Madonna

In this section, I'm going to speak about Madonna's style and her capacity to be totally chameleonic through the years. I'll compare her previous works and fame to the current ones and say how she has managed to be famous and to maintain her fame.

Why have I chosen Madonna? She has always been a controversial and an important character in pop music's world. She started her career with an air of pioneer, she knew from the very beginning how to make people notice her, she was sure of manipulating what critic Laura Mulvey called the Male Gaze. According to Mulvey's definition we're talking about the Male Gaze when the image of a woman is destined to be seen from the perspective of the -heterosexual- male as object and sexual object or ornament rather than as subjects.

On the one hand, I think that Madonna has manage to subvert the male gaze through the years. Just taking a look at one or two of her works, we're able to see how she manages to catch the complete attention of the viewer. She normally wears suggestive or provocative clothes and she clearly uses her "femininity", or rather sexuality, to attract the attention of the male gaze.

She does this continuously, willingly and blatantly. However, at the same time she takes advantage of her position. She is not only the object of the male gaze but also the subject because it is her who directs the gaze and she is the one that tells the male where and how to look at her. Moreover, she gets a high benefit from all of this, she gets the sales. Moreover, in her videos, lyrics or even in her images she is not the passive object of desire but she is active and she is clearly the one in command, all the males usually look up to her. She knows that everyone looks at her as an object of desire and sexual pleasure, but in spite of that, she's the subject and who decides her sexuality.

On the other hand, maybe what she does is a bit dangerous because, in the end, she continuous to appear as sexual object of desire, and she's just being seen from the male gaze, without having a decision on it. So, it doesn't matter if she imposes the conditions, she's still an object, not a subject.

The male gaze hasn't changed, but the way that people values it, yes.

Nowadays we can see how the media uses the desire of men for women's sexuality, particularly the TV and the advertisement industry, constantly attract the male gaze by showing women as sexual objects. Women and young girls want to be like the model of woman that the TV shows show, and the male population likes this way to see the woman, they 'fall in love' with that prototype because it's more sensual, suggestive, and hence, beautiful and attractive.

What the media have done, in fact, is not to give power to women but to turn their over sexualized bodies into something very common and ordinary, and we're using to it because we see everyday in the media how women are being sexualized. In my opinion, Madonna has tried to change this. She may not change the way male look at women but she changes the way women look at men. She manipulates not only the male's desires but uses also the tools of pop culture. She has reinvented herself through the years to follow the trends of pop culture and to keep selling albums, always satisfying the customer but never losing command.

We could say that she was a pioneer from the very beginning. She looked rebel and suggestive since her first single's music video "Everybody", where she dances and in one part, she almost whispers the lyrics and looks sensually to the camera.

Furthermore, she was a pioneer in the musical sense too. She introduced electronic elements in the background of the songs to create a sensation of innovation.

She also looks like an independent and liberated woman because even when she 'is' a sexual object, she does whatever she wants. I think that Madonna gives the image of a powerful, famous and decided woman who has conquered the pop's trends and the music's world with her strategies.

Sometimes we can see her as a transgressor; she has never taken care of the rules. She invented and adapted herself from the very beginning, she's chameleon, as we can see in the pictures below.

I can say that she's chameleon because she has been adapting all the time to what the customer asked of her and wanted, following the trends and changing everything related with her works because of them. She has changed her appearance, her style, and her works' sound.

This has a positive and a negative side though.

On the positive, I think that we, the women, are more liberated. I mean, nowadays a woman can express her sexual desire without being criticized as a harlot. We're a little bit freer and so our thoughts are too. Take Shakira as an example of that, because with the song "She Wolf" she's talking about the woman's desire liberation and about the liberation of the woman itself as a subject with the rights to feel sexual desire.

On the negative side, obviously they earn more money by the exploitation of their sexuality, but all these changes in the way that the media present the female artists' works have caused society not to think about it as a bad thing for the women. Male chauvinism still exists, and the women are the victims of it.

I'm going to put here some pictures of her through her career to see the progress that she's done and how she has adapted herself to the times.

All the images that I'm going to put here have been chosen from random years until nowadays, to make us able to see her changes and how she uses her sexuality to attract the male's gaze.

First period (1980-1989):

(Madonna in 1983, Photo Series by Deborah Feingold.)

(Madonna Photographed by Francesco Scavullo for Harper's Bazaar magazine)

I've chosen these four images because they project the two principal characteristics of the 80's Madonna. One year after the first picture above, 1984, Madonna released "Like a Virgin" and reached fame by selling a quantity of 26 millions of albums worldwide. It was one of the best periods of her career. She was 26 at the time.

