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Wonder woman logo pop art12/11/2023 Perhaps Madonna’s biggest transgression of all is one that continues to unfold: getting older and not demurely disappearing, as older women in culture are typically commanded to do. The degree of control Madonna has exercised over her career says more about her slick opportunism and her ultra-thick skin than it does about women in pop more generally (Britney and Lady Gaga, both considered successors to Madonna, have been more palpably wounded by fame). As bell hooks argued, Madonna’s bold exhibition of her own sexuality always relied upon her being a white woman. Yet some of those working-class Black and Puerto Rican gay men touring with her felt used and discarded by her after the tour ended.ĭid Madonna break down barriers for women? Let’s not get carried away. When it comes to Madonna’s status as an LGBTQ+ icon, two things can be true at once: Truth or Dare, the first behind the scenes tour film of its kind, was groundbreaking for showing out gay men on screen, and she spoke about HIV and Aids when it was still controversial to do so. It was choreographed by Luis Camacho and Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, both plucked straight from New York’s underground ballroom scene. I dare anyone to watch the 1990 MTV Awards live performance of Vogue, in which Madonna and her dancers cavorted in costumes inspired by the court of Marie Antoinette, and not be gagged by how exciting it still seems in 2023. Post-Madonna, being a pop artist was not just about the songs: it was about fashion, video, photography, live tours and televised performances. Madonna revolutionised pop music by making it as much a visual experience as an aural one (a shift in the wider industry she both anticipated and expedited). Two years later, she donned hot pink again in the video for Hung Up, and her choice to wear a leotard and dance around on the floor of a ballet studio felt unusual and boundary-pushing for the then 47-year-old.Įqually provocative and chaotic … Madonna in 1984. In hindsight, the queer element to it all feels a bit tame, with the potential exploitation of the two feeling like the most concerning factor. I’m just old enough to remember the infamous Madonna-Britney VMAs kiss, and the tabloid furore that trailed on for months. My generation grew up with an incarnation of Madonna who presented an equally provocative and chaotic type of femininity. Or the pink satin gloves and dripping diamonds in the Marilyn Monroe-inspired video for Material Girl, a ballad that simultaneously mocked commercialism and gave a wink to the undeniable allure of sacking it all in to be a gold-digger who’s treated like a princess. Or three years later, when she wore a leather harness at Gaultier’s Aids fundraiser that revealed her completely bare breasts. Think of the 1989 Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra, which took the corset – a garment associated with feminine restriction and regression – and made it spiky and weapon-like. In the buildup to the chorus, someone inevitably mentions that “I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there” is actually double entendre – “ did you know?” The combination of sexuality, high drama, over-the-top costuming, character transformation and provocative femininity that Madonna has become known for across her long career has always resonated with queer communities. In the smokers’ area of a gay bar, it will be the solemn church organ of Like a Prayer that interrupts the conversation and makes your friends drag you back on to the dancefloor. Micha Frazer-Carroll, columnist, in her 20s She goes out there on stage and she’s only five years younger than our nanna! Good for her that she’s still got it! ‘Kissing Britney was tamer than dancing in a pink leotard’ Leila: Our friends have heard a few of her songs, but they’re not interested. Maya: If there’s anything we don’t like about her, it’s that she’s a bit too sexy. Leila: Her costumes are very cool and sexy. She’s always tipping her head back and running her arms across her face. Oh – that’s not Madonna? Whoops! Leila: We’ve not seen her live but we’ve seen her in videos. Maya: She’s always playing Holiday and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. But when she gets the chance, Madonna is all she will play. She doesn’t play her as much as she wants to because our little sister is always playing her own music. Leila: She’s too much of a Madonna superfan. ![]() My mum came in and said: “This is Madonna!” Maya: Our mum is a Madonna superfan. ![]() I thought it was … fine? Leila: I remember hearing Holiday at the end of the film Trolls Holiday. ![]() We were going on holiday so we were listening to the song Holiday. Maya: The first time I heard Madonna was in the car.
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