Sorry Leslie, but I respectfully disagree,

I am not a fan of Madonna. I don't like or dislike her. Regardless, she's iconic. For Gen-X, she was a fixture in popular culture for most of our lives. So many of the female pop stars of recent years acknowledge her influence on their own careers.

For me, the notion of the male gaze is full of contradictions. You may criticize her for living for the male gaze but the bulk of her fanbase is female and her male fanbase is typically gay. As a young person during Madonna's hey day, I can tell you that women were much more interested in how Madonna looked than men were. Most of the young men I was around were listening to rap or metal. We weren't paying attention to female oriented pop. I know, I know, misogyny. Point is, I don't believe that Madonna's brand was motivated by the male gaze. We simply were not her target market.

Why is that? It's because Madonna represented empowerment of women. The way she acted and the way she dressed made women feel liberated and powerful. It was a direct rebellion of 'Nice Girl' standards preached at us from the pulpit.