Madonna and Me

January 9, 2012
As freelance writer Valenti observes in the intro to this collection of essays, “When it comes to Madonna, there’s nary a woman who lacks for an opinion.... She’s not stagnant, so why should any of our thoughts about her be?” Jamia Wilson condemns the efforts of Catholic organizations to “crucify Madonna,” noting, “I respect the way she has transformed our culture and changed our conversation about the inextricable linkage of religion, sexuality, and the feminine divine.... She is a saint and a sinner, the mirror of us all.” Kristin McGonigle reflects, “We both came from a Catholic upbringing where sexuality was oppressed and women came into adulthood with a confused and shameful sense of their relationship to their bodies and sex.” Marisela Huerta recalls, “Even mentioning sex in our house was taboo, but Madonna showed me it was OK for a woman to express her sexuality, OK for a woman to be successful, independent of a man.” Such redundancies abound in these essays, but they amplify the influence the performer had on a generation. She rose to fame when many of these women were entering their teens, and these memoirs reveal that Madonna’s mix of spirituality and raw sensuality had a considerable impact in shaping attitudes.

March 15, 2012
The Material Girl is the subject of 40 essays by women who revere or revile her. A controversial figure when she burst onto the scene in 1983, brazenly flouting her sexuality and challenging religious institutions and gender roles, Madonna has reinvented herself numerous times ever since. Many of the essayists are children of the 1980s who discovered Madonna during their grade-school years, recalling everything from adopting her early look to how she helped them come to terms with their own sexuality. Novelist Stacey May Fowles shares the way Madonna helped her embrace her own affinity for BDSM, while Madonna's Like a Prayer video helped free editor Maria Gagliano from an all-consuming religious fear. Not all of the essays are filled with praise; many find Madonna's faux British phase puzzling, and are put off by her recent plastic surgery. Writer Kate Harding admits an indifference to Madonna and her music, but she admires her business savvy. This lively collection will appeal to pop-culture enthusiasts, especially those who grew up with and loved Madonna.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)