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The Sex book


Erlend
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I’ve just looked at the book for the first time in years and found it average. There’s a handful of striking photos in there where M actually incredibly beautiful but I felt the majority of the photos didn’t really express sexuality so much as simple nudity. I find a lot of the text to be very 90’s, making fun of overweight people and careless domestic abuse comments, I doubt she’d get away with that today. The best text are the lyrics. The most interesting shots to me are the earlier darker S&M shots where she actually looks like she’s exploring that, most of the other shots just looked staged and are too glamorous to be edgy. I don’t need to see Big Daddy Kane in his undies and socks. She really should have left the celebrities out of it. The best photos look more candid and real ones in the Vault with people who actually look real. Luckily the Erotica album has aged so much better and is now viewed as a musical high point.

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6 hours ago, RUADJAI said:

I don’t really feel she was rebelling… just look at pop culture at the time. Cable TV was ushering in all sorts of erotic material. Cinemax was nicknamed Skinnimax because of it. HBO had Taxi Cab Confessions and Real Sex. Playboy Channel.  Drew Barrymore was seducing older men in Poison Ivy, Sharon Stone flashing her kitty in Basic Instinct. People basically went to see that movie JUST to see her vagina. I can see why Madonna was so blindsided by the backlash. Everybody else was allowed to be sexual BUT her. 
 

Madonna wasn't rebelling, she was just absorbing her surroundings as usual. 

That's not true, shes always been sexual.  The justify my love video, the crap film, the book, and the erotica album all happened at the same time and they all got lumped together. During this whole period people tired of her and she came across as desperate to shock, it basically got boring which is why people turned on her.  And if you read her letter she wrote about Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone, you'll get a sense of how she was feeling 

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22 hours ago, RUADJAI said:

I don’t really feel she was rebelling… just look at pop culture at the time. Cable TV was ushering in all sorts of erotic material. Cinemax was nicknamed Skinnimax because of it. HBO had Taxi Cab Confessions and Real Sex. Playboy Channel.  Drew Barrymore was seducing older men in Poison Ivy, Sharon Stone flashing her kitty in Basic Instinct. People basically went to see that movie JUST to see her vagina. I can see why Madonna was so blindsided by the backlash. Everybody else was allowed to be sexual BUT her. 
 

Madonna wasn't rebelling, she was just absorbing her surroundings as usual. 

I'm not so sure about that. It's true that pop-culture anno 1991-1992 caused a lot of controversity (Basic Instinct etc) but the SEX book was a different monster. It was unprecedented that a huge popstar  would go that far. 

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On 3/8/2021 at 4:51 AM, Erlend said:

I'm not so sure about that. It's true that pop-culture anno 1991-1992 caused a lot of controversity (Basic Instinct etc) but the SEX book was a different monster. It was unprecedented that a huge popstar  would go that far. 

I can't even imagine Taylor Swift flashing her puss in a book with a steel cover, wrapped in mylar :)

Imagine? That plump pink bald pussy? .. I'm cringing! 

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On 1/22/2021 at 3:50 PM, Erlend said:

Thank you for this. Your reflections took me right back to this era. I too remember how she became "persona non grata" after the book (well, almost), and I like how you see Ray of Light in this context.  That album was a real comeback for her. 

I truly believe that the Sex book was her ultimate statement in a very conservative society. I also think that the book worked as a commentary to all of those who accused her for being calculating. Like... In Your Face!  

yep, you remind me of how much I love THAT Madonna.  "Hey, you dont ever get to box me up - you didnt like my video which lightly suggested s&m, trans, and just sex in general - oh here, ill give you more where that came from cause i dont give a F" 

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On 1/26/2021 at 2:41 AM, Aiwa08 said:

Believe or not, the Erotica era (Sex book included) almost destroyed her career (not in Europe). That's why I've always seen in "Bedtime Stories" and in "Something to Remember" a way of saying "I'm sorry. Now I am good girl again. No more sex".

yep, image shift.  

