53 Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour as a Social Liberation for Marginalized Publics
Shamiso Tambudze
Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour commemorates the social impact of embracing blackness, queerness, freedom of creative expression and authenticity. Analyzing fan activity through a distinct lens allows us to thoroughly understand the social impact this cultural phenomenon may have. After a 7-year solo tour hiatus with minimal fan interactions during her break, Beyonce managed to maintain an emotionally invested and loyal fan base.
The loyal fan base that led to her breaking the record as the highest-grossing tour by a female act. Live Nation concluded “the superstar’s global trek earned more than $579 million worldwide, with 2.7 million fans attending across 56 dates in 39 cities.” (Horowitz, 2023) The tour undoubtedly celebrates not only queer culture but specifically black queer culture. As intersectionality is a growing global understanding, intersectionality profoundly challenges the nature of hegemonic fandoms.
It is important to recognize the audience activity I’m intentionally obtaining a concise focus on, is only a small indicator of a wider phenomenon. With a fan base such as the B-Hive, there are different sectors of fan activity available on a variety of digital platforms. Although Beyonce isn’t as active on X (previously known as Twitter), her most active and longstanding fan audience is prominent on the digital platform. X offers insightful records of fans’ streams of consciousness regarding their ever-changing opinions on the tour. (Horowitz, 2023) enlists the Parkwood Entertainment produced tour “as a cultural phenomenon, with attendees dressed in their finest silver outfits meticulously documenting every stop on social media.
Our focus will primarily be on Beyonce’s active participatory fans the Bey-hive, with an account of anti-fans. The exchange between the Bey-Hive and anti-fans enforces the concept of fractured fandoms. This cultural phenomenon carries an interesting perspective on how an artist who continuously curates’ art for their intended fandom, inevitably creates a well-positioned loyal fan base. The thin line between admiration and obsession is a growing understanding in media audience studies. Music fandoms provide a unique perspective to the study of fandoms as it is “highly active through fans sharing their passion for artists’ brands both online and offline.” (Obeigu, 2019, p. 468) The growth of affective investment grows based on the subjective art with minimal objective notions. Whether it’s the artists themselves or the art. Looking intensely into the parasocial relationship between Beyonce and the B-Hive reveals the parallels between celebrity and consumer fandoms. The Renaissance tour is a cultural phenomenon which brought social change in celebrating and advocating for counterpublics such as the ballroom vogue community.
Renaissance Tour as a “Love Letter” to the Queer Community
The Bey-Hive just like many other music fandoms seek identity through the art and artist, longing for a sense of community. Besides the audience hoping for an entertaining experience, the reasoning behind some fans attending may arguably be because of the desire for a safe space. There are major themes within the tour that go beyond hegemonic fandoms and structures. Beyonce intentionally praises queer culture by incorporating ballroom/ vogue dance featuring her openly queer dancers. The implication of diva culture is prominent through the lyrics, fashion choices, choreography and stage production within the tour. Diva culture directly celebrates and pays tribute to the LGBTQ+ community. (Farmer, 2005) states “female star adoration or, as it is commonly known in queer contexts, ‘diva worship’ has been a vital staple of gay male cultural production where it has sustained a spectacularly diverse array of insistently queer pleasures” (Farmer, 2005 p. 169 as cited in Wasserbauer, 2016, ). The societal notion of femininity being limited to cisgender, heterosexual women was rightfully opposed during the Renaissance tour.
Celebrities using their platforms to publicly express their viewpoints fast tracks the process of affective sensibility. It is reasonable to infer majority of fans who invested and engaged with the tour, aligned with the social values Beyonce expressed in her art. The contextual message being pushed out in Renaissance is the support of creative expression surrounding counterpublics and subcultures that have been systematically opposed. The cultural phenomenon not only attracted members of the LGBTQ+ and black community but also their allies. Fans all over started incorporating language inspired by vogue ballroom culture. Beyonce fan page (Arth, 2023) called Beyonce “mother of the house of Renaissance” on Twitter. The tweet accompanied a video of Beyonce on stage dancing to her song Pure/Honey. The song is infused with ballroom, vogue and house influences sampled from vocals of ballroom legend Kevin JZ Prodigy.
