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==Background==
Madonna's impact transcended music as noted reviewers like ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' editor-in-chief [[Janice Min]].<ref name="beyondMusc">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2943458/madonna-billboard-woman-of-the-year-2016/|title=Madonna is the Queen of Pop|date=October 14, 2016|access-date=March 29, 2021|last=Hughes|first=Hilary|publisher=[[MTV]]}}</ref> In 2018, ''The New York Times'' defined she had a "singular career" that "crossed boundaries".<ref name="NYT60">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/16/arts/music/madonna-birthday-impact.html|title=60 Times Changed Our Culture|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=March 30, 2021|url-access=subscription|author=The New York Times Staff}}</ref> She was described with having "pioneered" a "multifaceted career" encompassing many aspects of contemporary culture.<ref name="Singapor">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-kDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Madonna&pg=PA48|title=Featured artiste of the month|p=48|magazine=GameAxis Unwired|date=December 2005|access-date=February 1, 2022|number=28|issn=0219-872X|publisher=[[SPH Magazines]]}}</ref> During late 1990s, Canadian scholar [[Karlene Faith]] named her "peculiarity" to the fact she "cruised" through so "many cultural terrains".<ref name="Faith88">{{harvnb|Faith|Wasserlein|1997|p=88}}</ref> In 2022, Robin Raven from [[Grammy Awards]]' official website noted how it was "often said" she was "ahead of her time".<ref name="Raven">{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/news/artists-standing-up-for-women-taylor-swift-lizzo-harry-styles-brandi-carlile-pink-madonna-alicia-keys-ariana-grande-list|title=10 Artists Who Have Stood Up For Women In Music: Taylor Swift, Lizzo & More|first=Robin|last=Raven|publisher=[[Grammy.com]]|date=March 14, 2022|access-date=June 20, 2022}}</ref> During a discussion lead by ''[[The Independent]]'' in 1998, a commentator felt she translated things into a social "[[Social phenomenon|phenomenon]]" in comparison of other women doing same things.<ref name="Madonna40">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/she-wanted-the-world-to-know-who-she-was-and-it-does-1170648.html|title=`She wanted the world to know who she was, and it does'|date=August 8, 1998|access-date=June 20, 2022|last1=Thorpe|first1=Vanessa|first2=Anna|last2=Melville-James|work=[[The Independent]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> 

===Cultural and critical attention===
Responses to her impact has been both immediate and retrospectively. It has been "extensively analyzed by many authors", wrote Romanian scholar Duro Pop in 2018.<ref name="PopD">{{harvnb|Pop|2018|pp=90–91}}</ref> She became the subject of a wide range of topics by multiple scholars from different disciplines.<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Reflexive">{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264993725_Madonna_as_a_symbol_of_reflexive_modernisation|title=Madonna as a symbol of reflexivemodernisation|first1=Marguerite|last1=van den Berg|first2=Claartje L.|last2=ter Hoeven|journal=[[Celebrity Studies]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|date=July 25, 2013|access-date=October 10, 2023|p=145|doi=10.1080/19392397.2013.791042}}</ref> Eduardo Viñuela, a musicologist at [[University of Oviedo]] expressed that analyzed her was delve into the evolution of many relevant aspects of society in recent decades.<ref name="RFI">{{cite web|url=https://www.rfi.fr/es/cultura/20180821-madonna-un-paradigma-de-la-post-modernidad|title=Madonna, un paradigma de la post-modernidad|first=Ana María|last=Ospina|publisher=[[Radio France Internationale]]|date=August 21, 2018|access-date=May 5, 2021|language=es, fr}}</ref> Defining her impact was considered "brutal" by ''Billboard''{{'}}s Louis Virtel in 2017.<ref name="Virtel17">{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/7824546/madonna-lgbtq-inspiration-ally-moments|title=10 Reasons Madonna Is An Eternal Inspiration to the LGBTQ Community|date=June 6, 2017|access-date=October 6, 2022|first=Louis|last=Virtel|work=Billboard}}</ref> 

Madonna was regarded by media outlets ranging from ''[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]]'' (1999) to ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' (2012), as possibly the female singer who attracted more analyses, discussions and debates over decades.<ref name="ElUniversal">{{cite web|url=https://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/estilos/1952.html|title=¿Logró respeto Madonna?|date=October 13, 1999|access-date=October 7, 2023|work=[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]]|language=es}}</ref><ref name="AVClub">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/laura-barcella-ed-madonna-me-1798171959|title=Laura Barcella (ed.): Madonna & Me|date=March 4, 2012|access-date=October 7, 2023|first=Michaelangelo|last=Matos|work=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref> In 2018, Laura Craik wrote for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' that she perhaps "contributed more to the cultural conversation than any female performer in history".<ref name="at60">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/madonna-60how-queen-pop-changed-fashion-world/|title=Madonna at 60: how the Queen of pop changed fashion - and the world|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=July 4, 2022|url-access=subscription|first=Laura|last=Craik}}</ref> Broadly speaking, in 2008, the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] said she is one of the most "well-documented figures of the [[modern age]]".<ref name="Rockhall"/>

==Societal and cultural==
=== Popular culture ===
[[File:Madonna and Fernández de Kirchner.jpg|left|thumb|Madonna (''left'') and then president of Argentina, [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] in 2008]]

Madonna debuted in the 1980s. Throughout the late 20th century, some reviewers described her a sign of her time, with one scholar calling her a "hero of our time".<ref name="PopD"/> ''[[Vogue France]]''{{'}}s Martine Trittoleno commented in 1993, she was an active "reflection" more than a witness,<ref name="Buikema">{{harvnb|Buikema|Liedeke|van der Tuin|Thiele|2009|pp=117–121}}</ref> and in similar remarks, professor [[Marjorie Garber]] commented she "read the temper of the times" perhaps more than others.<ref name="Berger">{{harvnb|Berger|2002|p=108}}</ref> Professor [[Suzanna Danuta Walters]] noted how she circulated "constantly in the cultural practices of everyday life",<ref name="WaltersSD">{{harvnb|Walters|1995b|p=2}}</ref> while American critic [[Greil Marcus]] described her as "undeniably part of our culture".<ref name="Guilbert37">{{harvnb|Guilbert|2015|p=37}}</ref> American poet [[Jane Miller]] held she functioned as an "[[archetype]] directly inside contemporary culture".<ref name="Benson">{{harvnb|Benson|Metz|1999|p=241}}</ref> During this decade, scholars and authors from [[Marsha Kinder]] to Ryan Ruggiero called her the "reigning queen of global pop culture" or with other similar reference.<ref name="Ruggiero">{{harvnb|Ruggiero|1994|p=97}}</ref><ref name="Kinder"/>

Madonna's impact faded in the 21st century, but she continued to left a mark while aging and was retrospectively recognized. Talking about her career spanning four decades, ''The New York Times'' commented she "made real cultural change".<ref name="NYT60"/> In 2018, British author [[Matt Cain (writer)|Matt Cain]] granted her a significant role for helping shape popular culture in many ways.<ref name="Cain2">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/eight-ways-madonna-changed-world-exploring-female-sexuality/|title=Eight ways Madonna changed the world, from exploring female sexuality to inventing reality TV|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=September 30, 2022|first=Matt|last=Cain|author-link=Matt Cain (writer)}}</ref> Other assessments however, delineated her for having transcended boundaries of pop culture, like ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s Noah Robischon in 2001, saying she has "defined, transcended, and redefined pop culture".<ref name="EW">{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/2001/07/20/madonna-web/|title=Madonna on the Web|date=July 20, 2001|work=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=October 1, 2022|first=Noah|last=Robischon}}</ref> Therefore, from [[Robert Christgau]] in the mid-1980s to Russell Iliffe of [[PRS for Music]] in 2012, Madonna was also suggested to have crossed the status from [[pop icon]] to global [[cultural icon]].<ref name="Magill">{{harvnb|Magill|1998|p=1730}}</ref><ref name="culturalicontwo">{{cite web|url=http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/reviews/review-madonna-style/|title=Review: Madonna Style|via=[[M (magazine)|M]]|access-date=June 18, 2015|date=November 12, 2012|first=Russell|last=Illiffe|publisher=[[PRS for Music]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.is/c4NC2|archive-date=May 5, 2013}}</ref> In ''Maiden USA'' (2008), scholar Kathleen Sweeney used both Madonna and [[Marilyn Monroe]] to illustrate how some transcended status beyond "mere celebrity" to become "enduring cultural icons".<ref name="Sweeney">{{harvnb|Sweeney|2008|p=7}}</ref> In ''Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism'' (2014), authors noted how her "status as a cultural icon is acknowledged" in press accounts.<ref name="Whelehan">{{harvnb|Whelehan|Gwynne|2014|p=online}}</ref> In [[Ellis Cashmore]]'s view in 2022, many have recognized her as a "genuine cultural icon" in her sixties.<ref name="Cashmore151">{{harvnb|Cashmore|2022|p=151}}</ref>

===Myth-like impact===
In 2009, cultural organization [[:pt:Mirateca|MiratecArts]] noted her extended influence into "the subconscious world of imagination, fantasy and dreams".<ref name="MirateCARTS">{{cite web|url=http://mirateca.com/projects/madonnainmymind/default.aspx|title=Madonna in My Mind|publisher=[[:pt:Mirateca|MiratecArts]]|year=2009|access-date=September 26, 2022|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.is/leVJZ|url-status=live}}</ref> Editors of ''Mythic Astrology Applied'' (2004), commented: "Many men and women have reported Madonna appearing in their dreams. As she become a living archetype in our culture, it is no wonder that this is so".<ref name="Guttman">{{harvnb|Guttman|Guttman|Johnson|2011|p=211}}</ref> [[Folklore studies|Folklorist scholar]] Kay Turner,<ref name="Robb"/> devoted a book titled ''I Dream of Madonna: Women's Dreams of the Goddess of Pop'' (1993), which tells the dreaming of dozens women on Madonna.<ref name="Conner97">{{harvnb|Conner|Sparks|Sparks|1997|p=221}}</ref><ref name="Robb">{{harvnb|Robb|2018|p=121}}</ref> Others like Kelly Sullivan in ''I Had the Strangest Dream...''' (2009), included her in [[dream interpretation]]s.<ref name="Walden">{{harvnb|Walden|2009|p=online}}</ref> In her book ''[[Confessions of a Pretty Lady]]'' (1989), [[Sandra Bernhard]]  wrote "I dream about Madonna more than anyone I know (or don't know)".<ref name="Bernhard">{{harvnb|Bernhard|1989|p=125}}</ref> [[Andrew Morton (writer)|Andrew Morton]] documented the case of an Italian artist in ''[[Madonna (book)|Madonna]]'' (2001), who confessed he dreamt of her every night for five years.<ref name="Morton11">{{harvnb|Morton|2001|pp=11–12}}</ref> 

