How Did Madonna Change Gender Stereotypes In Relation To Sexuality?

Madonna broke into the music industry in the 80’s, when it was dominated by males. She used her music and the power that came from her life as a celebrity to fight for equality for women. Madonna pushed boundaries and opened new territories in order to promote womens sexuality. She released controversial songs and music videos, which identified and discussed issues women could relate to about their sexuality and desires. The issues Madonna talked about had never been discussed in the media. Before Madonna women had been left on their own to figure them out. Madonna fought against societal norms in order to change the way women were allowed to express their sexuality. Women were not supposed to talk about their sexual desires, they were expected to be pure and to always act and dress feminine.

I interviewed my mother, Susan Michal about her experiences and opinion of Madonna while growing up and how she feels now about what Madonna did to change gender stereotypes in relation to sexuality. Susan was not a big fan of Madonna, but enjoyed listening to her music on the radio. Susan grew up with conservative parents, who were religious and not very understanding of people who did not fit in with societal norms. I chose to interview my mother because I was interested in her view as a female watching another female

act against societies norms in regards to womens sexuality.
Madonna helped women get to where they are today in terms of expressing their sexuality.

She did not care what people thought of her. A lot of people were uncomfortable with a women talking about sex, like Susan, who said, “I was taken a back by her, because of her sexuality and surprised that a women was talking about sex.” Madonna helped make this change by not caring about what people thought of her for not fitting in with societies expectations of a women. She helped change gender norms by allowing women the right to express themselves. By doing this she helped women be able to dress more provacatively, talk about their sexuality and sexual

desires.
It was interesting to learn about Susan’s feelings about Madonna back when Madonna was in her prime vs. how she feels now looking back at what Madonna was doing. Susan told me that, “at that point in my life, I was uncomfortable with people pushing societal norms. I was at the stage in my life where my parents still had a big influence on my views, but I was also trying to figure out how I felt on my own.” She understood what Madonna was doing and knew it was beneficial in the long term, but she felt very uncomfortable with a woman acting in ways that did not fit in with her gender expectations as a female.
One thing Susan brought up was how Madonna always dressed. She said, “I never knew what to expect to see her wearing and doing.” Madonna performed in the 1984 Music Video Awards, where she sang “Like a Virgin” and wore a wedding dress. This was extremely controversial. She was singing about sex, but wearing a white wedding dress, which symbolizes being pure and innocent. During her performance Madonna crawled around the stage in a suggestive way, which got people talking and set the stage for upcoming VMA performances. She set in place the “still-standing reputation as home to the most shocking moments ever seen on an awards show” ("MTV Video Music Awards | 1984"). During her performance, while rolling around on the floor Madonna’s dress hiked up and her legs and undergarments were visible for everyone to see, on television. This was a big deal at the time, but today would be considered normal, especially compared to today’s controversial performances by celebrities.
Susan compared Madonna to celebrities today. She said that she is greatful that Madonna helped make it socially acceptable for women to express themselves and their desires, but she is uncomfortable with the way celebrities act and dress today, “What happened to people just being artists and having talent?” Artists today have to do something crazy to be well known and everything in the music industry is focused on selling, they make songs that millions of people can relate to inorder for them to make more money. Susan understands the benefits of what Madonna has done, but because she was raised with the idea that women should not talk about their sexuality, she struggles with accepting it as normal.
Susan is not in touch with todays celebrities, but she is familiar with artists like Miley Cyrus and Beyonce because they are very popular in todays media. She brought up how it was not thought of as a big deal when Miley Cyrus was twerking on Robin Thick at the 2013 VMA performance, but Miley got a lot of attention for it and became even more popular. She also brought up how Beyonce dresses and how, “20 years ago it would have been controversial but now she is known for her talent because everyone dresses and dances that way.” Miley Cyrus and beyonce are very popular today and are both extremely sexual. They can thank Madonna for all she did in order for them to be able to act sexual and express their sexual desires.
Madonna was becoming more well known and was signed by Pepsi in 1989. She did a Pepsi commercial in which she sang, “Like a Prayer.” The song was released the day after the commercial aired. In the commercial she watches an 8-year-old version of herself dancing, but the music video was very different than the commercial. In the music video Madonna dances in front of burning crosses, which caused a lot of controversy with religious groups and lead to Pepsi’s decision to drop Madonna and her commercial. By Madonna’s choice to do her music video for “Like a Prayer” differently than the commercial, she proves to her audience that her beliefs and individuality are more important to her than money, which is very similar to what Susan said about artists focusing on their talent, rather than being famous outside of their talent and making a lot of money by making music that is relatable to everyone.
Madonna was not swayed by money, because she was passionate about changing society’s standards and expectations of women. She was fighting for the right for women to express their sexuality. She did not care what people thought about her, because she was focused on the future of women and their right to express themselves. Susan was raised in a world where women did not express their sexuality; there was no twerking, women did not dress provacatively and they did not talk about their sexual desires. Women today have a lot more freedom to express themselves and it is due in large part to Madonna.