Limited space for the allowance of homophobia was present even through the production of the tour arena venues. (Prance, 2023) stated that during the first tour date in Stockholm, Sweden, “people realized Beyonce and her team made steps to ensure that the stadium was more welcoming for non-binary and gender-conforming fans” The decision to incorporate gender-neutral restrooms at all her stadium tour stops contributes to how fans perceive Beyonce not only as an artist but also as a brand. This conscious act of hospitality adds depth to the parasocial relationship between Beyonce and her fans. Although the B-Hive does not personally know Beyonce, her actions give off the sense that she cares about her queer fans to the extent of making sure they feel comfortable. Each public decision celebrities make that affect their fans in any way holds an intense affective measure. Every action is magnified and carries impact.
Bey-Hive Interacting with Anti-Fans
Unsurprisingly, this non-vocal statement brought a great amount of discourse to the public sphere. Although many praised Beyonce for incorporating gender-neutral restrooms, some users opposed it. X user (Pasha, 2023) tweeted “Imagine being a real woman going to enjoy a Beyonce show and here comes a weirdo man in your bathroom sexually harassing you. “This tweet alone portrays a glimpse into transphobia present in the affective public, regarding the tour. On this account, celebrities as a brand need to be discernible and established in their cultural values. This practice may lead to parasocial breakups but may also aid in filtering out fans who don’t identify with celebrities and their fandom’s values.
The presence of anti-fans is unavoidable in celebrity fandoms and may grow the more a celebrity is open with their opinions. The Bey-Hive has an infamous reputation for shutting down any “negative” discourse surrounding the artist. They’ve devoted a serious amount of loyalty to Beyonce and take insults to Beyonce as an insult to the entire community. This outwardly represents the pillar of loyalty within celebrity fandoms. Being an occasional fan of Beyonce seemingly experiences a difference in intensity and commitment compared to a Bey-Hive member. The concept of celebrity loyalty in fandoms is multidimensional and everchanging but generally revolves around high level of engagement. (Obiegu 2019) Social media platforms have been an arena for fans to publicly express their subjective stance as a fan.
Celebrity fandom members do not have an objective and forced obligation. (Kei, 2023) tweeted “the bathrooms are usually treated like gender neutral anyway. But Beyonce making a point to recognize what’s currently going on and do this is big. Imma always be a fan of her” . Our main focus is not anti-fans within the analysis. These two examples of discourse illustrate common instances of Bey-Hive members collectively expressing loyalty not only to Beyonce but also the fandom values. As a community, Bey-Hive embodies the concept of participatory culture going beyond consumption.
Beyhive Through Lens of Civic Participation
The Renaissance Tour centred not only diversity through gender identity and but also openly intersected with racial notions. Beyonce continuously uses her platform to uplift marginalized voices even as a marginalized person herself. The artist has secured herself as an inspiration for the black community to challenge hegemonic structures. (Martin Jr., 2019) states, that black fandoms come together not only because of the love for the fan object but because of the hunger for visibility. The multidimensional nature of fandoms continued to show itself as the Bey-Hive became an intersection of celebrity fandoms and civic participation. Artists incorporating a variety of representations in live music shows contribute to the type of affective experience fans may have.
Ballroom legend and commentator, Kevin JZ Prodigy was called the “heartbeat” of her world tour. Their vocals embodied queerness incorporating both feminine and masculine energies, with fierce adlibs. He’s gained so much respect and recognition within the black queer community as he first started his craft in 1997. (Haile 2023).Beyonce’s tour not only brought him more global exposure but the ballroom culture as an entirety. (Jason, 2023) tweeted “The Renaissance tour is based queer black American culture. I love seeing us be celebrated. I loved seeing Kevin JZ Prodigy getting their flowers”
Challenging the societal boundaries of expression placed on black people is a recurring theme within the Renaissance tour. Black fans can be universal and shouldn’t have to fit into categories just to be truly seen, not just perceived. There is a desire for visibility not only for fandoms rooted in blackness but also for fandoms rooted in both blackness and queerness. (Martin Jr., 2019) also expresses how black fandoms embody a form of activism that fights for (political) visibility by using cultural industries.