===American culture===
Mostly from foreign reviewers, Madonna became for a longtime an icon of [[American identity]],<ref name="Halls">{{harvnb|Hall|Hall|2006|pp=445—449}}</ref> and was often described as a "metaphor for American society".<ref name="Ulster">{{cite journal|url=https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/11267/volumes/e06/E-06|title="On Madonna'S Brand Ambition: Presentation Transcript|journal=European Advances in Consumer Research|date=2003|access-date=September 29, 2022|first=Stephen|last=Brown|pp=199–201|volume=6}}</ref> In 2006, German critic [[Josef Joffe]] referred to her a global example of American [[soft power]].<ref name="Joffe">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/magazine/14wwln_lede.html|title=The Perils of Soft Power|work=The New York Times|date=May 14, 2006|access-date=October 11, 2023|first=Josef|last=Joffe|author-link=Josef Joffe|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Argentine writer [[Rodrigo Fresán]] once described her as one of the "classic symbols of [[Made in USA]]".<ref name="Fresan88">{{harvnb|Aguilar Guzmán|2010|p=88}}</ref> In 2008, British music critic [[Kitty Empire]] referred to her as "Michigan's biggest export since the [[Automotive industry in Flint, Michigan|automobile]]".<ref name="Michigan">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/31/madonna.popandrock|title=Mama don't preach...|first=Kitty|last=Empire|author-link=Kitty Empire|work=The Guardian|access-date=October 7, 2023|date=August 31, 2008}}</ref> 

To American critic [[Gina Arnold]], her primary contribution to the national culture has been musical.<ref name="GArnold">{{cite web|url=https://www.metrosiliconvalley.com/papers/metro/01.04.96/madonna-9601.html|first=Gina|last=Arnold|author-link=Gina Arnold|title=Media provocateur Madonna is a hardworking role model|work=[[Metro Silicon Valley]]|access-date=June 7, 2022|date=January 4, 1995}}</ref> Theather historian for [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Marylan]], Catherine Schuler called her "the high priestess of American pop culture".<ref name="Schuler">{{harvnb|Schuler|2013|p=138}}</ref> Madonna epitomized one of the cultural faces of the [[1980s in the United States|1980s]] according to American historian Glen Jeansonne in ''A Time of Paradox: America Since 1890'' (2006).<ref name="Jeansonne446">{{harvnb|Jeansonne|2006|p=446}}</ref> Her prescense and influence during the late 20th century American history, was compared to that other entertainers, including [[Cultural impact of Elvis Presley|Elvis Presley]] by author Gilbert B. Rodman in ''Elvis after Elvis'' (1996),<ref name="Rodman">{{harvnb|Rodman|1996|p=65}}</ref> and with [[Oprah Winfrey]] by media scholars [[Charlotte Brunsdon]] and [[Lynn Spigel]].<ref name="Brunsdon"/> 

===Globalization===

Madonna's figure also reached [[globalization]] camp. As reports Viñuela, her career is closely linked to the consolidation of the globalization.<ref name="Oviedo">{{cite news|url=http://www.economiaynegocios.cl/noticias/noticias.asp?id=494906|title="El patriarcado ha puesto más foco en Madonna como ícono estético que como compositora"|date=August 11, 2018|access-date=May 21, 2022|work=[[El Mercurio]]|language=es|first=Guillermo|last=Tupper}}</ref> In 2014, [[CUNY Graduate Center]] professor Jean Graham-Jones, called her "globalization's quintessential femicon".<ref name="Graham">{{harvnb|Graham-Jones|2014|p=92}}</ref> [[Third Way (magazine)|''Third Way'']]{{'}}s Paul Northup also commented in 1998, how critics hailed her an "icon of [[Western society]]".<ref name="Northup">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h56sBy_z9eUC&pg=PA28&dq=Madonna|title=Reviews: Madonna: Ray of Light|last=Northup|first=Paul|access-date=September 26, 2022|magazine=[[Third Way (magazine)|Third Way]]|number=3|volume=21|p=28|date=April 1998}}</ref> In 2014, associate professor Juana Suárez was quoted as referring to her as a "universal symbol".<ref name="Suarez">{{harvnb|Foster|2014|p=114}}</ref>

Her globalized appeal was reflected in contemporary pieces from different sectors, including an article published by ''[[Micromanía]]'' in 1989, describing to the "symbol Madonna" as the "most palpable proof that Western society advances and changes",<ref name="Micro">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/micromania_ep1/Micromania_ep2_011/page/n77/mode/2up?q=Madonna|title=Una chica con personalidad|last=Erice|first=Santiago|access-date=September 26, 2022|language=es|magazine=[[Micromanía]]|number=11|volume=5|p=78|date=April 1989}}</ref> while political scientist [[David Held]] with other academics stated in 1999, that "the most public symbols of globalization consist of [[Coca-Cola]], Madonna and the news on [[CNN]]".<ref name="Held">{{harvnb|Held|1999|p=327}}</ref> In ''Israel'' (2003) by historian [[Efraim Karsh]], she is cited as the following: "Madonna and [[Big Mac]]s the most peripheral of examples of ... 'normalness' which means, amongst other things, the end of the terrible fear of everything that is foreign and strange".<ref name="Karsh">{{harvnb|Karsh|2003|p=315}}</ref> In lands like hermetic [[North Korea]], some including koreanist scholar [[Mózes Csoma]] have documented references of Madonna.<ref name="Korea">{{cite web|url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3070853|title=The 1989 wind of change and its effect on the North|first=Mózes|last=Csoma|access-date=October 6, 2022|author-link=Mózes Csoma|work=[[Korea JoongAng Daily]]|date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> For instance, her film ''[[Evita (1996 film)|Evita]]'' (1996), became the first American film screened in the country.<ref name="Schönherr">{{harvnb|Schönherr|2012|p=12}}</ref> Her globalist status is also attested in some associated phrases, including:

*'''Madonna-economy''': Defined at the 1993 [[International Federation for Information Processing]] held in Namur, Belgium, under the concept of [[Cultural globalization|global cultural industry]] as "risks to become an aggresive and arrogant phenomenon", for example by imposing the transformation of all cultural activities into "cultural goods".<ref name="Berleur">{{harvnb|Berleur|Beardon|Laufer|1993|p=307}}</ref> Conversely, the Group of Lisbon, an international consortium of 19 scholars from different disciplines,{{efn|Integrated by scholars such as [[:it:Gianfranco Dioguardi|Gianfranco Dioguardi]], [[Pierre-Marc Johnson]], [[Terry Karl]] and [[Robert McCormick Adams Jr.]] to [[:fr:Daniel Latouche|Daniel Latouche]], [[Riccardo Petrella]], [[Saskia Sassen]] and [[:pt:Joel Serrão|Joel Serrão]] among others.<ref name="Lisbon2">{{harvnb|Group of Lisbon|1995|p=vii}}</ref>}} described it as a "process that is unifying (essentially by homogenization) the consumption of information and communication goods" in the same way Coca-Cola did.<ref name="Lisbon">{{harvnb|Group of Lisbon|1995|p=3}}</ref> German scholar Frank Sowa from [[Technische Hochschule Nürnberg]] lumped it with other terms such as [[McDonaldization]], [[McWorld]] and [[Cocacolonization]].<ref name="Kallenborn">{{harvnb|Kallenborn|2016|p=162}}</ref>

*'''Madonnanization:''' Economist [[Tyler Cowen]] from ''[[Forbes]]'' used it in the context of the performing arts as a "homogeneous global culture of the 'least common denominator'".<ref name="Madonnization">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2003/0428/038.html?sh=5f031e7a2182|title=Modern Mix|date=April 28, 2003|access-date=October 5, 2022|work=Forbes|author-link=Tyler Cowen|first=Tyler|last=Cowen|url-access=subscription}}</ref> French academic [[Georges-Claude Guilbert]], notes that in a [[postmodern]] context the definition would not be derogatory, arguing that "there seems to be some sort of equation between the McDonaldization of American and its "Madonnanization", which can both be "celebrated by [[List of postmodern critics|postmodern critics]]".<ref name="Guilbert87"/>

==Multiculturalism==
[[File:Countries Madonna concerts have occurred in.svg|thumb|A [[world map]] showing countries where Madonna has put her feet as of 2021]]

Madonna's figure was significantly documented from [[racial studies]] and [[multiculturalism]], either for her impact, relationship and her mix of cultures. She was described as a "critical nexus of race".<ref name="Stange"/> In 1993, ''Australian Gay & Lesbian Law Journal'' said "it is not possible to read/interpret" her without a "recognition of elements such as race, class [and] ethnicity", which are present in "almost all" she does.<ref name="law93">{{cite journal|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Australasian_gay_lesbian_law_journal/T9hRAQAAIAAJ?hl=en|title=Madonna|journal=Australasian Gay & Lesbian Law Journal|date=1993|access-date=September 30, 2022|p=10|volume=3–5|url-access=limited}}</ref> Recognizing her [[Social inclusion|inclusivity]] and [[cultural diversity]] since 1982, music critic [[Ann Powers]] commented "her virtual workplace was multicultural long before that was a mandated corporate goal".<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/02/06/146481448/all-her-children-madonna-as-pops-reigning-mother|title=All Her Children: Madonna As Pop's Reigning Mother|publisher=[[NRP]]|date=February 6, 2012|access-date=November 18, 2022|first=Ann|last=Powers|author-link=Ann Powers}}</ref>

In 2004, ''[[Details (magazine)|Details]]'' magazine called her a "Queen of Cultural Juice".<ref name="Details">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Details/K_A4AQAAIAAJ?hl=en-419&gbpv=0&bsq=Madonna|title=Madonna|volume=23|number=1-5|url-access=limited|via=Google Books|magazine=[[Details (magazine)|Details]]}}</ref> [[Frances Negrón-Muntaner]] referred to her as "last century's American transcultural dominatrix".<ref name="Muntaner157"/> In late 1990s, professor George J. Leonard described her as "the last ethnic and first postethnic diva".<ref name="Acierno441">{{harvnb|D'Acierno|Leonard|1998|p=441}}</ref><ref name="Sawyers">{{harvnb|Sawyers|2004|p=online}}</ref> 

===References for Madonna, and cultural depictions===
[[File:MDNA à l'Olympia 12 (cropped).jpg|upright|left|thumb|Madonna singing French song "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus]]" in [[The MDNA Tour|2012]].]]