On one hand, we can see clearly her rebel's aspect. First, because of her disregarded look and her crosses' earrings, a Christianity's symbol. In the first image she looks both innocent and sensual. She is eating a lollipop and wearing the cross on her ears. This is clearly a provocation, because the Christian symbol contrasts with the lollipop as phallic symbol. Her eyes suggest she knows what she is doing but her youth suggests innocence. In the third photo, Madonna looks like a model for a fashion magazine but the low V neck suggests her breasts and the way she pushes her dress up suggest something a bit more sexual than a common advertisement for a fashion magazine. In the last picture, Madonna puts together a clever combination of styles and women's clichés. First, her dress resembles the dress of Playboy bunny girls but its color, her make up -very small and red lips- and her hair style suggest a much older look, almost imitating the cinema divas of the 20's. Finally, her leggings and her boots are clearly eighties. The combination looks quite new and challenging.

In 1988's photos, we can see a feminine Madonna, who doesn't have a muscular body and who wears a dress that sticks out her body curves. Despite the more feminine appearance, there are always elements which indicate a more masculine or maverick touch, as the black boots indicate. Madonna created a revolution in pop music; it was one of the first times that a woman used her sexuality so obviously in pop music and called the male's attraction without any kind of disguise.

Second Period (1990-1999):

(Madonna during her Blond Ambition Tour in 1990)

(Left: Photographed by Steven Meisel for Rolling Stone-magazine, in 1991. Right: At the Golden Globe Awards in 1997)

The essential point in this part of her career is the change from adolescence to maturity. In her previous stage, one could thing that Madonna was just playing and not knowing exactly what she did. In this stage, Madonna knows very well what she is doing.

In her Blond Ambition Tour's photos we can see Madonna wearing Paul Gaultier famous top, specially made for her. The corset, particularly the cup shape part, clearly show women's lines. Traditionally, the corset was a sign of femininity but also of oppression because women could barely breathe when they wore corsets. However, here we see a Madonna wearing a very tight corset but clearly being a very liberated woman. Oppression is absent.

On the second picture, she has a Marilyn look and, again, she goes back in time to recall an age of sensuality. Her dress and her tights also remind of an older age, the can-can women of Western saloons. Yet, a bit to the left we can see the naked torso of a man, something quite unusual when the woman is the object of the gaze. It is clear that Madonna is giving a message, "Hey girls, let's be objects of desire if we choose to but look at that man, he is your object of desire."

Madonna's make up is also another sigh. Her lips are very marked and a strong red, symbol of female sensuality.

We have to notice the shoes too. She started using shoes with heels, something that always makes a woman look bossier, powerful, more confident but sexier too. It is known that high heels are a fetishistic* and sexual symbol.

I have to emphasize how she's always challenging and/or suggesting with her sight or her body's position. In the photo taken by Steven Meisel, Madonna is again looking back in time. Her hair style and her cabaret position suggest the happy 20's. On the other hand, we can tell that she's naked behind the chair, and that joint with her expression, converts her in a sexual object, besides, she wants to be the sexual object that the viewer will see. In a way, this picture also remind us of those secret pornographic cards in the time of our great-great parents for this kind of nudity was absolutely censored. She's a big promoter of herself and posing like this upgrades her sales.

Finally, on the last picture we can still see another change in her look. Here she looks as thousand other actresses or singers at the moment of receiving a prize. She does not look too sexy or too challenging, except for her breast clearly showing above her dress.

In 1998, she released "Ray of Light", which sold 25 millions of copies worldwide.

Third period (2000-2009):

(Left: Madonna in the Grammy Awards in 2001. Right: American Life promotional photos by Craig McDean in 2003)

(During her Hard Candy promotion tour in French in 2008)

By the 2000s, Madonna has become more masculine, as we can see at the 2001's photos. She stopped wearing dresses at her performances just to adapt herself to the trend. She adopted a more athlete appearance because of the change in the woman's canon but also because she wants to give the message that, despite her older age, she is in absolute command and her sales can still go up.

Nowadays, the kind of women that most appear in the advertisement, TV or movies, the most searched image is the image of a thin young girl, usually with soft features but with big breast, thin waist, not too much hips and very long and shapy legs. Madonna does not keep faithful to this image. First, she is not a teenager any more so she has adapted the look. Second, she is thin but very muscular, which she manages by doing a lot of physical exercise. Together with her dancer's condition, this makes her look more muscled and, hence, masculine. She prefers the muscle rather than the sensuality of the feminine curve. She has not made her breasts or her lips bigger.

