On the occasion of Erotica’s thirtieth anniversary, Madonna has been feeling particularly “Dita-esque” of late. That is to say, rocking her bondage-y aesthetic, complete with lingerie that could have easily been plucked from an S&M-themed photoshoot. All of this being even more “scandalous” now than it was then—because she’s “grandma age” (something the media has been calling her since she was in her thirties anyway). But the Dita persona comes into play with Madonna’s reinvigorated desire to shock and provoke. Except this time, she did it with, of all things, nothing more than a simple statement of facts on her Instagram story that went as follows: “30 years ago I published a book called S.E.X. In addition to photos of me naked there were photos of Men kissing Men, Woman kissing Woman and Me kissing everyone. I also wrote about my sexual fantasies and shared my point of view about sexuality in an ironic way.”
The next few sentences speak to something she already alluded to as a plot point in her upcoming self-directed biopic after posting her “Diablo Cody videos” on Instagram (before TikTok took hold of her), about how, without her serving as the media’s punching bag in this era, “WAP” would have likely been met with far more venom (not that it still didn’t get its fair share). In this instance, she painted her barrier breaking as follows: “I spent the next few years being interviewed by narrow-minded people who tried to shame me for empowering myself as a Woman. I was called a whore, a witch, a heretic and the devil. Now Cardi B can sing about her WAP. Kim Kardashian can grace the cover of any magazine with her naked ass and Miley Cyrus can come in like a wrecking ball. You’re welcome bitches…” The clown emoji then concluded it. A clown meant, more than likely, to refer to her own damn self (she even dressed as Pierrot at the end of The Girlie Show in 1993) in terms of being portrayed as a clown by the media for so long solely because she was indefatigable about parading sexuality. Of all varieties.
Alas, Madonna proudly taking ownership of the glass ceilings she shattered has been met by many in much the same way Lana Del Rey’s infamous “question for the culture” was back in 2020. Except, the difference, which should be obvious, is that Del Rey only name-checked women of color (excluding known blackfisher Ariana Grande) as she declared out of nowhere (at least Madonna’s announcement was relevant to an anniversary) that she was being “crucified” for doing the same thing as other women. Interestingly enough, Cardi B was called out by Del Rey as well.
And that non sequitur went like this: “Question for the culture: Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc—can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money—or whatever I want—without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse?” Some might try to say that even fellow white woman Madonna was doing that with her Erotica “phase” (which is clearly more of a lifelong commitment at this point). Not so. If anything, she was showing how carnal and empowering sex could be. Even at the height of the AIDS scare that the mainstream refused to acknowledge until Rock Hudson died of it in 1985 (which was no sweat off the Reagans’ backs). That was, in many respects, the entire point of Erotica.
At the time of the album’s release in October of 1992, the United States was only gradually starting to come out of its conservative coma. And Clinton hadn’t even won the sleepy election of 1992 yet (voting being just one of the many things Madonna did a PSA for with her Rock the Vote ad, admitting after doing the iconic 1990 one that she wasn’t registered to vote until recently). Therefore, Erotica was entering the culture as a key catalyst for waking America up out of its long-standing Republican “reverie.” Of the sort that had repressed and ostracized gay men for so many years. And even Clinton couldn’t “let” the homos be totally free, as his “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” mandate made clear. So really, it was up to Madonna to say gay. To shout it from the mountaintops with the gritty, ketamine-dosed sounds of her record. From “Erotica” itself to the emotional “In This Life” (a song about two friends she had freshly lost to AIDS, Keith Haring and Christopher Flynn), this was a record, more than any other, made for the gays. An album that gave voice to their culture when no one else would. The interest in “tapping into” “fags” seeming to stop at “Vogue” for most people.
What’s more, Madonna, in contrast to the few other pop stars with longevity (Taylor Swift included), was willing to step very much outside of her comfort zone, taking a major risk by daring to experiment with different sounds totally unlike the “palatable pop” she was known for in the 1980s. Undeniably, part of what emboldened her to defy even her own musical conventions was the founding of her multimedia company, Maverick, which included her own record label of the same name. Knowing the only “suit” she would have to answer to was the one she herself was wearing, Madonna surely must have felt even more liberated than usual. And with the help of producer Shep Pettibone, the record came to sound like nothing else that was out at that time. For it was still a moment in Madonna’s career when she was determined to set the trends rather than chase them (e.g., using TikTok and wearing Balenciaga).
Part of what caused such an overall backlash toward the record, however, was that it was seen as part of an oversexed trifecta of Madonna “seeking attention,” doing things solely for the “shock value” of it. And that trifecta was: the Sex book, Erotica and Body of Evidence. The latter was a “sex thriller” (quite chic in the movie business at the time) that came across like a bad imitation of Basic Instinct. To compound Madonna’s image of doing it all for the “shock,” she embarked upon The Girlie Show in 1993, a world tour that brought the sexual “antics” of Erotica to life onstage (not that it wasn’t something people hadn’t witnessed before via her performance of “Like A Virgin” during the Blond Ambition Tour).
