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."
