Dressed to Impress
Doors opened to women performers because Madonna was bold and courageous enough to push the envelope on every front, from the way she dressed, to her explicit lyrics and delivery of the lyrics. Madonna gave women performers the tenacity to be their sexual beings, a luxury they were not formally afforded. Someone states in the article “Madonna 1: Animality and Artifice” “Madonna ‘fess up. The video (Justify my Love) is pornographic. It’s decadent. And it’s fabulous” (Sawyer 88). Although the video contained very vulgar and sexual content, it was still a self-expression of Madonna’s and her own personal way of conveying her personality through her music. Most would look at her material or any other female artist who exploit themselves in such a manner in disgust or see their behavior as unacceptable; but how can they when this is the most practical way of surviving as a female artist in the music industry?
Many women in the music industry are either degraded because they are not wearing enough or practically ignored because they’re not showing enough. So, basically this is a no-win scenario. Feminist such as Courtney Love agrees with women expressing their sexuality and playing into the hands of what will help female artists survive in the music industry. Even she is scrutinized for it. It is stated in LaFrance’s article “Disruptive Divas—Courtney Love” “All of these reviews rely on normative notions of femininity and dominant stereotypes of typical behavior in order to, in the end, make Love (and other feminists musicians) appear responsible for their own ill treatment at the hands of the media’ (94). Women have been made to think of themselves as objects and the “inferior species” so yes, they risk their own dignity to protect their careers.
Generally when women perform, they come to the venue dressed to please their audience. Their appearances speak before they even get a chance to open their mouths. It’s only a rare few of female...