All of this is to say, ultimately, that Madonna is right to want to remind pop stars and hip hop artists alike of not only her contributions to history, but her very establishment of it with regard to decimating sexual taboos for female musicians. But, just as bell hooks before them, many women of color are lashing out at Madonna’s claim of “ownership” to cite how Black women like Donna Summer and Grace Jones were already shattering sexual restrictions before M arrived onto the scene. And while, sure, moaning on a song or dressing androgynously was boundary-pushing and all in the 70s, it didn’t come anywhere close to what Madonna was willing to do as the 80s got into full swing. Yes, many will say she had the “luxury” of doing so because she was a white woman. Regardless, she was still a woman living under the conservative thumb of Reagan’s America as she took the stage at the MTV VMAs to writhe around on the floor, or played with gender norms in the peep show-oriented “Open Your Heart,” or stood amongst burning crosses for a video about a Black man being wrongly accused of a crime. Everything she did, she did it for women and “minorities” (what white folks like to call anyone who is “other”). And she deserves to be able to take pride in that, even if it’s the sort of arrogant Leo pride that a number of people find quite vexing.
Including none other than Cardi B, who “clapped back” at Madonna’s Instagram statement on Twitter with, “I literally paid [spelled “payed” by Cardi] this woman homage so many times ‘cause I grew up listening to her… she can make her point without putting clown emojis and getting slick out the mouth. These icons really become disappointments once u make it in the industry. That’s why I keep to myself.” Hmm, first of all, does she keep to herself? Because that would entail not responding at all. And secondly, it’s evident that her sense of humor is not aligned with Madonna’s, as the majority of people’s is not. First and foremost, because everyone has gotten so fucking literal, which is something Madonna herself has called out in the past, detracting from anybody’s ability to understand irony or tongue-in-cheekness, which is what Madonna’s humor is founded upon.
Obviously, like the Lil Nas X fans who didn’t take it in stride when Madonna said she #DidItFirst about same-sex kissing onstage (namely, the Britney and Christina lip-locking seen ‘round the world), Cardi took offense and saw it as Madonna, “Start[ing] your morning with coffee and violence,” followed by “all weapons formed against me shall be greeted with ak47s.” This after Madonna called her personally to explain to the slow-witted Cardi what just so happens to be a reality. Without something like Erotica, “WAP” would be absolutely muzzled.
What’s more, to tie it back to how Madonna has bandied her own “incendiary” version of Lana’s “question for the culture,” just as Lana thought and later said out loud, Madonna was probably also of the mindset, “I fucking love these singers and know them. #That is why I mentioned them.” Doja Cat was the lone singer to “respond,” even if only in the cryptic tweet, “Gang sunk that dunker.” To those who would need a translation, well, it’s still necessary—and yes, she did learn it from one of her many venturings into Tea Time, a Tinychat room “renowned” for attracting incels and racists. Cardi’s reply was observably much more direct, and prompted M to do something she rarely does: back down by apologizing.
Something she didn’t even do after saying the n-word in 2014, via an Instagram caption of Rocco Ritchie that went, “No one messes with Dirty Soap! Mama said knock you out! #disnigga.” Just a year later, Rocco would abscond from Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour to be with his father, with this caption perhaps being a motivating factor. To that end, among Madonna’s other WTF moments of 2022 was appearing on Terri Joe’s TikTok channel to be interviewed about, well, not much of anything at all. This is perhaps how Terri Joe found a way to call out Madonna for once freely calling her white son, Rocco, the n-word by saying, “You can say whatever you want. You’re Madonna. You can say the n-word if you want to.” Terri Joe then burst out laughing as Madonna patently chose to pretend she didn’t even process the comment. For it’s true that Madonna very much doesn’t want to hear it when it comes to acknowledging her appropriation of Black and Latino culture and including women of color in “her echelon” of those who forged and blazed the trail for women after them to be sexually liberated. Perhaps because, like it or not, she actually was the most visible pop star doing the work. And anyone else with that kind of visibility would have probably been way more afraid to take the risks that Madonna did.
Apart from Donna Summer and Grace Jones, other detractors of M laying claim to opening the doors for every female “personality” (including Kim Kardashian, who really has no personality at all) cited Janet Jackson, Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim as additional sources for obliterating sexual taboos for women. But the reality is: 1) Madonna still came first and 2) she was always doing what she did in a far larger spotlight, meaning it was a greater detriment to her success, which she did quote unquote lose for quite a while in the 90s before “reinventing” herself yet again with Ray of Light in 1998.
Thus, Madonna is not being a Lana-type Karen with what is her “assertion for the culture.” She’s being a real-ass bitch like she always has been. And because the New York brashness that was once so common until fading out sometime in the 2010s is also part of her identity. Which is something Bronx-raised Cardi B should also recognize but doesn’t as a result of being born into a generation that is hyper-sensitive to every little comment. Even truth-based ones.
And so, to boil it down (as M tried to already): Madonna is not saying that musicians like Cardi and Megan only did what they did on “WAP” because of her, she’s saying they have the freedom to do so because of the bullets she took when it was still less than kosher for a woman to relish being in control and speaking frankly about her own sexual fantasies. Which, unfortunately, it still is. So imagine if Madonna had never done the grunt work (no sexual innuendo intended) in the first place. Women would still be set back a few centuries.
