Beyoncé: Gendered Colorism in the Industry

Jamie Zou

Loomis Chaffee '23

The New York Times.

When Chris Brown boasted about his “yellow model chick” in his 2011 song “Look at Me Now,” it serves as yet another instance of colorism and the reinforcement of “skin color hierarchy” in the American music industry.

Oftentimes, the conversation surrounding colorism in the music industry revolves around male artists. However, this ignorance has allowed female artists in the industry to evade responsibility for perpetuating a hierarchy that views light skin as superior. Ultimately, the prevalence of gendered colorism has elevated “The Holy Trinity”— Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj— to the forefront of Black female artists.

In 2016, Beyoncé performed at the Superbowl, dressing in all black to pay tribute to the Black Panther Party (BPP), a prominent black power organization founded in 1966. While the BPP fought for Black pride and civil rights, they also promoted a skin color hierarchy within their organization, giving lighter-skinned women more visibility. Although it’s unlikely that Beyoncé dedicated her performance while being aware of the BPP’s problematic hierarchy, the singer’s career is still inevitably founded on those values.

In the same year, Beyoncé released her album Lemonade, which shined a spotlight on her personal life: wrestling with a message that seemed to resonate with many Black women. Although Lemonade was a work that emphasized Black feminism, it shouldn’t be assumed that this work encompasses the experience of all Black women. On top of that, lyrics like “I stunt, yellow bone it” from “Formation” (a song included in the Lemonade album) continue to perpetuate harmful colorist ideas with terms like “yellow bone,” which is commonly defined as a “very light-skinned Black woman”. Visually, the “Formation” music video is also problematic; in one scene, Beyoncé has long blonde braids while surrounded by other Black women with afros. The different hairstyles are meant to set Beyoncé apart from her background dancers, but it’s no coincidence that her blonde hair and light skin correlate with beauty standards imposed by a colorist system.