Both homophobia and racial discrimination have left minimal safe spaces for queer black people to express themselves, even in the modern day. The tragic murder of O’Shea Sibley can attest to this claim. On July 29th 2023, O’Shay Sibley was stabbed to death at a Brooklyn gas station while voguing with his friends to the Renaissance album. It was reported the murder suspect repeated homophobic and racial slurs to demand Sibley and his friends to stop dancing. (Alfonseca, Proto, 2023). The expression of queer joy should never lead to death or violence in any way. This murder is one of many examples of why a cultural experience such as the Renaissance tour is necessary. Not only did it act as a safe space but also a space to educate and inform through exposure. The ballroom culture started underground in New York City decades ago and has now reached people globally even in countries that are not culturally accepting of the LGBTQ+ community because of this tour. After the Landover, Maryland show, fan (Natacia, 2023) tweeted “Thinking of #OshaySibley today. Last night’s Beyonce concert and the Renaissance tour as a whole is a love letter to black queer joy and I feel heartbroken that this world is still so unsafe for a community so vibrant. We deserve to be here. O’Shae should be here.” O’Shae Sibley’s story started trending on X as memorials broke out in New York City to honour his legacy.
The New York City queer community mourned and celebrated his life through doing what he loved most, voguing. Local trans activist Qween Jean reassured “the demonstrations “weren’t a party. It was a revolution, in the way that we do it- voguing.” (Alfonseca, Proto, 2023). Voguing continues to be a form of political resistance while simultaneously bringing creative freedom. The queer community is motivated by the civic imagination of one day, all queer people being safe and never being targeted in a society. Beyonce heard word of this tragedy and paid tribute to him on her Renaissance tour website. Instead of operating in fear, the queer community in Beyonce’s fandom openly continued to be more expressive. Bey-Hive within Participatory Culture
On the other end of the continuum regarding Renaissance’s participatory fans, the B-Hive solidified themselves as avid contributors to affective economics. They contributed to the affective economy in a more positive affirmative stature. Each purchase related to the tour came from emotionally driven decisions. Some fans expressed their FOMO (fear of missing out) as discourse spiralled surrounding anticipation of the tour. Other than anticipation, fans felt a sense of identification and connection with Beyonce and her music. During the digital era, consumer-fans have gained an understanding of the important role they play rather than just being positioned as passive recipients. (Obeigu, 2019 p. 464) In this context, the concepts of ‘consumers’ and ‘fans’ can be used interchangeably. Yes. The B-Hive are certainly fans of Beyonce but they’re also consumers of businesses profiting off the tour. Ranging from major corporations sponsoring the tour to a small business on Etsy selling hand-made Renaissance-themed accessories to wear to the concert.
Through affective sensibility, fans may also realize how important it is to consider which fandoms they invest in and identify with. Consumer loyalties are critical in the measure of financial and social success the tour may endure. It is now widely accepted that consumers are active and affective subjects who negotiate and transform market-mediated meanings in pursuit of identity” (Obeigu, 2019, p. 464). Music fandoms withstand an interesting stance when intersecting consumerism. Brands have outwardly understood that fans within the industry have the power to control the narrative to a higher degree due to the rise of digital fan engagement. Hence why cancel culture has recently shifted the trajectory of celebrity culture. Celebrities with larger fan bases tend to be more cautious about the information and engagement fans are allowed to receive. Beyonce has a notorious reputation for being extremely private which pushes her fan base to grasp onto any opportunity of interaction with the artist. This may have been a large factor as to why fans were willing to invest substantial amounts of funds in the tour. The public image and appeal of celebrities have the power to position the financial measure of celebrity engagement. When there is a visible stance of authenticity and being true to oneself from a celebrity it works in their favour, building meaningful relationships with fans.(Ilicic, 2016, p. 412) As music is an affective and subjective cultural phenomenon, authenticity is a necessity for success. Fans may have already received a preview of authenticity through listening to the album and witnessing the longevity of Beyonce’s career.