Gaga did the same thing after the artpop controversies - Joanne, star is born etc....

It works if done right.

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On 3/6/2021 at 11:38 AM, Team Madonna said:

 

I don't know where I stand with the sex book tbh. Some might disagree with my statement below but I welcome constructive criticism!

 I believe she was acting out, rebelling, angry. In time, even she would hint that she went overboard to the point that it became distraction to her music, and people's perception of it, and her. She could have told us all day about how she didn't care what people thought, but I think she did. She has always been a narcissist (in a self absorbed way) but it was clearly out of control during this time.

I mean, she basically says this very thing when you watch her VH1 interview during the ray of light era - think it was called behind the music but my memory isnt what it used to be.

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I think it showed how brave she is and that she did not care what people thought of her 

 

Of course she did care but at the time it sent out a message that she really bold and confident

I know there was the backlash but in the long run I think it made for the biggest comeback of all time which took 6 years to Ray of Light until everyone loved her again - she was edgy and following her was so fascinating even if she was not popular she was certainly interesting and people were still keen to see what she would do next  - I do wonder if she had played safe after 1991 if the public would have got bored with her and lost interest and almost think that she was so damn popular and untouchable during 1990/1991 that it was inevitable that the media would turn on her and knock her down regardless of the project. I think Erotica is one of her best albums 

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2 hours ago, MDNA22 said:

I do wonder if she had played safe after 1991 if the public would have got bored with her and lost interest and almost think that she was so damn popular and untouchable during 1990/1991 that it was inevitable that the media would turn on her and knock her down regardless of the project. I think Erotica is one of her best albums 

Just based off of what happened when the media tore her to pieces during and after Erotica, I don't think it would've made as big a difference in terms of the fans considering she rebounded with Bedtime Stories and excelled with Ray of Light. If anything, the press probably would've been less aggressive without having the SEX book, Body of Evidence and Erotica to use against her. Plus, Madonna would have to not have the business sense that she has to think she could rest on her laurels after having a blockbuster first decade in her career. 

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I think after JML was censored, and the clear mysgmongy of that - like, it was ok for male performances to be sexy, but not for a female - I think that drove her to do something so extreme.

Like, it was a big fuck you - I'll show you lol. I mean, to release a book, of not only of you naked, but your sexual fantasies, and some of them extreme - was a massive fuck you to anyone who tried to shut her up. 

The album, Erotica, has since been recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame  as one of the most revolutionary albums of all time!

The singles did well, Erotica No. 2, Deeper and Deeper No. 7, Bad Girl not so, Rain did ok.

But then, she released I'll Remember and that went to No.2. So I don't think it hurt her too much in the long run - 

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10 hours ago, Jackie said:

I think after JML was censored, and the clear mysgmongy of that - like, it was ok for male performances to be sexy, but not for a female - I think that drove her to do something so extreme.

Like, it was a big fuck you - I'll show you lol. I mean, to release a book, of not only of you naked, but your sexual fantasies, and some of them extreme - was a massive fuck you to anyone who tried to shut her up. 

The album, Erotica, has since been recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame  as one of the most revolutionary albums of all time!

The singles did well, Erotica No. 2, Deeper and Deeper No. 7, Bad Girl not so, Rain did ok.

But then, she released I'll Remember and that went to No.2. So I don't think it hurt her too much in the long run - 

there's also that thing that bothers a lot of men too: she sexualized herself and was in control of the whole thing, instead of them sexualizing her, all of this while talking about her own fantasies , that was a no-no for a woman back then and basically a first for a woman of Madonna's tremendous worldwide fame ; and I agree that was a big FU to all

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5 hours ago, Ian said:

there's also that thing that bothers a lot of men too: she sexualized herself and was in control of the whole thing, instead of them sexualizing her, all of this while talking about her own fantasies , that was a no-no for a woman back then and basically a first for a woman of Madonna's tremendous worldwide fame ; and I agree that was a big FU to all

Exactly! 

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