Yet, as most of famous actresses and singers nowadays, she has resorted to Botox -as well as the make-up- to look younger and nicer than before. This could be a problem in the future because what Botox does is to doss the muscles of the face to avoid the wrinkles to appear. With time, if she continues using it, her face will lose the expression.

She also has resumed her rebel's touch; she uses gloves constantly and masculine shoes with heels, converting her in a woman who has the power because the male's character has always had the power.

Despite that new appearance, she's still using the male gaze as a selling weapon. She attracts the attention of everyone, men and women, doing controversial sexual things, as we can see in the photo of her Hard Candy promotion tour, where she kissed a background's dancer. That wasn't the first time; she also kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in the Video Music Awards in 2003, in a performance that was clearly all about sex and domination, and where Madonna had the dominance all the time.

Summarizing, we can say that at the beginning, Madonna used an appearance adjusted to the trends which searched for a woman that had to be feminine and sexual. Over the years, she has adapted her body to the trends, becoming feminine in a different way -the way that nowadays is-, but she has also become more controversial and sexual in her performances to keep the eyes of everyone on her, keep selling albums and keep being as famous as before.

As the music changes, she adapts her music and style to what the customer wants. This century, music's sound is more electronic and less natural, with computers, the recording companies changes almost all the voice of the singer and it gets a totally different pitch or sound.

The topics of the lyrics change too. We're always hearing more sexual or suggestive songs. Madonna uses this. Normally, almost all of her lyrics had a meaning, now she just sings to sell, not to express an idea or an ideal, so her lyrics aren't interesting. People buy the rhythm.

Let's see this with an example:

Lucky Star lyrics:

You must be my Lucky Star
'Cause you make the darkness seem so far
And when I'm lost you'll be my guide
I just turn around and you're by my side

[chorus]

Come on shine your heavenly body tonight
'Cause I know you're gonna make everything all right

You may be my lucky star
But I'm the luckiest by far

In this song she's talking about someone important for her. She's singing about love and how lucky she is for having such an important person in her life. This song is from her first debut album "Madonna" in 1983.

Like a Prayer lyrics:

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home

When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there

I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes, Oh God I think I'm falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me

I see two readings here. First, I think that she's talking about someone that's very important for her, that's why she says that when he says her name it feels like home, something very charming. I could say that she's talking about God too, first because at the beginning of the song Madonna names it, and because she also says that she can feel its power.

This song was released in 1989, in her "Like a Prayer"'s album.

Erotica lyrics:

Give it up, do as I say
Give it up and let me have my way
I'll give you love, I'll hit you like a truck
I'll give you love, I'll teach you how to…

I'd like to put you in a trance, all over
Erotic, erotic, put your hands all over my body [repeat twice]
Erotic, erotic

Erotica, romance
I'd like to put you in a trance
Erotica, romance
Put your hands all over my body

Here, she's clearly the boss character, where she does whatever she wants and however she wants it. She's talking about domination and obviously about sex. If we see the video we will see a sexual Madonna in a lot of different sceneries and with different -male or even female- persons. This song was released in her album "Erotica" in 1992.

Now let's see a current song:

Celebration lyrics:

[…]Put your arms around me

When it gets too hot we can go outside

But for now just come here, let me whisper in your ear

An invitation to the dance tonight

Come join the party, it's a celebration

Anybody just won't do

Let's get this started, no more hesitation

'Cause everybody wants to party with you

Haven't I seen you somewhere before?

You look familiar

You wanna' dance? Yeah.

I guess I just don't recognize you with your clothes on

What are you waiting for?

This song is talking about a party; it doesn't have a real meaning. Here we see the sexual context, when she says to the boy that she doesn't recognize him if he's not naked. This song is from her "Celebration" album, in 2009.

Her "Confessions on a Dancefloor"'s album sold a total of 15 millions of copies in 2005. Even when she's more famous than before, the quantity of sold have decrease and I think it's because the music's quality is in decadence.

We could say that her fame is based on her sexual image, her provocative songs, her ease to adapt herself to the trends, and her capacity to sell herself.

Madonna's one of the biggest influences in the pop music's world. She has contributed a lot of things about appearance, style, and ultimately in business' world benefits.

One of the things that she has contributed to the feminism world is the fact that, maybe, she gives the image of a woman that can express her sexual desire, and hence, the women that see her videos or hear her songs can too. She also has given the idea of a woman being strong, but with a strength that's different from men's. Men have always been the symbol of strength because they are muscular, brave, and who has always done the hardest work. Now, Madonna is suggesting that we can get whatever we want if we use our body's sensuality. Obviously, that's not correct, but it's a kind of power that we could use and, furthermore, as we have seen through her career, it's very effective.