As the Renaissance album highlights inner confidence, trueness to oneself and freedom, it’s no surprise fans took this message and showcased it at the concert. (Illcic, 2016) states that consumers of celebrity brands absorb celebrity images and identify personal, social, and cultural meaning in these idols.” (p. 410) As Beyonce’s celebrity brand is visibly inspired with fashion, it became a focal point for creative expression for the audience. Fans stepped out in daring outfits and arenas became fashion shows. Similar to the Renaissance tour, the ballroom vogue fashion scene is consistent with elements of eccentricity, maximalism and runway. Beyonce made an interesting request as she asked fans to wear silver to all her shows for all of Virgo season (August 23rd – September 22nd) as her birthday present. (Getahun, 2023) The phenomenon of participatory culture was evident through this shared affective experience. Hundreds of thousands of fans immediately scrambled to pull off last-minute outfit changes. Some were a bit frustrated but refused to stay off the asked theme and made it work. The birthday wish to stay on theme for “the house of chrome” during her birthday season sparked a lot of discourse on X. Although some fans were a bit frustrated, many found humour in the chaos concertgoers without silver outfits expressed. (Keisha, 2023) tweeted, “Imagine having your outfit planned and Beyonce say scratch that.” As fans scavenged for where to buy silver outfits, many turned to buying from smaller businesses as they were prone to creating more unique and affordable pieces. Some fans even revolted to designing and creating their own outfits. Bey-hive member and popular travel influencer Poala Travell, took the creative DIY route. Spending $3,000 on the material to handmake a corset, pear dress and hat herself. Travell took a total of 30 hours to create over the span of one week which cost her an immense loss of sleep. (Starks, 2023). Travell represents a highly participative fan within the affective public. Understanding what truly makes participatory culture participatory. Travell fits within the position of fandoms rooted in higher affective labour. The Renaissance tour is a hub for fans to contextualize their identity both within and outside the fandom.
The Bey-Hive as Produsers
This inner desire sets a pathway for staying active and up-to-date with fan activities. Especially in the era of digital media, it is now easier than ever to stay consistent with fan practices and discourse. There were countless fan accounts on media platforms such as X, Instagram and TikTok that live broadcasted the concert for fans unable to attend the tour. Considering tickets to sit in the Pure/ Honey section valued at $4,000 and resold at $8,000, live streams gave a sense of accessibility to those unable to afford tickets. (Durrani, 2023). In the context of participatory culture in digital media, (Bennet, 2012) states:
“Even though they are not physically there and are in different time zones, fans are gathering to share their opinions and knowledge and the excitement surrounding this specific event, in such a way that they not only feel part of the “live” music experience, but also create their own.” (p. 548- 549)
Technology advances have helped bring a difference sense of connectivity between fandoms and digital networks have reconstructed the way participatory culture operates. (Booth 2018)
Clips of the tour performances continued to gain traction as the tour progressed. The affective public surrounding Renaissance adhered to the change in technological advances has transformed fandom. Before social media, live performances used to have exclusivity to fans physically present, with images and videos posted after the performance. Now live performances can be experienced live digitally anywhere around the world, bringing an interconnectivity to fandoms globally.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Renaissance tour was a cultural phenomenon that advocated for societal change. The tour opened the frame of celebrity fandoms intersecting with civic participation culture. As the culture of the tour is rooted in the celebration of identity-based counterpublics, this strengthens the affective nature and intensity of participatory activities. Fans are more involved when they feel a personal connection with the art even when they don’t necessarily relate to the context of it. This was proven through the diverse crowds showing up at each Renaissance. Although this tour was seemingly a celebration of queer culture, the Renaissance evidently inspired self-expression and collective consciousness. The tour inspired self-liberation while focusing on the importance of a collective. People from all walks of life showed up to each Renaissance show up and gained exposure to the culture of certain counter publics such as the queer black community. Authenticity was seen to prevail in terms of Beyonce’s celebrity brand image. The notion of fans as contributors rather than passive participants is primary in this cultural phenomenon.
