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Journal Article Analysis

Yo and I: Identity and the Performance of Self in Lady Gaga and Beyonc
Unique West
Popular Culture
HUMN240-F2WW
Professor Debra Brushaber
July 16, 2016

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Journal Article Analysis
Yo and I: Identity and the Performance of Self in Lady Gaga and Beyonc

Written by Ashanka Kumari and posted in The Journal of Popular Culture in 2016, the article
You and I: Identity and the Performance of Self in Lady Gaga and Beyonc is a more sociological and
psychological analysis of performers and their use of alter egos/personalities to make statements about
society or themselves. They then utilize this concept and apply it to how we can use the same ideas to
change ourselves and the world. I believe the intended audience are young feminist adults that have an
interest in how pop culture can affect their cause.
Kumari decides to focus on Lady Gaga and Beyonc in their analysis of self-identity. These ladies
are feminists that like to test the bounds of typical gender roles. Several artists today provoke us to
think deeply about gender performance and its relation to naming practices, cultural identity, and
rhetorical constructsTheir regular exhibitions of female and sexual empowerment disrupt traditional
notions of femininity. (Kumari, 2016, p.403). The feminist movement is becoming stronger than ever.
The need for gender and sexual equality has always been a prevalent issue. The difference now is that
more powerful and influential women are speaking up and challenging traditional thinking and views,
which is ultimately assisting everyone that is part of the feminist movement.
Upon reading this article, I feel that Kumari had several different messages to portray. The first
message was that your name is what you make it to be. Though names often come tied with
expectations, it is up to us to choose what the names will mean, to create and substitute new names when
the old ones are not enough, and to not be limited by some pre-existing version of the self. (Kumari,
2016, p.414). You cannot let someone else decide what your name means. It is up to ourselves to
determine how we will use our names.
She later ties this to how we can use our names to showcase feminist ideas, but I feel that it
should have been asked in another way or in another paragraph. In trying to apply the use of alter egos

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and stage names, it can be hard for a normal person in society to do. Personally, I have stopped using
my nick name Niki with many of the people I associate with. When I was younger, everyone thought
Unique was outlandish and not acceptable to my family; thus someone came up with Niki. When I
was in high school I wanted to embrace my given name. I do not feel that it changed my personality, but
more of how others around me perceived me. Now, I get that daze of oh-god-here-is-the-black girl-withthe-crazy-name look when I introduce myself. I really do not mind because personally, I know the
background of my nickname and I prefer to not be reminded of it.
So when Kumari asked, How can we use the names we are given at birth to productively
showcase our feminist ideas? I was a little confused at first. (Kumari, 2016, p.414). I feel like this
question is very hard to answer for most of society and it would have been more appropriate to ask how
we can showcase our feminist views by restructuring the way society perceives our names when they are
said. The namer projects certain beliefs, ideals, and expectations onto the named, such as how the
names should perform his or her gender. (Kumari, 2016, p.404). A follow up could have spoken upon the
concepts she stated throughout the article about how performers, like Lady Gaga and Beyonc are using
self-identity changes to impact the world, which are in return changing the perception of their name. We
can apply that to ourselves by changing the description of the name we were given the beliefs, ideal,
and expectations from our elders.
The second message is that gender roles are subjective and can be done by anyone. Social norms
to not need to be concrete, someone has to break them in order to elicit change. On one hand you have
Beyonc, she is breaking social norms by proving that women can be sexual beings as well and it does
not denote your status in society, that women can carry on the family name as well (they use KnowlesCarter as the legal surname), and that one can embody several aspects of femininity and still be a
feminist. Then you have Lady Gaga, she challenges gender roles by having the alter ego Jo Calderone and
by using her performances to make statements about social issues.

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I feel that it was a very smart decisions to discuss Lady Gaga and Beyonc. They are both wellknown and break social norms for females, but they do it in completely different ways. This gives us a
great perspective on the many different ways that gender roles and identity can be viewed. Gender roles
are adaptable and I feel that we grow into them and develop our gender based on our own psychology,
family/ inner circle culture, and societys culture This is based on the nature vs. nurture theory. The
norms surrounded by a gender role are the behaviors, appearance, feelings, sexual identity, and place in
society that is considered to be acceptable for males and females.
A persons sex, sexual identity and gender identity all contribute to ones overall identity. Both
sexual identity and gender identity represent how a person feels about themselves- it is not biological like
their birth sex. This is important to remember because there can be all sorts of combinations of sex
(male/female), gender identity (masculine or feminine or in between), and sexual identity (gay/lesbian, bisexual, pan-sexual, a-sexual, straight, etc.). Your role in society is what you make it to be. Why should we
let a straight, white male have more say then a gay, black male? The basis of gender roles should not have
a total impact on ones entire impact on the world.
Honestly, although the article was easy to read and follow, it seemed like the article was kind of
going all over the place. The points were clear, but their connections were a little vague. I understood the
significance of branding yourself (self-identity) and how that can affect your gender role, but I feel like
the connection between naming and feminism was not prominent. It would take the reader to sit down and
really think about how branding/renaming can support your views as a feminist, hoping that the reader
was already a feminist. I was able to grasp it and follow along, but I believe this could have been broken
up in sections regarding the topics instead of being broken up into the Beyonc section and the Lady
Gaga section. I would have liked to be able to compare them side-by-side within the same paragraph.
This article seems like a more push in the right direction for more people to embrace their
feminist views. Anyone can rebrand themselves if they have the will to, which is why I thought that this
topic could have been an entirely separate article on its own, leaving the views on gender roles and

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feminism as another one. Surprisingly, she even touches on the fact that Beyonc is also breaking racial
norms, which is important to self-identity. I am not too sure if it helps support the gender roles message
though!
The topics in this article are very important. The fact that you are not who named you, but who
you want to be is something that I have never really put out in words before. It is interesting to see how
our names can impact the way society views us, especially in todays world as there is more diverse and
eclectic names being given. Young adults need to realize that it is up to them to make the much needed
changes in this world. It all starts with being who you feel you should be by breaking gender roles and
rebranding yourself to create your own self-identity.
I plan on incorporating the points on gender roles and self-identity with myself and my children
(when they are able to comprehend it!). Being a young black female, I have a lot of social norms to live
up to or break. I want to be the best role model for my girls that I can be by proving that I am the writer
my own story, no one else! Children are the future and it is up to us to provide the best positive,
influential, caring environment for them as possible.

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References
KUMARI, A. (2016). 'Yo and I': Identity and the Performance of Self in Lady Gaga and
Beyonc. Journal Of Popular Culture, 49(2), 403-416. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12405

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