Gender, Sexuality, and Female Performers Maisie Hayden Spring

Home , Angela Bassett, Blonde Venus, The MDNA Tour

Fashion in Twentieth-Century Stage Acts: Gender, Sexuality, and Female Performers

Maisie Hayden

Spring 2016

First Reader: Barbara Mennel

Second Reader: Maureen Turim

Table of Contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1

2. Chapter One: Cross-Dressing and Stage Acts in Marlene Dietrich’s Early Hollywood

Films………………………………………………………………………………………4

3. Chapter Two: Feminine Dress and Sex Appeal in Tina Turner’s Biopic and Live

Performances……...... 18

4. Chapter Three: Madonna and Cross-Dressing in Past and Present Live Stage Shows…..30

5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….45

Introduction

When Marlene Dietrich exploded on the big screen with her portrayal of the alluring

German cabaret performer Lola-Lola in Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel (1930), she sparked a public discussion about how women are portrayed in film. This debate continues in scholarship today, focusing on the role on-stage performance plays in liberating women and communicating the dimensions of gender and sexuality. The rendering of female performers on stage and screen has remained a topic among the public and scholars alike since the early twentieth century and continues to evolve in accordance with changing feminist ideals. Fashion in particular serves as a vehicle for expressing gender and sexuality, highlighting how explicit performances in a film communicate ideas that would otherwise be deemed inappropriate and subversive. Through moments in Hollywood filmmaking that demonstrate the ways contemporary popular culture reflects and advocates feminist ideals, this thesis addresses how female performers are presented on-screen and the ways their provocative performances communicate gender and sexuality.

Gender-defying, promiscuous female characters in film have been the focus of a scholarly debate since Dietrich invaded Hollywood with her foreign sex appeal and risqué performances in the 1930s. The influx of second-wave feminism and development of women’s studies in the 1960s and 1970s led scholars to develop feminist theories about the cinema.

Feminist scholars now analyze how depictions of women on-screen reflect society’s view of women by looking at how female characters contribute to film narratives and genres. As a result, a number of recent books, scholarly articles, and films demonstrate how the portrayal of women on-screen relates to the historical context in which films are made, shedding light on how

2 popular points of view make their way onto the screen to capture society’s social, political, and economic climate.

In correspondence with the history of feminist film theory and criticism, this thesis evaluates how Marlene Dietrich’s, Tina Turner’s, and Madonna’s fashion choices have contributed to their continuous relevance in entertainment and society. In Dietrich’s work with

Josef von Sternberg in the 1930s, fashion plays an important role in creating memorable characters and influential star personas. Her characters’ on-screen cabaret performances in

Morocco (1930) and Blonde Venus (1932) in particular convey the tendency to dress in drag for stage shows while resorting to more feminine looks in her off-stage life. Dietrich plays with gender in each performance, embracing masculine clothes while exuding femininity an ambiguous sexual attitude. Turner, on the other hand, prefers tiny dresses, like the one that gives her character an overly feminine look in What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993), in addition to tight, form-fitting outfits such as her leather bodysuit in One Last Time Live in Concert (2001) that the star herself sports on-stage. She adds a contradictory nature to these looks, however, by using other means of evoking masculinity, as she forces out a deep singing voice and makes a point of interacting mainly with her female spectators. Madonna encapsulates both approaches to displaying gender and sexuality in her Blonde Ambition World Tour Live (1990) and Madonna:

The MDNA Tour (2012). She borrows from her two predecessors by combining masculine and feminine looks with contradictory sexual advances toward her back-up dancers. Because of the precedent that Dietrich and Turner set by serving as agents for their own images, Madonna continues to challenge the construction of female star personas by reflecting society’s views on feminism, gender, and sexuality.

In this evaluation of how female stars present their star personas on-screen, fashion serves as the starting point for understanding the significance behind each performer’s clothes, mannerisms, gender identity, and sexual preference. The term fashion in this body of work relates to a popular style of clothing, accessories, or make-up that the star wears to enhance her live performance, as well as the practice of using her body to evoke ideas about gender and sexuality. In addition to the distinctive way each female performer dresses and acts, the term style further connotes her wardrobe choices as well as the corresponding behaviors that work together to present a controversial on-stage persona. Finally, this thesis details how fashion catalyzes depictions of gender and sexuality in musical performances and draws attention to the larger implications Dietrich’s, Turner’s, and Madonna’s notoriety has for female entertainers and their fans around the world.

Chapter One

Cross-Dressing and Stage Acts in Marlene Dietrich’s Early Hollywood Films

Introduction

In the midst of diverse forces within the entertainment industry, the role fashion plays in shaping popular culture has strengthened over the past century. The importance of stars has increased through different forms of media, extending further the impact elements of fashion have on popular culture and society as a whole. Cinema and its stars exemplify the influence clothing choices have on society, as well as the power of costume to represent social, political, and economic situations. Marlene Dietrich’s key cabaret performances from her 1930s films offer insight into the significant components of her style and way of dressing while on stage.

