Madonna Louise Ciccone was born on November 16th, 1958 to Silvio Ciccone and Madonna Fortin. She was born and raised in Bay City, Michigan. She is one of six siblings in her family and lost her mother at the age of five to breast cancer. Although growing up without her mother was very difficult, it inspired her to chase her own dreams. Her mother was extremely religious and practiced a strict Catholic faith. Madonna recalls nuns and priests in her home constantly growing up. Once she was older, she rebelled against the way her parents raised her and did whatever she pleased. She wore skimpy outfits, spoke openly about sex, and broke the standard for women during that time. She was a grade A student as a kid and received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan when she graduated high school. Instead of finishing college, she picked up after two years and moved to New York to pursue her career. After countless rejections from auditions, she performed in several bands and finally was signed to Sire Records as a solo artist. From that point forward, the world was her oyster and Madonna took it by storm.
At the time of Madonna's rising fame, it was a male-dominated industry. She worked harder than the rest to get her name out there. Her first number one hit was called "Everybody" and landed on the dance charts in the 80's. Once the success followed her first single, her record label allowed her to complete her first studio album labeled "Madonna". Suddenly, she was an icon to women all over the world. From her fashion, to the way she carried herself, women were inspired by her.
Madonna broke every standard of what it meant to be a woman in the 1980's. She completely changed the social norm and wanted to make women feel beautiful. She took enormous risks and received backlash for it her entire career. She was open about sex and her fantasies, which at the time, was sworn against. Women were not allowed to express themselves sexually without being considered less of a woman. She demanded to be treated equally as her male peers in the industry. She encouraged self-love and expression through her music while fighting slut-shaming at the same time. She broke the barrier for generations of artists to come.
Not only does she express herself through her music and videos, but also attends marches for women's rights and delivers speeches on behalf of all women. She won Billboard's Woman of the Year Award in 2016. The speech she composed for the awards show is personally my favorite and I will attach the link below.
(2019, August 14). Madonna. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/musician/madonna
(2019, February 19). Keerti. Retrieved from https://ohfact.com/madonna-facts/
NowThis News. (2018, August 16). Madonna Has Been A Pop Icon And Women's Rights Activist For Decades. Retrieved from https://nowthisnews.com/videos/her/madonna-has-been-a-pop-icon-and-womens-rights-activist-for-decades
Cain, M. (2018, July 27). Eight ways Madonna changed the world, from exploring female sexuality to inventing reality TV. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/eight-ways-madonna-changed-world-exploring-female-sexuality/
Pop Icon and Woman Activist
I think your choice of studying Madonna's feminism was so interesting. It's hard to believe that as the icon she is today, someone like her would be rejected several times over in the beginning - maybe that's part what makes her so strong and easy to love. I think the Youtube link you posted especially emphasizes how relatable and humble she is and just how strong a woman she is too. Many, many women go through hardships and are sexual assaulted and harmed and to have a woman like Madonna stand up and say "it's okay, it's a lesson, it makes us stronger and more worthy" is incredible.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that Madonna chose to take a chance of fulfilling her goals even though she went through so many problems while doing it. It is not easy having to fend for yourself in NY and to be sexually assaulted in the process. Yet, the one thing that I love about Madonna is that she has always stayed true to herself and has never allowed anyone to make her feel disgusted or regretful about the content she has put out. She is definitely an inspiration for many women and her music and trendsetting appearance will always be remembered.
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose Madonna because there is not a lot I know about her or even hear about her. To me she was an icon but I did not know what for. I love the fact that she is active in women's rights movements. I love the fact that as a young women in her time she rebuilt women imagery. A spicy loving rebel paving the way for freedom for women.
ReplyDeletePretty interesting blog. I enjoyed reading how Madonna tore down the stigma of talking about sex and sex fantasies as a woman, especially at a time of a "following family traditions" was the "right" thing to do. On top of that, she attacked this issue at such a time where "slut-shaming" was such an open thing to diminish a woman of being "less of a lady." Very real blog post.
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