According to professor Santiago-Fouz-Hernández in 2004, [[Hispanic]] culture is "perhaps the most influential and revisited 'ethnic' style in her work".<ref name="Arranz"/> In 2018, ''Billboard'' made the list of her best Spanish songs and Latin style.<ref name="BBLatin">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/madonna-feliz-cumple-best-spanish-songs-and-latin-style-8470477/|title=Feliz Cumple Madonna! Her Best Spanish Songs & Latin Style|magazine=Billboard|last=Cantor-Navas|first=Judy|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2023}}</ref> During an interview with [[Jam!]] in 1996,  Madonna herself declared: "I've always been very attracted and intrigued by Latin culture, I mean I'm half-Italian, so I suppose I'm Latin [...] I love [[Latin music]]. I love Latin men. I feel an affinity toward the Latin world".<ref name="Latinos">{{cite web|url=http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMadonna/dec14_evita.html|title=Material girl not all maternal|first=Jane|last=Stevenson|publisher=[[Jam!]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818042415/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMadonna/dec14_evita.html|archive-date=August 18, 2000|access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref>{{efn|"Latin" is a word with different meanings. Like [[Jennifer Lopez]] or [[Shakira]], sources including [[:es:Hispavista|Hispavista]] and editors such as Martin Iddon and Melanie L. Marshall (2020), have referred to Madonna as a person with "Latin roots".<ref name="Hispavista">{{cite web|url=http://musica.hispavista.com/disco/true-blue-d10000000000000001344|title=True Blue|language=es|url-status=dead|publisher=[[:es:Hispavista|Hispavista]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616090651/http://musica.hispavista.com/disco/true-blue-d10000000000000001344|archive-date=June 16, 2009|access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Iddon">{{harvnb|Iddon|Marshall|2020|p=online}}</ref>}} 

Aside her native English, Madonna also ventured to sing, partially or fully, in other languages, including Spanish ("[[You'll See|Verás]]" or "[[Lo Que Siente La Mujer]]"), French ("[[La Vie en rose]]" or "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus]]"), Portuguese ("[[Faz Gostoso (Madonna song)|Faz Gostoso]]" or "Fado Pechincha"), Sanskrit ("Shanti/Ashtangi") and [[Basque language|Euskara]] ("Sagarra jo").

Her relationship with countries or cultural footprints have been depicted in documentaries and journalistic pieces. For instance, [[BBC Four]] broadcast the documentary ''There's Only One Madonna'' (2020), which charts "Britain's relationship with Madonna" and examines the "influence" she has had "on [[Music of the United Kingdom|British music]] and fashion".<ref name="BBC1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00748kl|title=There's Only One Madonna|publisher=[[BBC One]]|date=2020|access-date=October 7, 2023}}</ref> In 2022, [[France 5]] broadcast the documentary ''In France with Madonna'', exploring her connections with the country.<ref name="France">{{cite web|url=https://www.francetelevisions.fr/et-vous/notre-tele/a-ne-pas-manquer/la-part-francaise-dune-icone-mondiale-in-france-with-madonna-13987|title=La part française d’une icône mondiale : « In France with Madonna »|publisher=[[France Télévisions]]|date=2022|access-date=October 7, 2023|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015155458/https://www.francetelevisions.fr/et-vous/notre-tele/a-ne-pas-manquer/la-part-francaise-dune-icone-mondiale-in-france-with-madonna-13987}}</ref> Local leading newspapers including ''[[El País]]'', documented Madonna's relationship with Spain,<ref name="Spain">{{cite web|url=https://smoda.elpais.com/celebrities/hechos-sobre-madonna-y-su-relacion-con-espana/|title=Hechos sobre Madonna y su relación con España|work=[[El País]]|date=June 20, 2012|access-date=October 7, 2023|language=es|first=Ana|last=Serrano}}</ref> ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' with Hong Kong,<ref name="HK">{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1913616/hong-kongs-30-year-relationship-madonna-its-complicated|title=Hong Kong’s 30-year relationship with Madonna: it’s complicated|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=February 17, 2016|access-date=October 7, 2023|first=Joanna|last=Wong}}</ref> and [[Clarín (Argentine newspaper)|''Clarín'']] with Argentina.<ref name="ARG1">{{cite web|url=https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/musica/madonna-argentina-visitas-varias-polemicas-cena-menem-cola-aire_0_SyKJq8DNm.html|title=Madonna en la Argentina: Cuatro visitas, varias polémicas, una cena con Menem y la cola al aire|work=[[Clarín (Argentine newspaper)|Clarín]]|date=August 15, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2023|first=Martín|last=Matu}}</ref> With the later country, ''[[La Nación]]'' commented she achieved great milestones during her career in the country.<ref name="ARG2">{{cite web|url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/musica/la-historia-de-madonna-en-argentina-nid2162708/|title=La historia de Madonna en Argentina|work=[[La Nación]]|date=August 15, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2023|first=Gabriel|last=Orqueda}}</ref>

===Critical explorations===
Her impact was noted mostly during the 1980s and 1990s, or before massification of Internet. Her reception with Latin audiences and representation of its culture, was commented in some works, including Negrón-Muntaner in 2004 amid the Latin culture in the U.S..<ref name="Muntaner157">{{harvnb|Negrón-Muntaner|2004|pp=145-157}}</ref> She also explored her relationship with Boricuas, saying it produced a "queer juncture" representation in mass culture, but she felt it "came to most successfully commodify Boricuas cultural practices for all to see".<ref name="Muntaner146"/> Others commentators, including Carlos Pabón in ''De Albizu a Madonna'' (1995) to Carme R. Lugo-Lugo in ''The Madonna Experience'' (2001), also devoted her Boricua reception of that time.<ref name="Muntaner146"/><ref name="Lugo">{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3347058|title=The Madonna Experience: A U.S. Icon Awakens a Puerto Rican Adolescent's Feminist Consciousness|pp=118–130|journal=[[Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies]]|first=Carmen R.|last=Lugo-Lugo|url-access=subscription|volume=22|number=2|date=2001|doi=10.2307/3347058}}</ref> 

Madonna's ''Italianness'' was also remarked in academia and press, including in ''The Italian American Heritage'' (1998), where she was described as a "vehicle for the expression of many of the qualities" of Italians and [[Italian American]]s.<ref name="Acierno491">{{harvnb|D'Acierno|Leonard|1998|p=491}}</ref> She was regarded as one of the most significative Italian American performers in musical culture, in ''Racing in the Street'' (2004),<ref name="Sawyers"/> and called by historian [[David Roediger]] in ''Colored White'' (2003) as "the most popular United States Italian American entertainer of our time".<ref name="Roediger">{{harvnb|Roediger|2003|p=36}}</ref> At some stage of her career, the usage of Asian cultural elements in her [[Fashion of Madonna|fashion]] and work, was also noted and explored by scholars such as [[Gayatri Gopinath]], [[Douglas Kellner]] or [[Christopher Partridge]], generally agreeing she was a conduit to help introduced to Western mass culture numerous elements from the region.<ref name="Gopinath">{{harvnb|Gopinath|2005|p=29}}</ref><ref name="Hammer">{{harvnb|Kellner|Hammer|2009|pp=502–503}}</ref><ref name="Partridge">{{harvnb|Partridge|2017|p=142}}</ref>

Fouz-Hernández said that her exploration of intra-Caucasian identities has received "little academic attention".<ref name="Fouzxx">{{harvnb|Fouz-Hernández|Jarman-Ivens|2004|p=xx}}</ref> Writing for ''[[The Journal of Popular Culture]]'' in 2012, scholar José I. Prieto-Arranz said "various critics" noted that rather export American music, she introduced various European trends in her home country.<ref name="Arranz">{{cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00917.x|title=The Semiotics of Performance and Success in Madonna|date=February 22, 2012|journal=[[The Journal of Popular Culture]]|access-date=May 19, 2022|first=José I.|last=Prieto‐Arranz|pp=173–196|volume=45|number=1|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00917.x}}</ref> Madonna had a more complicated reception within Black critics. In 1990, ''[[CineAction!]]'' said her "''blackness'' is a common, though poorly articulated theme of popular press literature".<ref name="CineAction">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cineaction/1B1AAQAAIAAJ?hl=en|title=Lynn Phillips, American Film 1987|magazine=[[Cineaction]]|p=22|last=Phillips|first=Lynn|date=1990|number=19–25|url-access=limited|access-date=February 2, 2022}}</ref> Authors like [[bell hooks]] and [[Thomas Ferraro]] analyzed her from the perspective, with the latter referred to her in 2005, as "the most accomplished Italian-to-black crossover artist".<ref name="Ferraro177">{{harvnb|Ferraro|2005|p=177}}</ref>   

== Music industry ==
Madonna's impact in music industry was condensed by Greek lecturer from [[University of Patras]], Constantine Chatzipapatheodoridis in 2021, saying she helped shape her contemporary music stage in terms of sound, image, [[Madonna and contemporary arts|performance]], [[Madonna and sexuality|sex]], [[Madonna fandom|fandom]] and reinvention.<ref name="Constantine">{{harvnb|Chatzipapatheodoridis|2021|p=online}}</ref> She was also credited by others, for helping transform in her generation how music is performed, delivered to masses, purchased, packaged and downloaded.<ref name="Marshawn">{{harvnb|Evans|2013|p=online}}</ref><ref name="RusellMTV">{{cite web|title=Why Madonna's Legacy of Reinvention is More Relevant Than Ever|publisher=MTV|date=April 24, 2019|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/3121740/madonna-legacy-madame-x-reinvention/|last=Russell|first=Erica}}</ref> As early as 1984, ''Billboard'' referred that a simultaneous releases of LP, cassette and CD was pioneered with Madonna.<ref name="BB1985">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Madonna&pg=PA80|title=WEA's DROZ|magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 16, 2022|date=December 15, 1984|p=80|volume=96|number=50}}</ref> Writing for ''[[El País]]'' in 2014, Xavi Sancho described her releases were more than "musical and commercial events" as they market in many levels a way forward.<ref name="Xavi">{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2014/12/05/estilo/1417808310_814136.html|title=Madonna: eterno regreso a la provocación|first=Xavi|last=Sancho|work=[[El País]]|date=December 5, 2014|access-date=March 16, 2022|language=es|archive-date=December 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206012623/https://elpais.com/elpais/2014/12/05/estilo/1417808310_814136.html}}</ref> 

Her chief musical impact was noted on [[pop music]] landscape with ''Billboard'' staffers saying in 2018, "the history of pop music can essentially be divided into two eras: Pre-Madonna and Post-Madonna".<ref name="BB2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/media/lists/100-greatest-madonna-songs-list-8469835/|title=The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs: Critics’ Picks|date=August 15, 2018|access-date=September 30, 2022|author=Billboard Staff|work=Billboard}}</ref> She helped brought to the mainstream [[dance-pop]] according to [[Arie Kaplan]],<ref name="Kaplan">{{harvnb|Kaplan|2012|pp=31—32}}</ref> and had a similar effect with [[dance music]], according to music critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]].<ref name="MadonnaReview">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/madonna-mw0000268192|title=Madonna – Madonna review|publisher=AllMusic. Rovi Corporation|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|access-date=June 20, 2015|archive-date=June 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602002408/http://www.allmusic.com/album/madonna-mw0000268192|url-status=live}}</ref> Bob Tannenbaum from ''The New York Times'' credited her for help made [[remix]]ing a standard practice, as it was noted as more an underground practice.<ref name="Lysloff">{{harvnb|Lysloff|Gay|2013|p=307}}</ref> Other music reviewers credited her for help introduce [[electronic music]] into the stage of global [[popular music]],<ref name="ROL">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/ray-of-light-mt0004973231|title=Ray of Light – Madonna|publisher=AllMusic. Rovi Corporation|first=Liana|last=Jonas|access-date=June 18, 2015|archive-date=December 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227002650/http://www.allmusic.com/song/ray-of-light-mt0004973231|url-status=live}}</ref> or at least into the mainstream American pop culture according to British scholar [[David Gauntlett]], as the genre was most popular among European acts.<ref name="Fouz" /> 

===Female figure===
{{See also|Madonna (nickname)|Feminism of Madonna}}
{{Quote box|bgcolor=|align=right|width=25%|quote=More than any other artist, Madonna deconstructed the roles that women play, not only in music but in all of popular culture [...] for the first time placed female voices at the center of pop discourse, as actors rather than spectators|source=—Music critic [[Dave Marsh]] (1994).<ref name="Marsh94">{{harvnb|Marsh|Bernard|1994|p=266}}</ref>}}

According to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], Madonna helped dissolve gender boundaries.<ref name="Rockhall">{{cite web|url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/madonna/bio/|title=Madonna Biography|publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]|access-date=May 21, 2022|archive-date=April 15, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.is/3Kinf}}</ref> The world ''female'' became significant in her assessment said Tony Sclafani from [[MSNBC]],<ref name="MSNBC">{{cite web|url=http://www.today.com/id/26164523/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/has-madonna-surpassed-beatles/|title=At 50, has Madonna surpassed the Beatles?|first=Tony|last=Sclafani|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|date=December 8, 2008|access-date=April 14, 2015}}</ref> and English author [[Dylan Jones]] said she was "genuinely influential".<ref name="Jones">{{harvnb|Jones|2021|p=online}}</ref>

Though she wasn't the only leading female figure of her time or before, in different degrees international publications and authors agree how Madonna helped pave the way for future generation of female pop stars in the global stage of pop music. Some of them, agree that she debuted in a male-dominated and rock-oriented era, including Gillian Branstetter from ''[[The Daily Dot]]''.<ref name="Branstetter">{{cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/why-madonna-still-matters/|title=Why Madonna still matters|date=December 16, 2014|access-date=June 10, 2022|last=Branstetter|first=Gillian|work=[[The Daily Dot]]}}</ref> Her "atypical" influence-success in the world of pop, was also remarked by authors of ''Popular Texts in English'' (2001),<ref name="Ballesteros">{{harvnb|Ballesteros González|2001|p=45}}</ref> and German media outlet [[Deutsche Welle]] in 2018.<ref name="Deutsche">{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/madonna-at-60-from-college-dropout-to-the-queen-of-pop/a-45089091|title=Madonna at 60: From college dropout to the Queen of Pop|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=June 10, 2022|archive-date=August 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816204234/https://www.dw.com/en/madonna-at-60-from-college-dropout-to-the-queen-of-pop/a-45089091}}</ref> Madonna was credited for help change [[paradigm shift]] level towards the dominance of band to solo act with an emphasis on females.<ref name="MSNBC"/> "Most of biggest of pop music" are woman and Madonna "is the person who proved that this was possible, who opened up a new world for them to grow into", said British music journalist [[David Hepworth]] in 2017.<ref name="Hepworth">{{harvnb|Hepworth|2017|p=248}}</ref> Similarly, in 2014, Spanish music journalist [[:es:Diego Alfredo Manrique|Diego A. Manrique]] described we are living in a "Madonna era", after seeing a dominance of female artists, who were also influenced by her.<ref name="Manrique">{{cite web|url=https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2014/05/26/cultura/1401122792_372043.html|title=Ano 31 da era Madonna|date=March 26, 2014|access-date=June 10, 2022|last=Manrique|first=Diego A.|author-link=:es:Diego Alfredo Manrique|work=[[El País]]|language=pt|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Her influence is further attested in the way female artists were later scrutinized —Madonna received a significant international [[Madonna in media|media]] and [[Madonna studies|scholarly]] attentions. For instance, a ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'' contributor said in 2014, that "reviews of her work have served as a roadmap for scrutinizing women at each stage in their music career".<ref name="Noisey">{{cite web|url=http://noisey.vice.com/blog/madonna-bedtime-stories-20th-anniversary-sex-sexuality-feminism|title=Why Madonna's Unapologetic 'Bedtime Stories' is Her Most Important Album|date=October 24, 2014|access-date=September 29, 2022|last=von Aue|first=Mary|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]}}</ref> Similarly, scholars in ''Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism'' (2014) agree her figure is "widely considered to have defined the discursive space for examining female popular music".<ref name="Whelehan"/> Moreover, ''[[City Pages]]''{{'}}s Eric Thompson commented in 2011, her influence is "felt in the way modern female musicians are viewed, regarded and accepted".<ref name="CityPages">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypages.com/music/madonna-turns-53-today-and-her-influence-is-felt-now-more-than-ever-6637117|title=Madonna turns 53 today, and her influence is felt now more than ever|first=Erik|last=Thompson|work=[[City Pages]]|date=August 16, 2011|access-date=June 19, 2022|archive-date=July 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729211539/http://www.citypages.com/music/madonna-turns-53-today-and-her-influence-is-felt-now-more-than-ever-6637117}}</ref> Female artists "are very often measured against the yardstick that Madonna has become" added Dutch scholars in 2013 for ''[[Celebrity Studies]]'' journal.<ref name="Reflexive"/>

==Musicianship==
Madonna's musicianship also made an industry impact. In 1996, music critic [[J. D. Considine]] wrote that both Madonna and Michael Jackson redefined our notions of "artistic impact".<ref name="Considine">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-10-20-1996294063-story.html|title=Rock of Ages Music: Prepare yourself. The '70s, those dark years of polyester and disco, were also the greatest decade for rock and roll.|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=October 20, 1996|access-date=June 13, 2022|archive-date=June 13, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.is/EKzpV|url-status=live|first=J. D.|last=Considine|author-link=J. D. Considine}}</ref> In 1986, Karl Podhoretz from the [[University of Dallas]] described her a "revolutionary voice who has altered the very meaning of sound in our time".<ref name="Dallas">{{cite web|url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1986/april/the-madonna-move-a-special-report/|title=The Madonna Move: A Special Report|date=April 1, 1986|access-date=June 7, 2022|work=[[D Magazine]]|archive-url=https://archive.is/jeXBx|archive-date=June 7, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> In a review of the "best debut albums of all time" by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in 2013, Madonna is referred to as "the most important female voice in the history of modern music".<ref name="RSvoice">{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-debut-albums-of-all-time-143608/madonna-31-158448/|title=The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time|work=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 13, 2013|access-date=June 7, 2022|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.is/44UjO|url-status=live}}</ref>

Her "abilities as a singer and songwriter were developed" after she became famous commented critic [[Stephen Holden]] for ''The New York Times'' in 1990.<ref name="Hol">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/05/arts/strike-pose-when-music-skin-deep-pop-view-video-age-music-stark-images-shrill.html|title=Strike the Pose|work=The New York Times|date=August 5, 1990|access-date=March 4, 2023|first=Stephen|last=Holden|author-link=Stephen Holden}}</ref> According to [[Andrew Morton (writer)|Andrew Morton]], "some writers and producers" said she is much an "underrated musician and lyricist".<ref name="Morton15">{{harvnb|Morton|2001|p=15}}</ref>

===Voice===
[[File:Madonna - Rebel Heart Tour 2015 - Mannheim (23388285172).jpg|left|thumb|Madonna found criticisms and even positive critical commentaries regarding her voice.]]

Madonna's voice defined her career; an author said she is "routinely dismissed by scholars, critics and fellow artists alike as someone who 'can't sing'".<ref name="Jennex">{{harvnb|Jennex|Fast|2019|p=online}}</ref> Madonna would become later criticized for using sometimes industry practices such as [[playback]], [[lip-sync]] and [[Auto-Tune]]. Others from a contributor of ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' to English music journalist [[Lucy O'Brien]], noted how others showed counter-criticisms and positive commentaries, including a musician recognizing her as a solid interpreted who "doesn't over-embellish things".<ref name="Foley">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-02-vw-1778-story.html|title=Thoroughly Modern Madonna|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Barbara|last=Foley|date=March 2, 1990|access-date=June 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name="OBrien83">{{harvnb|O'Brien|2007|p=83}}</ref> Critical recognition is seen in music publications ranging from ''Billboard'' (1999) to musicologists like Keith E. Clifton (2004) acknowledging her "ever-involving" vocals and "metamorphosis".<ref name="BBreview">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/madonna-video-collection/docview/227133112/se-2|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Eileen|title=Madonna: The Video Collection|date=October 9, 1999|access-date=October 6, 2023|magazine=Billboard|p=32|url-access=registration|volume=111|number=41}}</ref><ref name="Fouz54">{{harvnb|Fouz-Hernández|Jarman-Ivens|2004|pp=54–56}}</ref> "Madonna's voice has certainly changed since the 1980s, showing the signs of age, vocal coaching [and] vocal exercises", wrote author of ''Popular Music and the Politics of Hope'' (2019).<ref name="Fast">{{harvnb|Fast|Jennex|2019|p=online}}</ref> Dutch linguist [[Theo van Leeuwen]] cited her as perhaps "the first singer who used quite different voices for different songs".<ref name="Leeuwen">{{harvnb|Grimshaw-Aagaard|Walther-Hansen|Knakkergaard|2019|p=480}}</ref> 

For others, her case served to compare and review the nature of pop music vocalists. Pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney for ''[[Financial Times]]'' said "her critics do not understand that pop singers do not require the vocal technique of [[Maria Callas]]".<ref name="Tileny">{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/53872542-12f4-11dd-8d91-0000779fd2ac|title=Woman in the News: Madonna|date=April 25, 2008|access-date=September 29, 2021|first=Ludovic|last=Hunter-Tilney|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In similar connotations, scholars in ''The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music'' (2014) compared that between pop singers in the "style of Madonna", brilliant singing ability is not of utmost important, contrary to performers of Soul and R&B "whose considerable vocal skill" are a crucial aspect.<ref name="Waksman">{{harvnb|Bennett|Waksman|2014|pp=340–343}}</ref> Sociologist [[Stanley Aronowitz]] considered her a [[performance artist]], who deploys pop music as a vehicle "for something else going on".<ref name="Aronowitz">{{harvnb|Aronowitz|2013|p=27}}</ref> She was even included among the greatest female singers of all time by [[Smooth Radio (2014)|Smoot Radio]] in 2023, where her voice was described as "solid and clear" that works for her "pop brand".<ref name="Smooth">{{cite web|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/music/best-female-singers-of-all-time/|title=The 30 greatest female singers of all time, ranked in order of pure vocal ability|publisher=[[Smooth Radio (2014)|Smoot Radio]]|date=January 3, 2023|access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref> 

===Production===
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center|align=right
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 | footer = Madonna has ventured to play some instruments, including ukulele in the [[Rebel Heart Tour]] and plays regularly the guitar. She was nominated with Les Paul Horizon Award at the 2002 [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452328/madonna-next-guitar-god.jhtml|title=Madonna: The Next Guitar God?|publisher=[[MTV News]]|first=Abbey|last=Goodman|date=February 15, 2002|access-date=March 14, 2014}}</ref>
}}

====Songwriting====
According to musicologist [[Susan McClary]], Madonna "writes or co-writes most of her own material".<ref name="McClary"/> She influenced other songwriters,<ref name="Belfast"/> including [[Kylie Minogue]] who took her as one of the inspiration to start writing her own songs.<ref name="Andrews">{{cite web|url=https://www.mediaweek.com.au/how-marc-andrews-went-from-mediaweek-to-world-of-hitmakers-kylie-and-madonna/|title=How Marc Andrews went from Mediaweek to world of hitmakers Kylie and Madonna|date=April 29, 2022|access-date=September 30, 2022|last=Manning|first=James|work=[[Mediaweek (Australian magazine)|Mediaweek]]}}</ref> In 2015, [[Diplo]] credited her for showing him a "whole other level of dedication and old school work ethic when it comes to writing".<ref name="Diplo">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/diplo-top-moments-2015-madonna-justin-bieber-major-lazer-6828208/|title=Diplo Recalls His Top Moments of 2015: Working With Madonna, Justin Bieber & More|magazine=Billboard|date=December 30, 2015|access-date=October 7, 2023|first=David|last=Rishty}}</ref> In 1998, ''[[The Straits Times]]'' recognized her with [[Mariah Carey]] in the "pop diva league" for writing and producing their own material.<ref name="Carey">{{cite web|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19980127-1.2.54.3.1?qt=madonna&q=Madonna|title=This Butterfly knows where she is flying to|first=Rebecca|last=Lim|work=[[The Straits Times]]|date=January 27, 1998|access-date=October 7, 2023|p=2}}</ref> To Maria Muller of [[W (magazine)|''W'']] magazine, Madonna helped normalize the "idea that pop stars could and should write their own songs".<ref name="Muller">{{cite web|url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/madonna-influence-culture-trends-yoga-fashion|title=The 9 Things Madonna Invented That You Didn’t Realize Madonna Invented|first=Marissa|last=Muller|work=[[W (magazine)|W]]|date=August 16, 2018|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref> However, ''[[American Songwriter]]'' commented because her [[Madonna in media|image of pop star]], some have assume "she didn't write her own songs".<ref name="song3">{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/3-songs-you-didnt-know-madonna-wrote-for-other-artists/|title=3 Songs You Didn’t Know Madonna Wrote for Other Artists|first=Jacob|last=Uitti|work=[[American Songwriter]]|date=2022|access-date=February 24, 2023}}</ref> 

Madonna also found critical appreciation and set some records in the songwriting realm. In 1995, [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'']] appreciated her as a "great songwriter".<ref name="Barry95">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=495Bl1_hMr8C&pg=PA48&dq=Madonna+songwriter+SPIN&hl=en&sa=|title=The Ten That Matter Most '85-'95: 2 Madonna|first=Barry|last=Walters|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=April 1995|access-date=September 27, 2022|p=48|volume=11|number=1}}</ref> Morton called her a "musical poet in motion",<ref name="Morton20">{{harvnb|Morton|2001|p=20}}</ref> and biographer Carol Gnojewski a "prolific writer".<ref name="Gnojewski132">{{harvnb|Gnojewski|2007|p=132}}</ref> Madonna was included among ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s [[Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time|100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time]].<ref name="RSlist">{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/|title=100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time|work=Rolling Stone|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref> She once held the record for the songwriter with most number-one songs on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]],<ref name="McAleer">{{harvnb|McAleer|2004|p=339}}</ref> and was also recognized by the [[Guinness World Records]] as the "most successful female songwriter in Britain" (probably first included in 1989).<ref name="Guinness94">{{harvnb|McWhirter|McFarlan|1989|p=95}}</ref>

====Producer====
Madonna also received commentaries, including praise as a producer, although some have noted the fact she collaborated with various, especially men producers, believe they were responsible for her entire creative output.<ref name="Lysloff186">{{harvnb|Lysloff|Gay|2013|p=186}}</ref><ref name="Viñuela2018">{{harvnb|Viñuela|2018|p=online}}</ref> She certainly hires "well-producers", said critic [[Gina Arnold]] in 1995, but Arnold applauded her consistency and personal injection.<ref name="GArnold"/> ''Rolling Stone'' magazine said "she's worked successfully with producers across many genre".<ref name="RSlist"/> According to [[Guy Sigsworth]], she is "intimately involved in the whole creative process as a collaborator and producer", and is a side "ignored by people so fixated on her image".<ref name="OBrien14">{{harvnb|O'Brien|2007|p=14}}</ref> "You don't produce Madonna, you collaborate with her... She has her vision and knows how to get it", told [[Stuart Price]] to [[Peter Robinson (journalist)|Peter Robinson]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popjustice.com/articles/stuart-price-interview/|title=Stuart Price interview|publisher=[[Popjustice]]|date=November 16, 2005|access-date=November 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105224609/https://www.popjustice.com/articles/stuart-price-interview/|archive-date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> Madonna impacted the career of underground and then-emerging producers, including [[William Orbit]], [[Mirwais Ahmadzaï]] and Price with ''Billboard'' commenting she "plucked" them from "electronic music obscurity".<ref name="BBproducers">{{cite web|url=https://jp.reuters.com/article/review-review-music-albums-dc-idUKN2845441920080425|title=Billboard album reviews: Madonna, the Roots|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=April 25, 2008|access-date=October 7, 2023|language=ja, en}}</ref> 