Fashion works alongside style, gender, and sexuality in Dietrich’s film roles, calling attention to the subversion that arises from cross-dressing and her ambivalent acting style. Through cross- dressing, gender-bending, and androgyny, the German star challenges the norms of how females are expected to dress and behave, while her innovative outfits and detailed costumes contribute to her on-stage performances and the construction of her star image.

Dietrich in the 1930s

A number of Dietrich’s acting roles in the 1930s portray her as a precarious woman during the day and a vibrant stage performer at night. This character exemplifies how she cultivates her on-screen style in a way that charms her audience and signals trends in society.

Her ability to capture the spirit of underground movements in society through dress and then mainstream it in film led to several signature outfits and behavior that brought her much notoriety during this period. Dietrich’s most memorable outfits occur during subversive cabaret club performances, where she dresses in men’s clothing and exercises both masculine and

5 feminine traits and behavior. As the stage grants each character the illusion of the ability to act freely, Dietrich embraces male-oriented personas in these critical moments that temporarily shed the limitations associated with being a woman. Each instance of cross-dressing, therefore, proves important to our understanding of how and why she inspired generations of performers. Because she established the notion that freedom of expression and control over her body and image exist most strongly in film, especially in on-stage performance settings, these key moments demonstrate how stars may cultivate their personas by embracing fashion and glamour while simultaneously cross-dressing and defying proper gender and sexual behavior through dress and provocative actions.

The 1930s serve as an important starting point for evaluating how Dietrich secured the importance of fashion in film and the influence her style has had on popular culture and later generations. This period bred controversial film stars who, according to Brett Abrams, openly demonstrated their “non-normative gender” as well as “same-sex interests” in a way that stretched society’s interpretations of gender and sexual norms and popularized the notion of rebelling against fixed ideas of how men and women should present themselves and behave (1).

Dietrich’s career in particular blossomed from this increasingly popular notion of freedom of expression in the media, using her clothes and performances as a way of reflecting society’s increasing openness to displays of gender and sexuality at a time when doing so was not mainstream. By promoting ideas attached to this newfound modern culture, Dietrich eroded rigid gender and sexual lines by mainstreaming cross-dressing and making it sexy. Furthermore, magazines, newsreels, and other forms of media reinforced the image of a woman dressed in men’s clothing that appeared in film. Dietrich’s diverse representations of gender and sexuality

6 thus paved the way for her success and served as a popular representation of the time period and changes in German and American culture.

Dietrich’s European origins played an important role in establishing her as an influential performer. German society offered an encouraging environment for her provocative on-screen ways, while her foreign roots later gave her a unique appeal in America. Maud Lavin’s

“Androgyny, Spectatorship, and the Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch” captures the essence of Weimar society in the 1930s, emphasizing the social and political climate under which Dietrich rose to fame. By focusing on images of infamous women in this period, Lavin reveals the role Dietrich played in demonstrating how women conveyed modernity in this period

(65). The scandalous German actress came to epitomize the contemporary woman by embodying her experiences with modernity in a way that enhanced her work in German film and paved the way for her transition to America (Lavin 65). The idea of the “empowered New Woman” in particular corresponded with images of androgyny, which Dietrich uses to her advantage in her on-screen performances (Lavin 63-65). By capitalizing on these cultural trends as a means of reflecting society’s increasing acceptance of combining masculine and feminine characteristics, and the resulting developments for women that the process entails, Dietrich employs androgynous dress as a means of departing from restrictive gender roles and reevaluating sexual identity (Lavin 63 and 82). Höch’s various photomontages unveil that in the midst of androgyny being “commodified as fashion” in Weimar images, Dietrich seemed to recognize the value of taking on men’s attributes during performances (Lavin 74). By doing so, she catalyzed the transformation of gender-bending from a revolutionary practice to a commodity of later fashion and stars, revealing how everything in history always has an influence over what comes thereafter.

By effectively using her progressive dress and provocative performances to dismantle the country’s opposition to depicting sensitive topics on screen, Dietrich’s arrival in America in the

1930s challenged the highly controlled, moral-bound process of filmmaking in Hollywood at the time. The inspiration her clothes draw from Europe’s underground lesbian culture and strong sexual appeal set in motion a change in the country’s social and political climate, as she encouraged the United States to adopt the Weimar Republic’s acceptance of new and diverse representations of gender and sexuality in performances on film. Gaylyn Studlar’s “Marlene

Dietrich and the Erotics of Code-Bound Hollywood” captures this essence of classical

Hollywood, analyzing the relationship between Dietrich’s arrival in Hollywood and the construction of her image in association with the country’s emphasis on morality and code- bound filmmaking (212). By focusing on the entities in favor of the cinema’s power to corrupt viewers in this period, Studlar maps out how Dietrich revolutionized the way gender and sexuality are displayed in film amidst overwhelming disapproval (212). The emphasis on moral conservatism and the influence this facet of American culture had on classical Hollywood under the Code, Studlar argues, is a crucial component of the creation of Dietrich’s star image (212).

