Ani Di Franco And Madonna example essay topic

Have you ever heard a song once and was never able to get the tune out of your head no matter how hard you tried? I know that has happened to me on several occasions. Whether we enjoy the songs or not, there is something about music within popular culture that drives the American public wild. Sadly, for quite sometime the music industry was largely closed off to women. Of course there were obvious exceptions to this, since talented female artists have existed through the ages, but on the whole there were not many female artists that got a lot of airplay and certainly none were considered significantly influential in the music industry. Recently the United States has begun to experience a women's musical renaissance.

Women's roles in pop music are steadily growing. There have been many outstanding female musicians and vocalists in the past that have aided in making the music industry less of a male opinionated society, from Aretha Franklin, Mo Tucker, and Ella Fitzgerald to pop icons like Courtney Love, Queen Latif a, and Melissa Etheridge. Along side these, there are two women who have conquered most obstacles they " ve faced and, in addition, forced the music industry to become more of a female friendly environment. Those two women are Madonna and Brittany Spears. Madonna is an artist that most Americans are very familiar with. From rudeness to charity, she is always in the public eye.

Madonna took women and sex through a quantum leap and her unique style and flair has been imprinted on pop culture forever. Besides creating major trends in music she was responsible for many fashion statements throughout the eighties and nineties (Gandee 307). Up until 1982, female sexuality was largely a suggestion of cleavage and tight-fitting jeans, then Madonna showed up in 1983 wearing her Victoria's Secrets on the outside, and all hell broke loose. Madonna Cic cone was born in 1958 near Motown, to an engineer father and homemaker mother, the eldest of eight children. The one thing baby Madonna wanted more than anything was to become famous. She trained on piano and dance, and signed up for almost any activity that would put her face in public view.

By the time she turned twenty, she felt she had waited long enough for fame to find her, and went out looking for it. Throughout her career as one of America's superstars, Madonna maintained much of her creative control while signed to a major record label, a feat few musicians can boast about. She was and is very involved with the business aspect of her career (Udovitch 300), and even started her own sub-label, Maverick Records. Not surprisingly, Madonna has set many of the standards for music videos, and has had over 10 number one singles (Madonna fan club n. pay. ). At the time Madonna first arrived on the scene there hadn't been a strong female icon in music since Billie Holiday.

Like Holiday, Madonna turned heads with her sexy attitude and approach to life, love, and sex. Think what you might about her musical talent, she pushed the power of female sexuality to the forefront of the public eye, taking it so far as to present her sexual manifesto in a self-published soft core pornography book, entitled 'Sex'. Anyone who has done the math can figure out that Madonna's days as an active sexual icon are becoming numbered; add to that her relatively new role as responsible mother, and you now see a new, cleaned up version of Madonna emerging to take her through the next decade. The current generation just seems so weak compared to the gains made up until Madonna. don't constitute great jumps in feminine power, they are wonderful examples of the natural freedom that Madonna inspired in the generation that watched her on MTV between cartoons. Although Brittany Spears and Madonna made very different career choices, aspects of their lives and influence are very similar. Both artists moved to New York at a very young age and performed at small clubs and bars.

Another thing the two women share is their compassion and opinions. They both are very politically active and vocal, taking action in ways most don't. Madonna frequently takes stands in her videos and concerts, shocking some folks with her views. In 1990, she told the world to stop living their personal lives according to other peoples rules when she sang, 'Poor is the man / whose pleasure depends / on the permission of another.

' The song and video, 'Justify my Love,' was banned from MTV for explicit y, sending it to the top of the charts in a matter of days. Was it vulgar? Perhaps. But her message was clear... live your own life and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Madonna and Ani did just that; they did what they wanted, and to hell with those who got in their way, even though they went about their music in two entirely different ways. The major differences between them came at the point in their careers when they were faced with a decision: whether or not to sign on the dotted line.

Madonna signed, but had enough business sense to retain her creative rights, making sure that no one else would be running her show. Ani Di Franco did the opposite, opposing the music industry completely. In her song, 'Make Them Apologize', Ani somewhat explains her actions when she sent this wake up call to women everywhere: 'The music business is still run by men / like every business and everything / but we can sing like a son of a bitch / make them twitch around their eyes / make them apologize' Despite their opposing paths, they both accomplished very similar goals, for instance they both have maintained most if not all of their creative control. Presently, they both own very successful record labels and both tour often. In essence, these two women have made the music industry seem obtainable to everyone.

Their accomplishments represent many of the recent victories won by women in the music industry; Accomplishments like Lilith Faire and Rock for Choice. Though many doors have been opened there are many that have remained shut. For instance, the way that many labels choose to market female artists like sex symbols instead of relying on their ability to perform. A women musician are becoming more and more visible, and with this visibility comes power.

Ani Di Franco and Madonna are just two examples of women who are starting their own record labels and signing their own bands. By doing this they are insuring that female artists get heard. Obviously, not every women musician can have this kind of determination, but the fact that they are on stage playing what they love, music, makes them powerful. O'Dair, Barbara. ' Introduction '. The Rolling Stone Book of Women In Rock.

Ed. Barbara O'Dair. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997. Udovitch, Mim. 'Madonna'.

Ed. Barbara o'Dair. Gandee, Charles. 'In The Closet With Madonna'. Vogue Oct. 1997: 306-313,378..