Beyoncé’s celebrity feminism and performances of female empowerment in the arena concert

Fairclough, K

Abstract

Through her live arena performances, pop/R and B artist Beyoncé Knowles appears to promote a shiny, depthless feminism that mass audiences can embrace. This chapter will provide a critical analysis of her 2013-2014 arena concert tour, The Mrs Carter Show, to explore the ways in which she employs the tropes of what appear to be female empowerment and celebrity feminism in order to maintain and develop her position in popular music and pop culture more widely. It will consider attempts to promote her status as celebrity feminist through her arena concerts and will assess how Beyoncé calls on her fans to use her music and imagery to engage what may be a rather simplistic notion of female empowerment.

Citation

Fairclough, K. (2015). Beyoncé’s celebrity feminism and performances of female empowerment in the arena concert. In B. Halligan, K. Fairclough, R. Edgar, & N. Spelman (Eds.), The Arena Concert : Music, Media and Mass Entertainment. London: Bloombsury

• Publication Date: Nov 19, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 9, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 17, 2020
• Book Title: The Arena Concert : Music, Media and Mass Entertainment
• ISBN: 9781628925579
• Related Public URLs: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-arena-concert-9781628925579/