Beyonce’s “Partition” is about living the one percent lifestyle and enjoying being a sex object — with lots of bragging about clubbing, sexual exploits, and being a celebrity. (Photo courtesy Sony)
There’s so much in this song that’s anti-spiritual and disturbing: glorification of the one percent lifestyle, lots of boasting about her fame, her body, and her sexual exploits in the back seat of a car.
“I just wanna be the kind of girl you like,” she sings on this song. And she seems to be willing to do about anything to be a sexualized object to make that happen.
Partitions, Parties, and Pleasing a Man
What does the song title mean? The “partition” she’s referring to is the partition in the car she’s driving in — in the music video it’s a Rolls Royce. (She wants to do some, uh, stuff back in the back seat without the driver noticing.)
If you summarize the lyrics, this is what Beyonce’s life is apparently like:
“I like going to the club with a bunch of my girlie friends. When I do that EVERYONE eyes me up — both men and women. When I’m there I just know photos of me are going to be all over Instagram. I feel really good because I know nobody has as hot a booty as I do. And I know that so many people are talking about me everywhere. They just can’t help it.
But one night I was going to the club in my limousine with my man Jay-Z and I told the driver to roll up the partition. No one is gonna see Beyonce on her knees! It took me 45 minutes to get dressed. But we’re not even going to make it to the club without going at it. My mascara is running, my lipstick is smudged. He’s so horny that he wanted to go at it right there. He popped all my buttons, ripped my blouse and ‘Monica Lewinsky-ed’ all on my gown. My dress is such a mess now that we can’t go to the club.
Uh-oh. I thought I saw some cameras flash. Maybe it’s the paparazzi after us. And now there are footprints and handprints all over the windows in the back of the limousine. And he was grabbing my booty so hard! The glass of wine we had in the back seat spilled from all the nasty commotion going on back here. And the chauffeur is eavesdropping. I bet he’s trying not to crash from all of the sounds he hears coming from the back seat.”
Shots like this from Beyonce’s music video “Partition” are called fragmentation, according to media scholars. This is showing only part of a woman’s body which reduces her to a sex object — she’s just a collection of sexually-charged body parts, not a real person.
It’s soft core porn for the one percent.
What is she all about in this song? Pleasing her dude, bragging on her booty (it’s the only body part she mentions) and enjoying being the center of attention everywhere. It’s a whirlwind of limousines, paparazzi, night clubs and partying. “Drunk in Love” was set in a mansion; “Partition” is set in a limousine. What’s next? A yacht?
Living La Vida One Percent
I guess some people would say this isn’t so bad because it’s about a married couple going at it. It’s not about trying to pick anyone up for casual sex. But enough of this one percent lifestyle of night clubs, mansions, and getting off on sexualizing yourself and being the center of attention.
There are other music videos for Top 40 songs that objectify women. But what’s most disturbing about Beyonce’s music video is that she’s doing it to herself. It sends a dangerous message when a mega-celebrity like Beyonce exploits herself so willingly and so directly. This is the horrible mixed message that women get. The woman plays the central role — she’s not in the background — but she still has to sexualize herself to be accepted. And you see it all over the music video.
And oh, where to begin with the problems with this music video…
It’s a parade of lingerie and risqué outfits. Isn’t this woman supposed to be a singer, not a porn star or lingerie model? Whatever happened to seeing women actually sing or play musical instruments?
The camera creepily pans over her body — lots of fragmentation — which means showing her body parts. And there are even some shots where a fully clothed man watches her writhe around like a stripper in front of him. No way is this feminism. That’s just objectification. Even if it’s self-imposed.
No wave feminism?
Some writers somehow are under the delusion that this is some sort of feminism. That it’s empowering women in some way.
But Sinead O’Connor was right when she corrected Miley Cyrus for the same thing — exploiting herself and labeling it empowerment or feminist. She was referring to Cyrus, but to me she could be talking about Beyonce or other female artists who are on this bandwagon of self-exploitation:
“Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent.
The music business doesn’t give a sh– about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think it’s what YOU wanted… None of the men ogling you give a sh– about you either, do not be fooled.
Meanwhile the male overlords in the media industry are enjoying all the money rolling in from singers like Cyrus and Beyonce willing to exploit themselves — and somehow able to persuade some of the media that it’s all in the name of feminism.
Here is the music video for Beyonce’s “Partition”:
