For nearly 30 years, Madonna has been at the center of the media spotlight. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, launched her own record label, headlined an Oscar-award-winning film, authored bestselling books for both adults and children, inspired global street-fashion trends, and instigated international debates over a range of feminist issues from sexual fetish to adoption ethics. Masterfully harnessing her talent and power to navigate her ascent to stardom, she has become the very definition of iconic.
She has also been a constant companion. In Madonna and Me, more than forty women write about Madonna’s influence on their lives. No subject goes unexplored—from sex and money to fashion and identity, the stories are just as brazen, bold, and balls-to-the-wall as Madonna. They explore the evolution of her chameleonlike personas—material girl and “boy-toy” tartlet, kooky Kabbalist and savvy businesswoman, siren and mother—and her impact on culture as a groundbreaking feminist.
Of course, not all women worship at her altar, and likewise the essays in Madonna and Me are brutally honest, funny, engaging, and real. They delve into the hearts, souls, memories, and moments of contemporary women, celebrating the ways in which Madonna has inspired us and challenged us, pushing us to be bolder, edgier, braver versions of ourselves.
Contributors include:
Caroline Leavitt
Cintra Wilson
Emily Nussbaum
Gloria Feldt
Rebecca Traister
Susan Shapiro
Wendy Shanker
Madonna and Me was selected and edited by Laura Barcella, a Madonna devotee since the age of six. A veteran journalist, she has covered pop culture, lifestyles, and women’s issues in more than 40 magazines, newspapers and websites, including the Village Voice, Salon.com, Time Out New York, ELLEGirl and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jessica Valenti—called the “poster girl for third-wave feminism” by Salon and one of the Top 100 Inspiring Women in the world by The Guardian—is the author of three books: Full Frontal Feminism, He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, and The Purity Myth. Jessica is also the founder of Feministing.com, which Columbia Journalism Review calls “head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media.”
