MTV and Madonna

Hannah Dickie

2/13/14

Entry 3

MTV and Madonna

            MTV is known today for being a reality TV channel for shows such as sixteen and pregnant, the real world, and teen mom. They are no longer known as a music channel. However when they first began running in 1981 all they did was play music videos, changing the music industry completely. In chapter three We haven’t come a long way and don’t call me baby of Andi Zeisler’s book Feminism and Pop Culture, Zeisler talks a lot about MTV and the way it changed not only the music scene but for a short time it “presented a new and astounding picture of gender roles”(Zeisler 84). Men in the music videos were all of a sudden having long hair put into ponytails and wearing glittery clothes and scarves, while women were cutting their hair short and dying it different colors. Not only was MTV showing these changes they were broadcasting them to children who would not be able to see these people live in a concert. If MTV had continued to blur the lines between what it meant to be male and female then the young generation of that time might have grown up thinking that there really is not a big difference between males and females. However only a few years after it premiered MTV began to see women as only sexual objects put as back up dancers. Zeisler writes that “Women’s primary role on MTV seemed to have become that of a hard-rock sex toy, scantily clad and wantonly posed behind guys with guitars”(Zeisler 85). I wondered why MTV made the change to show women as more sexualized and then I remembered that its more then likely the producers and directors of not only the music videos but of the whole MTV station were men. They were putting what they wanted to see into the music videos which meant half naked women dancing in cages behind the band. Once again putting their male gaze on something children would see and assume that’s what everything is supposed to be like.

            MTV showed many new and upcoming stars, one of the biggest stars it helped to create was Madonna. According to the website biography.com Madonna was born into a very strict catholic family, she went to college for dance but dropped out after only two years to move to New York to further her dancing career. After this Madonna become a breakthrough star producing many number one hits. What stood out most to me about Madonna was as Zeisler says “She mocks the conventional racist defined beauty ideal even as she rigorously strives to embody it. Madonna never lets her audience forget that whatever “look” she acquires is attained by hard work – it ain’t natural” (Zeisler 87). I think this was an extremely important kind of lesson Madonna taught her fans. She was letting them know that the looks they see on TV and in other Music videos didn’t just happen to these people. They were made to look that way and if you didn’t look a certain way then its okay because in all honesty no one probably looks like that they just have people who make them look that way. Madonna went against many of the “norms” of that time period and she was someone many girls strived to be like. She created many new looks many girls copied such as bad dyed blond hair and fish nets tights. Although she went against many of the women roles she still sexualized herself which is why some people don’t think she’s a feminist because she did appeal to men in a sexual manor. However some argue that that was just her showing her power. To this day Madonna still defies the norms of society, she looks much younger then she is and dresses in a way most women her age would never attempt. Madonna has had and continues to have a huge impact on our pop culture.