Why I Hate Madonna

July 30, 2004

Here's a really interesting article from the Washington Square News,

the student newspaper of New York University. It's by a Gender &

Sexuality Studies major named Sriya Shrestha:

WHY I HATE MADONNA: Subtle Racisms and the Exotification of My South

Asian Self

Sitting in NYU classrooms, I am struck by the extremely light,

tiptoe approach students take when it comes to racial issues. They

strain to make sure they leave only tiny marks behind, nothing to

offend anyone. Nothing can be said, no generalizations can be made,

because that would be prejudiced, stereotypical and negative.

Yet in taking these painfully planned baby steps, most manage to be

grossly ignorant, racist and ridiculous - usually without even

noticing. Still, everyone continues to strain for those tiny steps.

During a small group discussion on everyday racism in my South Asian

diaspora class, my classmates were constantly qualifying their

statements: "Not all [blanks] do this, of course, just some."

When I mentioned that I am often exotified -- seen with disgusting

oriental fantasies by white men, and never Asian men -- my white

male groupmate delicately reminded me I was on the verge of making a

gross generalization. I replied that it was not a generalization; it

was the truth. But wait, I was reminded, you don't want to say that

all white men would look at you like that and that no Asian men

would. That is true; I did not want to say that, and I hadn't.

What I think my concerned classmate was doing was simply mentioning

that some - not him necessarily - may think I was being a reverse-

racist. And I believe this same deep-seated white fear of reverse

racism fueled the sudden, fierce anger expressed by some white (or

should I call them Caucasian?) students during a later discussion at

the idea that perhaps there was something slightly more offensive

about Madonna wearing a bindi, sari and henna then there was about

her donning and defaming the Catholic cross.

White kids think the same rules apply to them, about what can be

said and what can't, and in my experience many students of color

feel the same way. Nearly everyone at NYU shudders at the thought of

offending anyone, but what they lack is actual knowledge of what is

offensive, how and why. Rather, they attempt to be politically

correct, using terms like African-American and Hispanic, but still

managing to claim that a black student has the same benefits as a

white one if they both come from an elite private school or that

Latino immigrant workers should be grateful for the low-wage,

exploitative jobs they find in the United States.

These PC pushers still manage to be out of touch with reality, out

of touch with what racism, sexism, heterosexism and prejudice really

is.

They do not understand that a history exists that makes Madonna's

flippant, fleeting usage of South Asian-Hindu fashion and culture a

bit offensive. A history in which we have been the source of the

West's stories of mystery, enchantment, oddity and the exotic. We

have always been trinkets and charming tales. We are brass pots and

spiritual men who can float; and tongue-tickling spices and thick,

luxurious rugs; and skinny, starvation-swelled bellies standing in a

brown mass waiting to be saved by British food and religion. We are

the women who, due to a lack of a strong Western-style feminism,

starve, suffocate and drown our baby girls for not being baby boys.

We are anything but human.

And now, many years after British colonialism, in a global market

run by U.S. imperialism, we are once again remembered by our

trinkets. While South Asian women remain invisible in U.S. pop

culture, they are now seen painted on Madonna's hands, glittering on

her forehead, wrapped around her personal-trainer-trimmed white

body. We are her toys, her fashion, her flavor of the month. We are

alternative lifestyles full of spirituality, meditation, incense,

homeopathy and relaxation. We are frozen samosas and TV-dinner

channa masala at the local grocery and iced chai lattes at

Starbucks.

And suddenly now we are also frightening, fiendish and dangerous. We

are fearing for our lives and livelihoods because we have been

transformed from trinkets to terrorists. Our foreignness has become

less charming and increasingly frightening. And Madonna's phase of

wearing us on her body has only made it easier for us to be

targeted. She reduced us, or reinforced an already existing

reduction, to inhuman, fashionable baubles. And it is not difficult

to stop giving visas to a bindi or a set of gold bangles. Nobody has

qualms about jumping or shooting several yards of rich, luxurious

silk. Who would mind throwing thousands of Buddha, Shiva and Laxmi

print T-shirts into detention camps without explanation or lawyers?

After all, ultra-fashionable tops do not need legal representation.

So I think that when Madonna stretches the boundaries of

Catholicism, uses a cross to criticize the racist, white supremacy

and puritanical, sexually-repressive aspects of her religion, it is

quite different than her playing dress-up with a culture that no one

owns, but that she can still certainly exploit.

I'm sure if she had not already dropped South Asian for Americana,

she would have rapidly done so after Sept. 11, 2001. Or maybe her

desire not to blend in with the post-Sept. 11 barrage of red, white

and blue pasted across everyone and everything explains her recent

switch to a Che Guevara style pseudo-revolutionary. We all know how

she likes to be different, cutting-edge. I bet my grandmothers would

be pleased to know that, a few years ago, they beat the world's most

popular, trend-setting pop diva to the fashion finish line.

*****

Source: Washington Square News [student newspaper of New York

University]. Issue date: 12.02.2003. Article: "Why I hate Madonna:

Subtle racisms and the exotification of my South Asian self," by

Sriya Shrestha.

URL: http://www.nyunews.com/brownstone/identity/6429.html

August 1, 2004

My friend Chuck Furnace's response to "Why I Hate Madonna."

-- Len/ Kalipadma

--------- Forwarded message ----------

"Chuck 2.0" <chuck418@c...>

Sat, 31 Jul 2004 10:00:29 -0400

Re: Why I Hate Madonna

Interesting article. I got two main points out of it (3 if you count the

reference to Madonna's "personal-trainer-trimmed white body")

First is it's politically correct to make fun of or challenge your own

culture, but racist if you make ANY reference to anyone else's, even

positive references.

"Two short bald Jews are walking into a bar and one of them says..." I

can say that.

"A Jew, and Irishman and a Hindu are walking into a Mosque and one of

them says..." forbidden.

Seems sort of limiting. I'm going to have to write some new material.

Second, if we take the proposition that Madonna exemplifies popular

culture (just perhaps) then American pop culture needs something new

every two years to sell products. If your low slung extra wide jeans are

more than a year old, then it's time to get with it and buy these new

extra tight stovepipe tight black jeans with the zippers on the bottom.

The content is less important than the process. It can be anything from

sari and henna to Kabala tattoos (huh?), from S & M gear to

Marilyn, so long as it's change and so long as it can sell products.

Personally, I'm stifled by the current level of sensitivity and it's

effect on any analysis of anthropological contrast. One can't compare the

similarities and differences of different cultures without using some

(qualified) generalizations. And understanding the world, understanding

how similar values are expressed in different ways in different cultures,

is the key to mutual respect. So we are left with a (forgive the

expression) Black and White world, us or them, you are with us or with

them mentality. And a lack of discussion, real discussion, not pretty

words, leads us into Darkness.

In my humble opinion.

chuck 2.0

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August 2, 2004

I am not responding *smile* because then I will be labelled "Anti-western".

(I am already called that by some)

kalipadma wrote: