The pop icon becomes part of the syllabus at universities across the country
No female pop-music figure has ever infiltrated the halls of academia as Madonna has. Scholars like Susan McClary, E. Ann Kaplan and Camille Paglia have taken up the Material Girl as a postmodern icon, making her the subject of study at Harvard, Princeton and UCLA. Naturally, Madonna is at the center of the raging debate between high and pop culture. Those who teach her are often called upon to defend her place in their syllabuses.
Harvard University's Lynne Layton, whose course includes a day on Madonna, says: "Teaching students how to read popular culture critically is as important as teaching them to read high art. Madonna is dedicated to breaking down hierarchies of race, class and gender."
Madonna is SOOOO ahead of the trends I can't even deal with it.
She is SO ahead of ageism right now. Just watch in years to come the current brood of gals begging to be accepted for being "sexy" when they're old. They're all damn quiet whenever legend M gets attacked in the news now.
She is the first multimedia pop icon in history and professionals agree that Madonna has become the world's biggest and most socially significant pop icon, as well as the most controversial. However, some intellectuals, like the Frenchman Georges Claude Guilbert, felt that she has greater cultural importance, like a myth, that has apparent universality and timelessness. References to Madonna in popular culture are found in the arts, food, science and each branch of entertainment. In a general sense, journalist Peter Robinson noted that "Madonna invented contemporary pop fame so there is a little bit of her in the DNA of every modern pop thing."
Madonna has changed the world's social history, has done more things as more different people than anyone else is ever likely to. Musicologist Susan McClary suggests that Madonna is engaged in rewriting some very fundamental levels of Western thought.
Madonna was the first female to have complete control of her music and image. Before Madonna, records labels determined every step of artists, but she introduced her style and conceptually directed every part of her career. For the music industry she was the foundation to permanently change the way the record companies treat artists. Madonna entered the music business with definite ideas about her image, but it was her track record that enabled her to increase her level of creative control over her music. Many years after, she founded Maverick Records which became the most successful "vanity label" in the history of music. While under Madonna's control it generated well over $1 billion for Warner Bros. Records, more money than any other recording artist's record label.
As an artist, Madonna has helped define a generation during an era that has seen huge global changes, and diversity has ALWAYS been core to her message of self-expression and love. We hope that our video tribute goes someway to reflect the sheer joy, infinite love and deep respect that our diverse LGBTQI communities have for a unique performer who continues to empower, celebrate, and support us.
As nasty as some of Madonna's recent press coverage has been, it's still a testament to her continued relevance as a pop culture figurehead. As ever, the way she chooses to present herself is making us question society's norms, how a mother should behave, how a woman of a certain age should behave, how a veteran performer should be approaching the fourth decade of her career.
Queen of pop her Impact 
Slay!
