Madonna has been around for a long time, and has been a huge impact on the music culture scene. One iconic piece of madonna and pop culture history is the ‘coffee table’ book which was released in 1992, which displayed a book full of images of Madonna. Most of these images were described as pornography images, as the images where highly sexual and show nudity and simulations of sexual acts. The images where shot by photographer Steven Meisel.
The book received lots of negative responses from feminist cultures and other media, however Madonna argued that the book simply promoted empowerment of women.
“”I don’t see how a guy looking at a naked girl in a magazine is degrading to women. Everyone has their sexuality. It’s how you treat people in everyday life that counts, not what turns you on in your fantasy. If all a person ever did was get off on porno movies I would say they are probably dysfunctional sexually, but I don’t think it’s unhealthy to be interested in that or get off on that. I’m not interested in porno movies because everybody is ugly and faking it and it’s just silly. They make me laugh, they don’t turn me on. A movie like In the Realm of the Senses turns me on because it’s real. I’ve been told there are some good Traci Lords movies but I’ve never seen them. I wouldn’t want to watch a snuff movie. I wouldn’t want to watch anyone get really hurt, male or female. But generally I don’t think pornography degrades women. The women who are doing it want to do it. No one is holding a gun to their head. I don’t get that whole thing. I love looking at Playboy magazine because women look great naked.”
She explains that as it is a womans choice to show off her body and be photographed naked, then the women are in control and should be admired for how beautiful and empowering they are. It was defended as being a piece of art and should be seen as liberating that women can choose to show off their bodies because they feel confident and want too, and not just because a man wants them too.
Madonna stated in 2003 that she did not regret making the book – ” I am being kind of silly and adolescent and I am being very f you, if a man can do it, I can do it”
The book today is now considered a bold, post feminist, work of art.
Is it empowering, or is it crude and unnecessary?
Is the only reason we think its crude is because of the way men have made us feel and sexualised us as objects?
Jade Till Photography 