Although there are many reasons for which celebrities are well respected among communities, there are also reasons for which celebrities should be assessed in a critical light. In terms of charity work, celebrities’ offer some benefits for the world, however often times this “aid” is offered in a convoluted manner; benefitting the donor more than the recipient. Beyoncé, is a world renowned celebrity, who is recognized for her many talents such as singing and dancing, and is considered among her fans to be the “Queen.” She has a reputation of being a formidable woman who acts as a role model and empowers people worldwide. However, there are many aspects of Beyonce’s aid work career we can look at critically. The content on this page hopes to explore and critique Beyonce’s potential motivations of doing aid work, her money focused approach, and the stress private donors put on the government. 

     

      Much like corporate social responsibility, it seems that celebrities have become more and more involved in international affairs, which inadvertently benefits their own business. Providing such large sums of money as a donation is often publicized dramatically, thus increasing the reputation and credibility of the celebrity. This leads us to our first critique of Beyonce within development; the intention of celebrity aid work. It is important to recognize the benefits and status celebrity earn when they give to charity. For instance, Beyoncé has provided millions of dollars to a small church in her hometown “anonymously”, however many websites claim that she has provided this money from the kindness of her heart. The anonymity of the donation is compromised and thus media publicizes her kind acts, for which Beyoncé is able to gain more fans and therefore boost her reputation. In many ways the amount of respect a celebrity receives is based on how much he/she provides to the world, and it is in this way Beyoncé has been toying with the media for years. As a member of society, it is important to analyze the intentions of celebrity aid. If a celebrity is involving themselves in development for selfish reasons then what effect are they really having? 

 

      Often when celebrities get involved with aid work for selfish reasons, their contributions do not extend much past finances. It is important to realize that contributions of wealth do not always benefit the community. This is the basis of our second critique of private donors in development; are financial contributions really the key to fixing our issues? As a very capitalist society we assume that money is the key to everything. In relation to development, we assume the more money and funding that a cause is provided, the closer the issue is to being fixed. An example that illustrates the weakness of this idea is the issue of unequal status of women worldwide. While in some ways money may be helpful in aiding this problem and attracting attention to it, this is mostly a problem that needs fixing from the ground up, through laws in government and reconstructing our social formation. Issues like this are far too broad to be addressed with money as merely financial assistance lacks to acknowledge the deep roots of this issue within our society. Beyonce is certainly guilty of perpetuating the idea that money can solve all. For example, in the fall of 2014, Beyoncé donated 7 million dollars to the city of Houston, in order to eradicate homelessness in that particular city. Although the added wealth in the town was somewhat beneficial, it is a “spot-treatment” and does not benefit other issues in the town or the rest of the country. It is also a solution that is not sustainable throughout the years. INTRAC states, “Focusing on isolated problems rather than holistic development does not promote the level of social transformation needed to address the underlying causes of the problems that the foundation seeks to ‘fix’; such vertical or technocratic work merely address the symptoms." Non-Government Organizations, on the other hand, provide a much more hands on and socially focused approach. NGO’s attempt to find the root cause and thus understand the situations in a more accurate manner; taking into consideration culture, tradition, religion, social norms and overall expectations from the citizens of the country.