====Career control====
Both Madonna's ascension and control over her musical career was also recognized; it was described as "the most ground-breaking aspect" of her career by Michael Campbell in ''Popular Music in America'' (2012).<ref name="Campbell340">{{harvnb|Campbell|2012|p=340}}</ref> Madonna's career control slightly contrasted from past mainstream female artists, and even [[record label]]-artist relationships.<ref name="Batanga">{{cite web|url=https://www.vix.com/es/btg/musica/9637/9-razones-que-explican-por-que-madonna-es-la-reina-del-pop-de-todos-los-tiempos|title=9 razones que explican por qué Madonna es la Reina del Pop de todos los tiempos|trans-title=9 reasons explain why Madonna is the Queen of Pop of all time|first=Laglere|last=Ana|publisher=[[Batanga Media|Batanga.com]]|date=April 14, 2015|access-date=April 1, 2021|language=es|archive-date=September 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926050209/https://www.vix.com/es/btg/musica/9637/9-razones-que-explican-por-que-madonna-es-la-reina-del-pop-de-todos-los-tiempos}}</ref> Some observers ranging from [[Roger Blackwell]] to [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] considered her the first woman to have a "complete control" over every aspect of career and music.<ref name="Blackwell"/><ref name="STE">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/madonna/|title=Madonna Biography at MTV|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|access-date=April 10, 2015|publisher=MTV|archive-date=September 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922093941/http://www.mtv.com/artists/madonna/#profile_detail_bio_box|url-status=dead}} ''If necessary, click option'' Bio</ref> Music journalist [[Charles R. Cross]] was quote as saying, if she wasn't, it's as if she was.<ref name="Egan">{{harvnb|Egan|2009|p=264}}</ref> In 2022, Madonna stated she refuses the idea to sell her catalog saying "ownership is everything".<ref name="owner">{{cite web|url=https://people.com/music/madonna-says-she-refuses-to-sell-her-song-catalog-because-ownership-is-everything/|title=Madonna Says She Refuses to Sell Her Song Catalog Because 'Ownership Is Everything'|date=July 28, 2022|access-date=November 1, 2023|first=Rachel|last=DeSantis|work=People}}</ref>

==Influence on others==

== Contradictory perspectives ==
Aside praise, Madonna has been also criticized from vastly different constituencies in equal parts and from a variety of perspectives.<ref name="Dunbar">{{harvnb|Dunbar|2015|p=online}}</ref><ref name="Schwichtenberg17">{{harvnb|Schwichtenberg|1993|pp=15–17}}</ref> Professor [[Ann Cvetkovich]] agree that "global phenomenon[s]" like Madonna, "can be articulated in highly contradictory ways".<ref name="Cvetkovich">{{harvnb|Cvetkovich|2018|p=online}}</ref> In ''American Icons'' (2006), associate professor Diane Pecknold referred to her as an "omnipresent" figure but a "polarizing" one.<ref name="Halls"/>

Cultural critic [[Stuart Sim]] asserts in ''The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism'' (2001), that she "attained the status of [[cultural icon]]" but she is an "extremely problematic one" because depending on one's point of view which lead him to conclude this makes her "exceedingly difficult to categorize".<ref name="Sim">{{harvnb|Sim|2013|p=310}}</ref> By 2019, Matthew Jacobs from ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' felt that "it's hard to think" of any star with "as many singular achievements and such a durable place in Western media who provokes so much ire and indifference".<ref name="HuffPost2019">{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/madonna-madame-x-career-retrospective_n_5d08fb17e4b0e560b7097d3b|title=On Hating Madonna|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=March 21, 2022|date=June 24, 2019|first=Matthew|last=Jacobs}}</ref> In 2015, other authors similarly agree that perhaps no one has sparked more debate than Madonna among all cultural icons of the last three decades.<ref name="Quartz">{{harvnb|Quartz|Asp|2015|p=228}}</ref>

===Social and cultural criticisms===
''The New York Times'' also noted she caused a few "cultural crises" and challenged [[status quo]].<ref name="NYT60"/> In ''Women and the Media: Diverse Perspectives'' (2005), authors also wrote that Madonna challenged the American value system, and continued to challenge it.<ref name="Carilli">{{harvnb|Carilli|Campbell|2005|p=79}}</ref> In the 1990s, some sectors considered her "the lowest form of popular culture".<ref name="Schwichtenberg17"/> Philosopher [[Isaiah Berlin]] lamented the mass culture exemplified by her.<ref name="Birnbaum">{{harvnb|Birnbaum|2008|p=270}}</ref> Film critics such as [[William Rothman]] and [[Dudley Andrew]] suggested that the [[zeitgeist]] epitomized by Madonna became [[poltergeist]].<ref name="Coates">{{harvnb|Coates|Rothman|Rose|Andrew|1994|p=149}}</ref> 

In ''Leaders of the Pack'' (2015), Sean MacLeod also noted how "her moral integrity and responsibility are considered a subject for debate".<ref name="MacLeod"/> [[Mary Cross]] also explained she has been considered a "corrupting influence".<ref name="Cross82">{{harvnb|Cross|2007|p=82}}</ref> In 1991, educator [[John R. Silber]] even lumped her with [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Just Madonna, Hitler, Hussein|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/02/08/just-madonna-hitler-hussein/|newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times]]|access-date=September 28, 2022|date=February 8, 1991}}</ref> Broadly speaking, in ''Representing Gender in Cultures'' (2004), scholars pointed out that some critique of Madonna may be related to the "general denunciation of popular culture as the obedient mechanism of ideology".<ref name="Oleksy136">{{harvnb|Oleksy|Rydzewska|2004|p=136}}</ref> Spaniard philosopher [[:es:Ana Marta González (filósofa)|Ana Marta González]], wrote in 2007, that she doesn't really look a "cultural prominence" on Madonna, but also said it depents of point of views.<ref name="González">{{harvnb|González|2007|pp=16–17}}</ref> 

According to Australian magazine ''[[The Music (magazine)|The Music]]'' in 2019, she has been called a "culture vulture".<ref name="Auss">{{cite web|title=Madonna Is Many Things & Her Age Isn't One Of Them|url=https://themusic.com.au/features/madonna-madame-x-og-flavas/4Kv48vX09_Y/17-06-19|work=[[The Music (magazine)|The Music]]|date=June 17, 2019|access-date=October 13, 2022|first=Cyclone|last=Wehner}}</ref> Some devoted journalistic pieces in the matter, including [[Maura Johnston]] for ''Vice'' in 2015.<ref name="Johnston">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/rmjbex/madonna-bitch-im-madonna-essay|title=Why Is Madonna, the Grown-Ass Grammy-Winning Queen of Pop, Still Looking for Ideas to Steal?|url=https://themusic.com.au/features/madonna-madame-x-og-flavas/4Kv48vX09_Y/17-06-19|magazine=Vice|date=June 19, 2015|access-date=October 19, 2023|first=Maura|last=Johnston|author-link=Maura Johnston}}</ref> Madonna was called the "Queen of Cultural Appropriation" by [[Richard Appignanesi]] and David Garratt.<ref name="Lenig">{{harvnb|Lenig|2010|p=109}}</ref> British professor [[Yvonne Tasker]] said that "her appropriation does at times work to question assumptions".<ref name="Tasker">{{harvnb|Tasker|2002|p=182}}</ref> Another scholar said that her "privileged position and her status as a powerful icon do little to improve the problems of minorities from which she borrows".<ref name="Oleksy136"/>

In 2017, Jaap Kooijman from [[University of Amsterdam]] said she "provided a challenge views on racial perspectives".<ref name="Jaap">{{cite journal|title=Why I too write about Beyoncé|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19392397.2019.1630158|last=Kooijman|first=Jaap|pp=432–435|date=2017|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|number=3|volume=10|journal=[[Celebrity Studies]]|doi=10.1080/19392397.2019.1630158|s2cid=197699100|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In ''Madonna, Bawdy & Soul'' (1997), Canadian scholar [[Karlene Faith]] wrote that as she mixed cultural diversity, she offended those opposing sexism, racism or classism.<ref name="Faith146">{{harvnb|Faith|Wasserlein|1997|p=146}}</ref> Kellner noted she was especially criticized by Black critics.<ref name="Kellner83"/> For instance, in the 1990s, [[bell hooks]] analyzed her in a [[white privilege]] place.<ref name="Roediger310">{{harvnb|Roediger|2010|p=310}}</ref> She problematized the singer as a cultural icon, saying she is "dangerous" and called her an "Italian girl wanting to be black" further concluding she "never articulates the cultural debt she owes to Black females".<ref name="Brunner">{{harvnb|Brunner|1998|p=90}}</ref><ref name="Sexton221">{{harvnb|Sexton|1993|p=221}}</ref> Barbadian-British historian [[Andrea Stuart]], believes she "deliberately affected black style to attract a wider audience".<ref name="Stuart">{{harvnb|Stuart|1996|p=216}}</ref>

===Trans-global cultural criticisms===
[[File:PARATI-MADONNA-EVITA-08.webp|thumb|Evita lives, Get out Madonna]]

Madonna was retroactively called a [[Hyper-globalization|hyperglobalist]].<ref name="Smith">{{harvnb|Smith|El-Anis|Farrands|2014|p=67}}</ref> In a thesis from three schools of though, she was deemed among "dominant motifts" of hyper-globalization.<ref name="Oberoi">{{harvnb|Oberoi|Halsall|2018|p=46}}</ref> She was often positioned as an example of [[Americanization]]. Around 2001, French sociologist [[Bruno Étienne]] was quoted as saying, to have reacted with "horror" to the "ghettozoided" politics lead by [[Michael Jackson]] and Madonna as "the means by which values are transmitted in such society".<ref name="Cornwell">{{harvnb|Cornwell|Stoddard|2001|p=85}}</ref>