References
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Non-Academic Sources
Alfonseca, K., & Proto, D. (2023, August 10). O’Shea Sibley was killed after expressing queer joy by voguing, activists say. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/oshea-sibley-killed-after-expressing-queer-joy-voguing/story?id=102129251
Durrani, T. (2023, July 14). Beyoncé and me: How I ended up on stage with Queen Bey herself. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-beyonce-renaissance-ticket-upgrade-vip/
Getahun, H. (2023, September 4). Beyonce asked fans to come to her Virgo season concerts decked out in silver and chrome. here’s how they pulled off their last-minute outfit changes. Insider. https://www.insider.com/why-are-beyonce-fans-wearing-silver-chrome-outfits-renaissance-tour-2023-9
Starks, K. (2023, September 8). Beyhive budget: How much L.A. fans spent on outfits for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. Annenberg Media. https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2023/09/08/beyhive-budget-how-much-la-fans-spent-on-outfits-for-beyonces-renaissance-tour/
Haile, H. (2023, September 7). Meet the ballroom legend who became the MVP of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/beyonce-renaissance-world-tour-kevin-jz-prodigy-interview
Horowitz, S. J. (2023, October 3). Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour earns $579 million. Variety. https://variety.com/2023/music/news/beyonces-renaissance-world-tour-revenue-1235743490/
Prance, S. (2023, May 11). Beyoncé praised for gender neutral toilets at the Renaissance World Tour. PopBuzz. https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/beyonce/news/renaissance-tour-gender-neutral-restrooms/
Audience Activity (X App)
Artth [@arthfobic]. (2023, June 11). Mother of the house of renaissance BEYONCE. [Tweet]. X
mother of the house of renaissance BEYONCÉ pic.twitter.com/wmWoojV5Nw
— ᴀʀᴛʜ (@arthfobic) June 11, 2023
Jason [@EmperorTChalla]. (2023, July 14). The Renaissance tour is based in Queer Black american culture. I love seeing us be celebrated. [Tweet]. X
The renaissance tour is based in Queer Black american culture. I love seeing us be celebrated. I loved seeing Kevin JZ Prodigy getting their flowers.
— Jason (U mad) (@EmperorTChalla) July 14, 2023
Keisha [@glamazonjay]. (2023, August 23). Imagine having your outfit planned and Beyonce say scratch that. [Tweet]. X.
Imagine having your outfit planned and Beyoncé say scratch that. https://t.co/HGKYjQlAMQ
— ✨Kei$ha✨ (@GlamazonJay) August 23, 2023
Kei [@fruitibaggins]. (2023, May 11). The bathrooms are usually treated like they’re gender neutral anyway. But Beyonce making a point to recognize what’s currently going on. [Tweet]. X.
anyone making an issue of this hasn't gone to concerts. the bathrooms are usually treated like they're gender neutral anyway. but beyoncé making a point to recognize what's currently going on and do this is big! imma always be a fan of hers🏽
— m'kei (@halfshikamaru) May 11, 2023
Natacia [@nknapper]. (2023, August 6). Thinking of #OshaeSibley today. Last night’s Beyonce concert and the Renaissance tour as a whole is a love letter. [Tweet]. X.
Thinking of #OshaeSibley today. Last night’s Beyonce concert and the Renaissance tour as a whole is a love letter to Black queer joy and I feel heartbroken that this world is still so unsafe for a community so vibrant. We deserve to be here. O’Shae should be here.
— Natacia // Acolyte Era (@nknapper) August 6, 2023
Pasha [@bykepasha]. (2023, May 21). Imagine being a real woman going to enjoy a Beyonce show. [Tweet[. X
https://twitter.com/BykePasha/status/1660487942341550080