A Black Jesus & a burning cross
1988: Raised by a Catholic father, Madonna has used iconography of that faith throughout her career. In the music video for Like a Prayer, the then 30-yearold performer enraged the Vatican by featuring a Black Jesus and burning crosses, mixing religious imagery with explicit sexual imagery. Pope John Paul II urged people to boycott the singer and her stage shows.
Britani says: “We still have shared cultural ideas of female representation and you can clearly see what these ideals are in how those of us identifying as female are shown in the media. But Madonna has always challenged this and used her sexuality to do so.”
Yoga mama
1998: Ray of Light was Madonna’s seventh studio album and she emerged with a very radical reinvention of her look and wardrobe. Regarded by many as her best album, it followed the birth of her first-born, Lourdes, and included a lullaby track, Little Star. Madonna went on to dabble in the Jewish Kabbalah religion.
Britani says: “The endless reinventions of both her look and her music have helped with her longevity. She has used them to keep her in the limelight and it has worked for her.” 1984: Madonna, then 26, put on a lace corset wedding dress, cinched in at the waist with a wide belt emblazoned with the words “Boy Toy” and performed on top of a 17ft wedding cake. On her way down from the cake she lost a stiletto, causing her to improvise and roll around on the floor, mimicking sex acts. Her skirt came up showing her garter and underwear on live TV. Her manager, Freddy Demann, was furious with her. Madonna said: “He said, ‘That’s it, you’ve ruined your career’ ... I didn’t even know that my butt was showing And since I didn’t really have a career yet, I didn’t feel that I had lost anything.” In fact, the incident catapulted her to international fame.
Britani says: Madonna has always challenged the double-standards and stereotypes put on women. The white wedding dress is a symbol of the purity of the bride and those double standards. She is also brilliant at turning negatives to positives.