She achieved significant criticisms from [[Nostalgia for the Soviet Union|pro-Union Soviet]] and Russian cultural spheras; [[Douglas Rushkoff]] was quoted as saying "Madonna brought down the [[Berlin Wall]]" in a certain sense. An author interpreted her notable role as a [[MTV Generation|MTV figure]], further noting the network itself represented one of the challenges faced by the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="infor">{{cite journal|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/u1ji7LnghycC?hl=en-419&gbpv=1&pg=PA126&dq=Madonna|title=Informativos para la televisión del espectáculo|last=León Anguiano|first=Bienvenido|access-date=October 5, 2022|language=es|journal=Comunicación Social Ediciones y Publicaciones|isbn=8492860715|p=126|date=2010}}</ref> In 2016, head of British pro-[[North Korea]] group blamed Madonna for "the collapse" of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asiatimes.com/2016/11/article/north-korea-supporter-madonna-caused-soviet-union-collapse/|title=North Korea 'friend': Madonna caused Soviet Union's collapse|newspaper=[[Asia Times]]|date=November 1, 2016|access-date=September 14, 2019|first=Johan|last=Nylander}}</ref> In early 2010s, Russian journalist [[Maksim Shevchenko (journalist)|Maksim Shevchenko]] remembered her as part of a "vivid symbol of everything superficial, deceitful and hateful that the West exhibits toward Russian".<ref name="Shevchenko">{{cite news|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/08/15/madonna-is-a-stage-prop-in-pussy-riot-trial-a17061|title=Madonna Is a Stage Prop in Pussy Riot Trial|newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]]|date=August 15, 2012|access-date=April 3, 2021|first=Maksim|last=Shevchenko|author-link=Maksim Shevchenko (journalist)}}</ref> In 2023, news agency [[Ukrinform]] informed about a Madonna's video served as [[Russian propaganda]], further noting that Russian propaganda had used her name to spread fake propaganda in the past.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3673427-russian-fake-madonna-and-putins-address.html|title=Russian fake: Madonna and Putin's address|publisher=[[Ukrinform]]|date=February 22, 2023|access-date=March 4, 2023|first=Dmytro|last=Badrak}}</ref>

Over decades, Madonna was also criticized in communities from Middle East and surrounding areas. In early 1990s, Middle East scholar [[Patrick Clawson]] informed about a rejection from Iranian radicals.<ref name="Clawson">{{harvnb|Clawson|1994|p=39}}</ref> During this decade, an Islamic political party in Pakistan, "unsuccessfully demanded" Michael Jackson and Madonna as "cultural terrorists" for "destroying" humanity.<ref name="Lockard">{{harvnb|Lockard|2011|pp=934–935}}</ref> As also reported academic [[Malise Ruthven]] both artists were called by a Pakistani religious scholar "torchbearers of American society with their cultural and social values".<ref name="Ruthven">{{harvnb|Ruthven|2004|p=264}}</ref> In Israel, Madonna was cited in [[Post-Zionism]] discourses and then president [[Ezer Weizman]] criticized the Americanization of the land, perceiving a losing of national identity by his time. Therefore, he blamed "the three Ms", Madonna, Michael Jackson and McDonald's.<ref name="Ram">{{harvnb|Ram|2013|p=online}}</ref> Madonna continued to receive more criticisms in next decades. [[Aaron Klein]] in the 2000s, reported the rejection of her figure in the various sectors of Middle East, including terrorists. He said "everyone has heard of her [and] when [[sheikh]]s cite samples of the U.S. attempting to pervert" they speak of Madonna.<ref name="Klein">{{harvnb|Klein|2007|pp=14-15, 96}}</ref> 

====Death treaths and censure====
[[File:Islamic State flag.svg|thumb|Media have speculated the [[Islamic State]] (ISIS), have banned both her name and music.]]

In mid-2010s, various media outlets assumed that her name was banned by the [[Islamic State]] (ISIS) for "good measure".<ref name="ISIS2">{{cite news|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/194626|title=ISIS Bans Nike Over its 'Sexy' Name|date=April 27, 2015|access-date=January 29, 2022|publisher=[[Arutz Sheva]]|first=Ari|last=Yashar}}</ref> The [[International Music Council]] informed that ISIS classified both her music and performances as ''[[haram]]'' stating that "represent anti-Islamic values" and specified that "anyone caught listening to her music will be punished with 80 lashes".<ref name="ISIS">{{cite web|url=http://www.imc-cim.org/music-world-news-magazine/policy-research-politics/2534-islamic-state-issues-ban-on-songs-by-american-singer.html?-Politics=|title=Islamic State issues ban on songs by American singer|date=April 28, 2015|access-date=March 31, 2021|publisher=[[International Music Council]]|editor=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref> 

Throught her career, Madonna also received [[death threats]] by radical groups. Alone in the 2000s, the [[Australian Associated Press]] (AAP), informed that Palestinian terrorists threatened to kill her "because she represents many things they hate about the West".<ref name="AAP">{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/madonna-cancels-concerts-after-death-threats-20040526-gdizn0.html|title=Madonna cancels concerts after death threats|date=May 26, 2004|access-date=April 30, 2021|author=[[Australian Associated Press]] (AAP)|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 2006, it was reported that [[crime boss]]es from [[Russian mafia]] threatened to kill her when she was on tour, assumaly for her provocative performance of "Live to Tell" during the [[Confessions Tour]].<ref name="Mafia">{{cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30276363.html|title=Madonna fears mafia threats|date=September 11, 2006|access-date=April 30, 2021|newspaper=[[Irish Examiner]]}}</ref> In 2009, media reported again death threats from [[Islamic extremism|Muslim extremists]] in Israel according to [[Yossi Melman]],<ref name="Muslim">{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5061498|title=Report: Madonna Receives Death Threats From Muslim Extremists|date=January 12, 2009|access-date=May 1, 2021|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|first=Yossi|last=Melman|author-link=Yossi Melman}}</ref> and same situation occurred in Serbia according to [[Indo-Asian News Service|IANS]] agency.<ref name="Serbia">{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/madonna-receives-death-threat-in-serbia/story-GIO73811x15upHkBDrs08I.html|title=Madonna receives death threat in Serbia|date=August 17, 2009|access-date=May 1, 2021|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|author=[[Indo-Asian News Service]] (IANS)}}</ref> In late 2000s, Klein also informed about a spokesman from [[Popular Resistance Committees]], who was recorded as threatening, he would personally kill Madonna and also [[Britney Spears]]: "If I meet these whores I will have the honor —I repeat, I will have the honor— to be the first one to cut the heads of Madonna and Britney Spears".<ref name="Klein14"/> 

===Entertainment sector===
According to music critic [[Robert Christgau]] in ''Grown Up All Wrong'' (2000), Madonna was "honored less as an artist than as a cultural force".<ref name="Christ353">{{harvnb|Christgau|2000|p=353}}</ref> In ''Representing Gender in Cultures'' (2004), authors also explained that she has been "consistently denied a status of a 'real' musician".<ref name="Oleksy134">{{harvnb|Oleksy|Rydzewska|2004|p=134}}</ref> One of the focal critical views is a general agreement that her own "artistic talents" are considered to be "limited".<ref name="MacLeod"/> Other critics have also complained that the content of her songs are "empty".<ref name="Leibetseder">{{harvnb|Leibetseder|2016|p=69}}</ref> Critically, a scholar also noted how in the "field of [[musicology]], serious discussion of Madonna has been even rarer than in the popular press".<ref name="Fouz54"/> 

According to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], Madonna became an early emblem of [[women in rock]].<ref name="Rockhall"/> Landon Palmer from [[University of Alabama]], recalls that she was frequently described as a "rock star" by media and official institutions, saying she served as an example of how the label exceeded the distinctions of genre.<ref name="Palmer179">{{harvnb|Palmer|2020|p=179}}</ref> However, a number of authors including [[Camille Paglia]] and [[Jennifer Egan]] explored how Madonna attracted notable criticims from the rock scene,<ref name="Egan2">{{cite web|url=http://jenniferegan.com/non-fiction/you-dont-know-madonna/|title=You Don't Know Madonna|publisher=Jennifer Egan|author=Jennifer Egan|author-link=Jennifer Egan|access-date=March 30, 2021|date=December 15, 2002}}</ref><ref name="Fast">{{harvnb|Fast|Jennex|2019|p=online}}</ref> with Paglia saying "our minds were formed by [[rock music]]".<ref name="Spignesi">{{harvnb|Spignesi|Vena|1998|p=349}}</ref> As early as 1985, ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' referred she "nearly reversed the typical pattern of rock idol analysis",<ref name="Canberra2">{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128255373?searchTerm=Madonna|title=How Madonna straddles innocence and decadence|work=[[The Canberra Times]]|access-date=February 13, 2022|date=September 15, 1985|author=J.D.S.|p=46}}</ref> and was shortly after considered "the antithesis of the women found in early rock and roll".<ref name="Cayton">{{harvnb|Cayton|1993|p=1805}}</ref>

==Madonna and critics==
Madonna's career has been defined for the correspondence of critics, described as a "well-established" and "crucial aspect" of her career by Clifton.<ref name="Fouz54"/> Noting her complicated relationship, in ''Understanding Popular Music'' (2013), Roy Shuker defines she is a "star whom many critics [...] love to hate".<ref name="Shuker126"/> [[John E. Seery]] similarly referred: "Madonna's critics are many [...] some of the critical issues [...] are as follows: She is not to be taken seriously [...] she is, at bottom, a joke".<ref name="Seery">{{harvnb|Seery|2018|p=141}}</ref> 

