I Ain’t Sorry: Beyoncé, Serena, and Hegemonic Hierarchies inLemonade

Abstract

This article examines the politics of Beyoncé’s Lemonade-era branding, which, in subsuming a message of black female resistance within a Eurocentric framework of neoliberal competition, elevates Beyoncé’s exceptional body above the bodies of other black women in her orbit. By closely reading not only Beyoncé’s live performances, but also her “Sorry” video, this article exposes a political tug-of-war between black female empowerment and black female hierarchy to be found throughout Beyoncé’s Lemonade era. These ideological tensions necessitate a closer examination of Beyoncé, whose strategies of success in a white patriarchal music industry complicate her status as a radical figure.

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