego called Sasha, to represent her funky side. Since then, she's not as good. Sasha is too wild, lacking the softness and sweetness that would make her truly sexy, and Beyonce, without the funk to drive her from within, lost much of the magic and mystery, and started to develop annoying diva habits. But the records of 2001-2003 lost nothing. Love to love you, baby.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment