As we know, Madonna live always makes for a very interesting concert experiment especially when she does free Super Bowl shows to promote her latest album MDMA.
And now we have some more fleshy and controversial fodder to continue our exploration. (Note: the video above includes brief nudity just before the 3 minute mark, so it’s NSFW.)
As Idolator reports, the Material Girl had her own politically-charged and artistically premeditated wardrobe malfunction while on tour when she recently bared her breast during a concert in Istanbul.
I’m not all that shocked by the nipple-flashing because this kind of thing has always been a part of Madonna style and m.o. throughout her provocative career.
That said, Madonna has never been one to just do something without a purpose behind her actions.
There’s always a method to the Queen of Pop’s madness.
For example, according to reports from the Huffington Post:
So, by assertively flashing her nipple in Istanbul, Madonna was, in the cultural realm, doing something similar for the women of Turkey, perhaps helping to liberate them just a little bit. And what would she follow that up with? A few days later, last week in Rome, she flashed her butt to the crowd. I happened to be in Rome, and I got a chuckle when some in the Italian media actually took note that Madonna’s ass was facing the Vatican. Was she mooning the Pope?
and the Ironcross,
Islamic fundamentalism starts with the oppression of women at home. It starts with a so-called man who oppresses his closest companion, his wife, into a state of virtual slavery. The man decides what the wife will wear, who she will contact, and what she will do. The answers being a full covering of the hijab or burkha, she will have contact with no one, and she will not have a career. The next step comes with a morbid fear of female sexuality. See Mohammed Atta’s, the lead hijacker, last testament which rails against women far more forcibly than anything of a political bent. These people just can’t handle the fact that girls have a sex drive and devote their entire lives to trying to deny that fact. I do not buy into Sigmund Freud much but if he is correct it is in the world of Islam.
Which makes Madonna, a strange messenger to be sure, a perfect vessel to raise the proverbial middle finger to the oppression of women through a nipple in the face of islam. Perhaps she knows not what she does, nor may this be what I am reading into it, but I have to say the Material Girl has her moments.
From an artistic point of view it has great imagery as it shows Islam its greatest fear: a woman with a sex drive and who is proud of it. From a political standpoint: deliberate wardrobe malfunctions have been turned into political statements.
Was It Meant To Inspire, Provoke or Entertain?
I would say it little of bit of all of those. Which of course demostrates the brilliance of how Madonna goes about stirring the political and cultural pot for her worldwide following of fans.
But you still have to wonder…
If Madonna’s breast-barring was a political statement, was it intended to inspire liberation for the oppressed Islamic women in the crowd?
And if it was meant to inspire then does this kind of statement turn the female (and male) fans at the show into active participants or does it keep the audience stuck in neutral as passive entertainees, aka Looky-Loos?
And since Madonna is a woman performing such an action for a crowd of women, it brings back thoughts of how women experience live music in general and in other countries?
And does this type of action during a concert have any long-lasting impact on the lives of the female fans who witnessed it live?
Well, whether it’s Super Bowl shows or moments of political flesh-barring, Madonna sure is giving away a lot for free lately. Or was the nipple included in the cost of the ticket? And do Istanbul fans feel that they got what they paid for and so much more?
Were You At the Istanbul or Rome Show?
Have you seen Madonna live before? Post your thoughts and experiences below and we’ll share them on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.