Living In MadonnaLand

Photo credit: www.madonna.com

My dear readers….

My greatest apologies for not having kept up with you in cyber space for the last 2 weeks. It feels like such a long time.

Where has this NYC Girl been? Some of you wonder….

Well, while no excuse is reasonable, I do want to share with you that for the past few weeks I’ve been living in Madonnaland. 

Photo credit: AskTheNYCGirl.com

Madonnaland you say?? Okay, please don’t be pathetic Mimi, some of you cynical NYC girls may say.

All I ask is that you hear me out on this one. It deserves a good read from you. So, I ask you keep your mind open for a few minutes and let me tell you what I see.

Photo Credit:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/law/witt/raw_images/
lect2/queen_elizabeth_armada_portrait.jpg

There are three major women in history, which I personally admire. One is Queen Elizabeth the First, Henry the VIII’s second daughter who ascended to the throne in the midst of so much controversy and death threats. Yet, despite the fact that she was “a woman” and one that refused to marry a man in order to establish her legitimacy as a ruler, she was the best thing that happened to England. Under her, the Renaissance flourished in England, William Shakespeare did his thing, England took over Spain as the world’s most powerful nation, and her reign was a period of abundance and peace. She took England out of the dark ages and put it right in the center of the world where it eventually became the United Kingdom. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie Elizabeth with the gorgeous Cate Blanchet, I urge you to please watch it. No girl-on-girl action on this movie, but truly a beautiful movie. Also, Shakespeare in Love compliments it.

Photo Credit:
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/especial/images/1751_chanel/5171526_chanel01.jpg

The next woman I admire is Coco Chanel. She took women’s fashion and apparel also out of the dark ages. Before Coco Chanel, at the turn of the century, only men were designing our clothes and choosing our fragrances. Before she came along, we had to dress in these little long dresses that were tight at the waist and were a total production to put on AND take off. Remember the movie Titanic? Those dresses. Shorts, pants, forget it. Unheard of. She liberated women’s bodies by making quite a few taboos very fashionable for women: the Chanel suit, with its skirt and jacket, the pant suit –which was a no-no for women—, smoking for women in public, yes, she made it very fashionable, suntans, which were considered low brow before her, became the rage. Then the pearls, the crosses, the black and white, all inspired by her early years where she and her sister were raised in a convent. And she was the first woman to choose a fragrance for us. And her first fragrance ever, was No. 5. One important aspect about Ms. Chanel is that despite her affairs with men, she also loved women.

Photo Credit: www.madonnalicious.com

The third woman to come along, who keeps breaking taboos and reinventing herself is Madonna. She is always at the lead of some trend, idea or fashion, or she just presents a different point of view. And though many despise her for being different, so many of us adore her for being daring to do so. Because just like Elizabeth the First, just like Coco Chanel, Madonna has many critics and people who probably wish she did not exist. However, for each one of those, there are thousands of us who are grateful she exists, who see what she has done, the barriers she has broken, as a woman, as an entertainer, as a businesswoman, and we admire her for that. We admire her because she has shown us that it can be done. I know I see it. And out of the three women who have made history, who have inspired me, she is the only one who’s alive today. Of course, there are a few others, who are alive today, whom I admire as well, such as Oprah and Salma Hayek, and then the dead artists such as Frida and Anais Nin, but the reach and impact of women like Elizabeth the First, Coco Chanel and Madonna has no comparison.

Photo credit: www.madonna.com

So, what has Madonna really done that makes so many of us admire her? She did not bring a country out of the darkness. She did not bring women’s fashion to a new era. She has broken and continues to break misconceptions, perceptions, taboos. At 47 years of age, she looks better than ever. Who would ever believe it back in the early 80’s when this girl with the high pitched voice singing the likes of Like a Virgin or Borderline, a little chunky back then, would become the most successful female entertainer in the whole world, with a body to kill or kiss at 47!!. Not only does she keep reinventing herself every time, but every time she does it, she has a new message for us. And if we’re paying attention, it is there, in her lyrics, in her music, in her videos.

Photo credit: www.madonnalicious.com

Her latest Concert Tour, Confessions, the first Madonna concert I have ever gone to –because I am NOT a concert goer—, has left me wanting for more. If I had the means and the time, I’d follow her throughout the world as she does the Confessions tour. An amazing entertainer indeed she is. Many mistakenly have judged her beautiful depiction of A Tale to Tell, when she appears crucified. If you look at the videos behind her, her message is that of suffering around the world: famine, war. That’s the tale she wants to tell us this time around. Her concert had so many aspects, equestrian, leather, lace, rock-and-roll, politics, gymnastics, disco. Talk about entertainment. So, sadly, her concerts in the USA are over. But if you can, try to catch her in London, Paris, Amsterdam and ultimately in Tokio at the end of September. She is so worth seeing. She is such a legend already, a legend that we are lucky to still have around in this world. Ms. Madonna embodies the dreams of many.

Photo credit: www.madonnalicious.com

One of my favorite moments in her concert at Madison Square Garden was when she sat down for a moment and talked to us, her fans. She said how special New York is to her, because this was the place where she started. She mentioned those who believed in her and supported her and thanked them. She also thanked those who didn’t believe in her, and who knocked her down. But “fuckers”, she said in the end. The crowd went wild. That was so Madonna. Irreverent, groundbreaker, beautiful, inspiring and yet, deep inside still a tender, sensitive soul behind that tough New Yorker shell.  Oh yes, and by the way, in case some of you have buried your head in the sand for the past 2 decades, Madonna has also loved women.

I have been lucky to have personally had encounters with Ms. Madonna, many years ago when I frequented clubs like The Sound Factory and Pandora’s Box. I had the opportunity to look into her eyes and see HER. I’ve been hooked since then. So I can say I’ve had the honor to meet one of my role models.

Photo credit: AskTheNYCGirl.com

As imperfect as all human icons are, they have taken leaps that few of us would only dream of. Madonna may inspire some of you who are reading this. She may not inspire some of you at all. But for whatever is worth, I hope you, my dear reader, have someone in your life who inspires you. And whoever that is, make sure to learn about them, make contact, learn from them and honor them by doing whatever it is they inspire you to do. For one day, you may be the one inspiring someone too.

Photo credit: www.madonnalicious.com

And if you want to see more pictures from Madonna’s concert, I’m leaving a few copies of my own here for you to enjoy. If you want more, visit www.madonnalicious.com. That is such a great fan site, where they keep posting great shots of her concert tour. Enjoy!

Photo credit: AsktheNYCGirl.com

Photo credit: AsktheNYCGirl.com

Photo credit: AsktheNYCGirl.com

Photo credit: AsktheNYCGirl.com

And one last one that I found somewhere in the west village, worth sharing.

Photo credit: AsktheNYCGirl.com