Issues and Representations

“What sense can we make of Beyoncé’s ethnicity?”

Pre-requisite module: MC5035 Issues and Representations (Year 2, semester 2)

My detailed proposal includes a revised question that it academically informed and relevant to the issues and representations of how African-American women such as iconic superstar, Beyoncé, is represented in the mass production of advertising.  My research question focuses on the genre of how different mediums of the media industry do not portray black women as their full identity/ethnicity but more as a photo shopped copy version of how the creators of the brand want them to be visualised by their niche audience.

In 2011L’Officiel were accused of darkening the skin in the shoot that was intentionally honouring L’Officiel’s 90^th anniversary and both Nigerian musician and pioneer, Fela Kuti.

In 2008 L’Oreal  were  accused of ‘white washing’ by digitally lightning her skin and making her to look a white version of herself.

My issues of debate are to tackle the questions that have not been answered to their full potential such as; is the fashion industry alienating African-American women from their own identity to fit a niche audience point of view?

Is Beyoncé wearing ‘blackface’ to highlight the theoretical make-up that darkens the skin considered offensive because it is perpetuating stereotypes or is it just a normality of being creative in a photo-shoot?

Why didn’t L’Officiel use a darker skinned model/celebrity instead if they needed to use theatrical makeup to highlight the essence of African descent?

These questions will be best answered through virtual ethnography where I can understand the audience research through different contents of online forums.

My object of study will be to look closely at the different magazines and advertising texts such as the magazines of L’Officiel and L’Oreal. I will look into the company themselves and research them as a whole to find out how they concept ideas to create and produce their brands. Using different secondary and primary sources will help me build up a different commentary of facts and opinions. Along with using my method of textual analysis in my report, finding the responses of the company of what their perspective of the shoot would be a good interpretation to add into my dissertation. My biggest focus of research will be looking at the point of view point of Beyoncé I would want to find if she found the photo-shoot to be problematic or a positive cause.