===Some aspects===
Madonna perpetuated an image of controversialist, and as her career advanced taking risks and becoming sometimes more controversial, some critics whom at first praised her, became "disillusioned".<ref name="Gaugler">{{cite web|url=http://preserve.lehigh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1662&context=etd|title=Madonna, an American pop icon of feminism and counter-hegemony: blurring the boundaries of race, gender, and sexuality|year=2000|access-date=June 18, 2015|publisher=[[Lehigh University]]|first=Audra|last=Gaugler}}</ref> A performer with multiple messages,<ref name="Brugue"/> she was also called a set of "contradictions", including scholars [[Douglas Kellner]] and [[E. Ann Kaplan]], though they were generally complimentary in their reviews.<ref name="Shuker126">{{harvnb|Shuker|2013|p=126}}</ref><ref name="Geczy">{{harvnb|Geczy|Karaminas|2021|p=online}}</ref> In the 1990s, academics such as [[Linda Hutcheon]] and [[Susan Bordo]] to anthropologist like [[Roger Lancaster]], noted how Madonna said she favors [[irony]] and [[ambiguity]] in everything she does and also to "entertain" herself and escape of definition.<ref name="Lancaster">{{harvnb|Lancaster|Di Leonardo|1997|p=355}}</ref><ref name="Hutcheon">{{harvnb|Hutcheon|2003|p=32}}</ref> In ''[[Irony's Edge]]'', Hutcheon was critical saying both aren't the same thing and "irony has an edge".<ref name="Hutcheon"/> Interpretations like the one from scholar [[Nancy J. Vickers]] as cited authors of ''Embodied Voices'' (1994), notes she was available to "multiple interpretations".<ref name="Dunn">{{harvnb|Dunn|Jones|1994|p=232}}</ref> Bordo, commented she resists an "overinterpretation of her work" in terms of "artistic intent".<ref name="Brooks">{{harvnb|Brooks|2002|p=158}}</ref> However, in ''Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture'' (2014), Justyna Stępień considered her a major responsible "for what may be deemed a prevailing 'irony epidemic'".<ref name="Stępień">{{harvnb|Stępień|2014|p=200}}</ref> In ''The Trickster Shift'' (1999), writer referred to her as the undisputed "Queen of Pop Culture Irony",<ref name="Ryan">{{harvnb|Ryan|1999|p=85}}</ref> while author J Gray II Richard, in 2014, said she remains the "Queen of Ambiguity".<ref name="Richard">{{harvnb|Richard|2014|p=181}}</ref> 

===Responses of Madonna===
[[File:Madonna performing Human Nature 4.jpg|thumb|upright|Madonna during the performance of "Human Nature" on [[The MDNA Tour]] (2012). The song is an answer to her critics during the era of ''[[Erotica (Madonna album)|Erotica]]'' (1992).]]

Madonna has responded numerous times to criticisms in statements and works. She often defended her body of work, once stating: "I've been popular and unpopular, successful and unsuccessful, loved and loathed and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore I feel free to take whatever risks I want".<ref name="Favilli">{{harvnb|Favilli|Cavallo|2017|p=102}}</ref> She has maintained her image of provocateur, saying to the audience at the [[2023 Grammy Awards]] if an artist is labeled "scandalous" or "problematic" are "definitely on to something".<ref name="GA2023">{{cite web|url=https://people.com/music/2023-grammy-awards-madonna-presents-sam-smith-kim-petras-unholy-performance/|title=Madonna Says Artists Labeled 'Scandalous' or 'Problematic' Are 'Definitely on to Something' at 2023 Grammys|work=People|access-date=March 10, 2023|date=February 5, 2023|url-access=limited|first1=Glenn|last1=Garner|first2=Jack|last2=Irvin}}</ref> She stated that favored [[rethinking]] people the things.<ref name="BET2">{{cite web|url=https://www.bet.com/article/dn97aq/madonna-i-m-not-appropriating-anything|title=Madonna: I'm Not Appropriating Anything|publisher=[[BET]]|date=March 16, 2015|access-date=October 12, 2022|author=BET-Staff}}</ref>

Exploring Madonna's responses, [[Mary Gabriel (author)|Mary Gabriel]] told ''[[USA Today]]'' in 2023: "She has empowered so many people and enriched so many people, and in the process, she's had to defend herself every step of the way".<ref name="Gabriel2">{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/10/10/madonna-a-rebel-life-biography-book/71115468007/|title='Madonna: A Rebel Life' biography celebrates the impact of a pop icon: 'This is who I am'|date=October 10, 2023|access-date=October 21, 2023|first=Edward|last=Segarra|work=USA Today}}</ref> In 2017, feminist authors [[Elena Favilli]] and [[Francesca Cavallo]] noted how other were inspired the criticisms she faced in the way of "stay[ing] true" in "adversity".<ref name="Favilli">{{harvnb|Favilli|Cavallo|2017|p=102}}</ref> In 2008, critic [[Jon Pareles]] for ''The New York Times'', considered as she telegraphed her intentions since the beginning of her career, she "labeled herself more efficiently than any observer".<ref name="Pareles">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/arts/music/27pare.html|title=Material Woman, Restoring Her Brand|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 27, 2008|access-date=September 29, 2022|first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles|url-access=subscription}}</ref> 

===Critical explorations===

====Background====
In regard her criticisms, more than one reviewer have recognized weaknesses on Madonna but have acknowledged her in different degrees. This is noted by Deborah Jermyn from [[Roehampton University]] saying in 2016, that "numerous academic studies have considered the way Madonna polarises views".<ref name="Jermyn">{{harvnb|Jermyn|2016|p=118}}</ref> In 2015, MacLeod similarly noted "despite the criticisms, many have seen her vast contribution, lyrically, musically, and artistically to the world of popular culture".<ref name="MacLeod">{{harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=151}}</ref> For instance, ''Glamour''{{'}}s Christopher Rosa in 2020, recognized her "profound impact" in the industry saying it was "most of the time for the best".<ref name="Rosa">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/best-and-worst-madonna-songs|title=Madonna’s 10 Best (and Worst) Songs of All Time|date=April 3, 2020|access-date=October 21, 2023|magazine=Glamour|first=Christopher|last=Rosa|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412081847/https://www.glamour.com/story/best-and-worst-madonna-songs}}</ref> Alongside harsh criticisms, scholar John Street wrote in ''Musicologists, Sociologists and Madonna'' (1993) that she has been also "defended" in "equally extravant terms".<ref name="Street">{{cite journal|last=Street|first=John|year=1993|title=Musicologists, Sociologists and Madonna|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13511610.1993.9968356?src=recsys|journal=Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research|volume=6|pp=277–289|access-date=February 10, 2022|number=3|doi=10.1080/13511610.1993.9968356|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Some examples ====
Madonna was deemed as a "connoisseur of [[critical theory]]" by ''Genders'' in 1988, a publication runs by the [[University of Texas Press]].<ref name="Genders">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TpPUjJaUGw4C|title=Madonna|journal=Genders|date=1988|access-date=July 12, 2022|p=12|number=7–9|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]}}</ref> Gayle Stever in ''The Psycology of Celebrity'' (2018) noted how the "attention Madonna received from being controversial" also "opened up an entire new way of thinking" on some.<ref name="Stever">{{harvnb|Stever|2018|p=online}}</ref> During an international congress in 2005, Lydia Brugué from [[Universitat de Vic]] concluded she is an artist with "multiple messages" leading frequently to ambiguity and certainly, it "provokes" but "it goes beyond creating controversy".<ref name="Brugue">{{cite web|url=http://www.aieti.eu/wp-content/uploads/AIETI_2_LB_Traduccion.pdf|title=La traducción de Madonna: Cómo se traduce el género en el mundo de la música|date=2005|access-date=September 29, 2022|publisher=Asociación Ibérica de Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación (AIETI)|department=4. Conclusiones|first=Lydia|last=Brugué|isbn=84-8468-151-3|language=es|p=711|archive-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231003832/http://www.aieti.eu/wp-content/uploads/AIETI_2_LB_Traduccion.pdf}}</ref> In 1992, scholar [[Cindy Patton]] considered her as a "[[social critic]] in a certain way", further expressing she "has an instinct for not just what's going to get people upset, but what's going to get people thinking".<ref name="Patton">{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-11-30/news/26008980_1_madonna-connection-subcultural-identities-music-videos|title=Justifying Madonna It's Academic Madonna Provided The Material Scholars Test Some Theories|date=November 30, 1992|access-date=March 31, 2021|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|first=Maria|last=Gallagher|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20161014004524/http://articles.philly.com/1992-11-30/news/26008980_1_madonna-connection-subcultural-identities-music-videos}}</ref> Scholar Catherine Schule expressed that her controversies in early career had "little effect on Madonna except to increase sales".<ref name="Schuler"/> Thorought the 1990s, scholars like historian professor Jesse Nash to Stan Hawkins from [[University of Leeds]], also considered her critiques of society.<ref name="Greeks">{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/4/16/18915825/the-early-greeks-vs-madonna|title=The Early Greeks Vs. Madonna?|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|date=March 16, 1991|access-date=September 29, 2022|author=Deseret News Staff}}</ref><ref name="Leeds">{{cite web|url=http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/critmus/articles/1997/01/01.html#Heading3|title='I'll Never Be an Angel': Stories of Deception in Madonna's Music|date=January 1, 1997|access-date=March 31, 2021|publisher=[[University of Leeds]]|first=Stan|last=Hawkins|archive-date=March 18, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030318184145/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/critmus/articles/1997/01/01.html}}</ref> 

Others like music critic [[Ann Powers]] specifically explored criticisms of cultural appropriation,<ref name="NPR"/> while [[Jennifer Egan]], who avoided her most of her life, felt some criticisms as cliché, including that she "has no real talent".<ref name="Egan2"/> On the other hand, commentators like Lynne Layton from [[Harvard Medical School]] noted misogynists-oriented criticisms. She adds "you get some idea of the role gender plays" in her critical responses.<ref name="Layton">{{harvnb|Layton|2013|p=online}}</ref> In 2008, Guy Babineau from LGBT-targeted publication ''[[Xtra Magazine]]'', felt and compared how "straight men in music, industry and politics who are much richer and more powerful, and who do much worse things, are admired".<ref name="Xtra">{{cite news|url=https://xtramagazine.com/culture/why-we-love-madonna-14392|title=Why we love Madonna|date=October 22, 2008|access-date=February 23, 2023|last=Guy|first=Babineau|work=[[Xtra Magazine]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Book sources ==
* {{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Ann|title=Postfeminisms: Feminism, Cultural Theory and Cultural Forms|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2002|isbn=1134822324}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dunn|first1=Leslie C.|last2=Jones|first2=Nancy A.|title=Embodied Voices: Representing Female Vocality in Western Culture|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1994|isbn=052158583X}}
* {{cite book|last=Hutcheon|first=Linda|author-link=Linda Hutcheon|title=[[Irony's Edge]]|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2003|isbn=1134937547}}