Formation - like a number of other female led contemporary music videos - constructs a version of femininity that van Zoonen would argue reinforces patriarchal ideologies.

Scenes within the video clearly objectify Beyonce through the use of explicit costuming and sexually provocative dance routines. Conversely, other moments depict Beyonce in a more passive and innocent manner - demure fourth wall breaks with innocent white costuming are followed by sequences that feature Beyonce’s daughter in a way that reinforces traditional female stereotypes of motherhood.

This contrary depiction of Beyonce as both a madonna and whore figure invites the male gaze. Beyonce is eroticised yet also pressed into a submissive set of patriarchally aligned representations that reduces women to an inferior social status.