Lust Icon : Madonna

Yes. The answer is yes. I'm extremely intimidated with the idea of tackling Madonna as a Lust Icon. How could I convey to the world how iconic and amazing Madonna is? What photos would I even use? Should I pick someone else this go-around? Someone easier, like say, Lady Gaga?

I sometimes strangely loathe the fact that I even like Madonna [oh-kay LOVE Madonna]. It all just sounds so cliché for a gay man to love Madonna. But, I don't love Madonna the way we all at some point love her. Without sounding like a fanatic, I worship Madonna. Now I know that sounds extreme but, I'm not a crazy person. Madonna is an icon of music, film, fashion, art, and lifestyle. I don't need millions of record sales and awards to prove that. Who she is and what she does in the way that she does it, to me, seals the deal. How does she do that? With absolutely no regrets.

Madonna Louise Ciccone is a child of Italian decent from Bay City, Michigan. Of her youth, she recalls herself as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades.... I wanted to be somebody." It was that ambition that drove her to drop out of college and pursue a dance career in New York City. She moved to New York in 1977 with only $35 in her pocket and describes the decision as "the bravest thing I'd ever done."

Video Lust : Madonna's 'Justify My Love'

While we're on the subject of Madonna's Justify My Love, should we take a moment to highlight one of my all time favorite Madonna videos? I'm sure there will be many more to follow.

Justify My Love was featured on the Immaculate Collection, Madonna's first Greatest Hits disc, and released in 1990. The song was one of four singles to be released from that album, and was produced by Lenny Kravitz.

The video for Justify My Love was filmed primarily on Laserdisc in grainy black and white in the style of a 1960s European art film. The action takes place in an elegant hotel that apparently caters to alternative lifestyle couples. Madonna enters looking tired and distressed as she walks down the hallway toward her room where she has a romantic fling with a mysterious man [yes, Tony Ward]. Some of the doors to the other rooms are open and you catch glimpses of various couples cavorting in BDSM fetish outfits [leather, latex bodysuits, and corsets].

In a dream-like sequence, Madonna rolls around in bed wearing skimpy lace underwear while various figures come and go. The only nudity [which led to the video being banned by MTV] occurs when a topless dominatrix-type woman [suspenders partially covering her breasts] appears and roughly grabs a bound man by the hair. Her outfit, which includes a peaked leather hat and black gloves, copies the iconic ensemble worn by Charlotte Rampling in the controversial film The Night Porter. The theme of androgyny is also briefly alluded to when a woman who closely resembles Madonna's lover is seen in men's clothing with a drawn-on pencil mustache. The overall presentation is surreal and deliberately ambiguous.

In the end, a rejuvenated Madonna rushes out of the hotel room smiling and laughing. The video then fades to a black screening with a written phrase shown, "poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another".

Justify My Love was the first ever single by Madonna to be released on VHS [remember those?] after it's ban by MTV. On December 3, 1990, ABC's Nightline played the video in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on MTV, she shrugged and answered, "Yeah, so? Lucky me." She also mentioned that the banning was hypocritical as male artists were able to show music videos on the channel which contained sexist and violent imagery.

Lust with your eyes below and justify your look with LuStylist.