
In her music video for her song “Formation”, Beyoncé uses hair, typical black stereotypes, and the absence of water in order to depict racial injustices that African Americans still face in the world. She references hair and color together to evidence that in order to express themselves, a person has to be who they naturally are, not conforming to what society wants them to be. She also uses hair to prove that all African Americans face the same racial inequalities, whether they are a man, woman, or child. Additionally, Beyoncé references common stereotypes that black people are good at basketball and are poor swimmers to show how African Americans are still stereotyped in the modern world. She also uses the absence of water to imply that black people are poor swimmers and that they never stopped facing racial inequalities.  The connection among these common black stereotypes is that they are all ways in which blacks can be grouped and considered different from other people. This is significant as these elements work in pair with the words in the song to show how in today’s world black people are still looked at and treated differently. By examining hair, racial stereotypes, and the absence of water in Beyoncé’s music video, one can gain a better understanding of the racial discriminations that African Americans are faced with.

At 0:25, Beyoncé is shown sitting atop a police car which is submerged in flood water from Hurricane Katrina. Here, she is shown sporting her natural, afro like hairstyle. This type of hair is generally looked down upon by non-African Americans. In this scene, Beyoncé is portrayed using a medium shot. It is clear that behind her there are floating trees and houses submerged in the flood. The houses appear to look old and beat up as if the scene is taking place in a bad neighborhood. The foreground of the scene is a clear medium shot of Beyoncé. The midground in this scene is the flood water including the floating trees surrounding Beyoncé and the police car. And the background of this scene includes the old, raggedy looking houses submerged in the flood water. Both the midground and background in the scene are blurry, leaving all emphasis on Beyoncé in the foreground. This is vital because Beyoncé is portrayed wearing a red dress. The significance of this is that red is an aggressive color that stands out a lot. Beyoncé’s decision to wear such an aggressive, stand out color in this scene suggests that she is trying to express her true identity. When she is depicted with her natural hair in this scene is when she appears to be happiest and expressing her true colors. In other scenes throughout the video, she is depicted looking much less content than she does here.

At 3:08 in the video, Beyoncé is shown wearing a large black hat, hiding the top of her head. What hair is visible is in long braids coming down from the hat. According to new US Army regulations which require black people to alter their normal hair, this particular hairstyle is an acceptable one. In this scene, the foreground is a medium shot of Beyoncé and the midground is five African American men dressed in all black sitting behind Beyoncé. The background here is a house. Unlike the last scene, the house here appears to be a very nice, expensive one. The significance of this is that when she is portrayed with a normal hairstyle, she is shown in front of a nice expensive house, but when she is shown with her natural African American hair, she is in a poor, poverty stricken neighborhood. Another very significant factor in this scene is that very much like the last one, the midground and background are blurred out, leaving all attention on Beyoncé, who is flipping off the camera. Additionally, Beyoncé is dressed in all black in this scene, which is an achromatic color. The significance of this is that it makes Beyoncé look very normal looking. She doesn’t stand out like she did in the previous scene. The absence of color in her outfit here suggests that she is not expressing her true self as her outfit looks like she is just trying to blend in and look normal. She is not expressing her true self because she is forced to conform to society and wear an acceptable hairdo. Her actions in this scene evidence how she is unhappy with racial inequalities in the world.

Beyoncé further utilizes hair in her music video to show racial inequalities in a scene where her young daughter is shown dancing with a group of other young African American girls. The girls in this scene are shown dancing and they are all wearing typical African American afros; this being their natural hair. The significance of this is that it shows how not only adults are affected by the racial injustices in today’s world, but children are as well.

Additionally, Beyoncé uses hair and the stereotype that African Americans are the best basketball players in order to further imply that racial injustices are still present in the modern world. The scene which she does so is at 1:52. This scene depicts a basketball team made up of only African American men, all of which have afros. The significance of the scene is that it is showing the men fulfilling the typical image of an African American young man. It depicts them all having typical African American hair, they are all tall, and they are all playing basketball. The importance of this is that it implies that in today’s world, people still look at African American men in a very stereotypical way. This scene illustrates how the African American race as a whole faces racial inequalities. It is clear in other scenes that women and children face such inequalities and this scene depicts men facing the injustices as well. It ultimately works to show how the entire race faces social discriminations.

Another stereotype Beyoncé hints at in her video is that black people are poor swimmers. Although not true as there have been several gold medal winning African American swimmers, including Simone Manuel, this stereotype is often associated with African Americans in today’s society. This stereotype is referenced at 1:24 when Beyoncé and a group of black dancers are performing in a waterless pool. The absence of water in the pool may suggest a couple things. For starters, it may suggest that because they are black, they cannot swim; which shows how African Americans are still stereotyped. Additionally, the absence of water in the pool may be used to reference racial injustices that African Americans once faced in America. It could be referring way back to segregation in American referencing the idea of separate drinking fountains during segregation. The significance is that Beyoncé is using the absence of water to suggest that African Americans still face social injustices in today’s world just as they did years ago in America. She implies that racial inequality never stopped existing in America.

Beyoncé uses hair and color together to show how one must be themselves in order to express who they really are. She further uses hair to show how all African Americans including men and children face the same racial inequalities. Furthermore, she references the stereotypes that black people are good at basketball and are poor swimmers for the sake of proving that African Americans are still stereotyped in the world today. Finally, Beyoncé uses the absence of water to suggest the stereotype that black people are poor swimmers and that they still face racial prejudices, even if the injustices aren’t as extreme as they once were. Conclusively, Beyoncé references hair, typical African American stereotypes, and the absence of water to suggest that racial inequality never stopped existing, even after segregation was ended.