The Black Queer/Trans Femme Representation of Beyoncé’s Media Ventriloquisms and the National Voice

Abstract

This chapter historicizes the Black diva and the relationship forged between Beyoncé’s singing voice, audio technologies, and the nation. In particular, audiences might receive enhanced voice placed back upon the live performing body of a singer as a national offense until they consider the Black queer/trans femme tradition of gender (re)presentation. Fallout from Black, feminized divas across history who use audio technologies—Beyoncé’s 2013 “lip-synced” performance at President Barack Obama’s inauguration and Marian Anderson’s 1939 Lincoln Memorial outdoor concert—reveals the complexity of media ventriloquism alongside sexist, racist, transphobic, and femmephobic bias. Through debates commentators discussed the appropriateness of Beyoncé’s enhanced body as a gendered, femme icon—namely, why should the Black diva be limited to singing or appearing in a state of naturalness and not artifice? By tracing these debates, we may explore how national outrage persists surrounding the mediatized voice of Black women performers despite our current sensorium infused with media.