Origin & Autonomy: Beyonce, Levi’s Jeans, and Acts of Cultural Misogynoir
In recent news, Beyonce has been at the helm of a media firestorm concerning her Levi’s Jeans Ad commercials. The 43 year old music powerhouse and Houston native has been sporadically doing commercial ads with popular clothing company Levi Strauss and Co. for the better part of the last year as a part of an exclusive and lucrative partnership deal. The deal also uses the aptly titled song “Levii’s Jeans” from her groundbreaking country album Cowboy Carter.
Excellent Form of Passive Marketing
According to a 2024 press release from Levi Strauss and Co., the premise of the ad was to be a throwback to the jean ads of the 1980’s. As part of their “REIIMAGINE” campaign, “following the release of ‘LEVII’S JEANS’ — a beloved track from ‘COWBOY CARTER,’ the critically acclaimed album exploring and redefining Americana — Beyoncé steps into the role of protagonist in the campaign inspired by the legacy of the Levi’s brand and the forward-thinking vision of one of the most influential figures of modern culture.” Beyonce has become widely known for her visuals at this point and has been notoriously reticent with visuals on her last two album cycles. Coupled with Cowboy Carter’s reclamation of Americana through the African American influence, the ad fits in perfectly and is an excellent form of passive marketing.
Two Stars Pitted Against Each Other
Now with the recent release of actress Sydney Sweeney’s jeans ad with Calvin Klein, the media has pitted the two stars against each other in a cultural discourse over identity, race, gender, and autonomy. Everyone from Meghan Kelly to Piers Morgan has been calling out the singer, accusing Beyonce of cultural appropriation and being a product of artificial standards of beauty. Gender in the media is not a new topic. Originating in the 1980’s, depictions of the female body in media had become an increasing area of research. Jean Killborne was one of the first scholars to tackle the correlation between disfiguring the female body and violence against women. Her initial work focused on the roles women played in advertisements for beer commercials and how through intentional lens shots of certain body parts, it led to seeing women as objects. The 1980’s was a time when feminism was at an interesting crossroads when it came to female visibility had been higher than ever before but with that came a cautionary tale of the dangers of objectification.
The Rare Albums That Shifted Entire Paradigms
What does it say about America where a Black woman born and raised in Houston, Texas is getting criticized so viciously for expressing herself and representing her roots that it has become basically acceptable for media outlets to commit acts of misogynoir? Beyonce’s treatment during much of the Cowboy Carter promotional cycle has been many moments of blatant racist attack on the Black pregenitors of Americana and country music, something Beyonce being from Houston, Texas knows all about.
A year after this ad started circulating, Beyonce became the first Black artist to take home the Grammy for Best Country Album and the first Black woman in over 25 years to win the coveted Album Of The Year. The Cowboy Carter tour has been one of the most successful country tours of all time, elevating the exposure to country music internationally. Using a powerful medium – advertising – to spark a cultural discourse on origin and autonomy is yet another reason why Cowboy Carter continues to be viewed as one the rare albums that shifts an entire paradigm, in the same vein as What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye, Thriller by Michael Jackson, and The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill.