The Code, therefore, influenced the extent to which she could portray erotic content on screen and be used as a sign of sexuality. As a result, the restrictions placed on classical Hollywood affected Dietrich’s display of sex appeal in the 1930s and Paramount Studios’ construction of her star persona.

Studlar’s evaluation of Dietrich’s beginnings in Hollywood emphasizes how the German star disrupted the sense of morality set forth by the Code by embracing the country’s demand for sinful women and revolutionizing the depiction of female characters. As a result of her provocative clothes and intriguing stage performances that the narratives in Morocco (1930) and

Blonde Venus (1932) encompass, Dietrich’s erotic on-screen persona conflicted with the studio’s attention to morality and the effect particular images may have on its audience (Studlar 213).

With the pressure to embellish Dietrich’s popularity as a foreign star in America, the films’ creators effected ways of handling suggestive topics on screen that satisfied the audience’s demand for more interesting female characters while working within the production company’s sense of what was appropriate. Studlar further sheds light on how gender and sexuality are depicted in both of Josef von Sternberg’s films in relation to the threat of censorship and subsequent restrictions for filmmakers trying to maintain their audience’s attention. According to

Studlar, Dietrich’s films from this period demonstrate how the use of certain clothes and mannerisms on screen shed light on the way films portray men and women.

Dietrich’s Rebellious Fashion

Fashion enhances Dietrich’s involvement with and role in 1930s film and society, as she arranges her on-screen style in a way that challenges restrictions placed on women in everyday life. She uses fashion in a productive way by demonstrating the importance clothes play in developing her persona. Through two compelling characters whose roles as stars on stage contrast greatly with their regular lives, Dietrich differentiates how a woman may conduct herself on stage from the expectations surrounding her comportment in her personal life, primarily through her manner of dress and behavior. Dietrich channels a particular style with the star persona she creates in her performances, raising questions about how women should be portrayed on screen and what the state of women in society should be (Kennison 151). Although her fascinating combination of gay male and lesbian fashion plays a crucial role in creating her star image, more importantly it highlights the contribution she made to the “construction of female identity” in film during this period by designing her own costumes based on clothes from

9 her and her husband’s wardrobes (Lavin 64). By presenting feminine attire with masculine accessories on screen and wearing slacks off-screen, for example, Dietrich demonstrates how various fashions confront social norms and advocate for the right for women to dress and act how they please.

Dietrich’s tendency to sport masculine clothes serves as her primary means of defying

American society’s notion of proper female dress and behavior. Her moments of cross-dressing pique interest in a way that her glamorous, feminine looks do not, suggesting that she popularized the notion of a woman dressed in men’s clothing in entertainment. By taking the image of cross-dressing females to the big screen, Dietrich assisted in revolutionizing fashion for women and helped change how women express themselves. Furthermore, because Dietrich commercialized the “mannishly dressed woman,” she contributed to the increasing popularity of women in masculine attire in film and other forms of visual media (Abrams 4). The media played an important role in presenting women in masculine dress by documenting their cross- dressing, free spirits, and homosexuality in light of the widespread acceptance of this cultural occurrence in Germany and the increasing interest in it in the United States during this period

(Abrams 10). Dietrich utilized her preference for trousers and other male clothes with

Paramount’s as the start of a new trend that in turn extended gender conventions for women. By dressing like a man and acting like both a man and a woman, she promoted this new style that granted women the opportunity to embrace masculine traits, combine them with feminine ones, and exercise their sexuality.

The audience encounters Dietrich in drag for the first time in Morocco, her first

American film, which calls attention to the significance of her masculine dress in correspondence with society and the status of women during this period. Dietrich assumes the role of Amy Jolly

10 in this film, playing an intriguing female character that works as a cabaret performer. After traveling from Europe to Morocco in search of work, the main character comes across two potential suitors who compete for her attention. In her introduction as a new talent in the African city, Jolly takes the stage in a black tuxedo with tails, a bowtie, and a matching black top hat.

She becomes the “tuxedoed nightclub singer” in this moment, captivating the suit-clad men and ornately dressed women with her performance (Kuzniar 239). After previous shots of Moroccan women dressed modestly, her emergence as a woman dressed in men’s attire proves worthy of note. Jolly’s role as a nightclub singer offers her the opportunity to dress in this compelling manner, as she does not rank on the level of the Moroccan women or the upper class audience to whom she caters throughout the film. Jolly emerges on stage dressed this way moments after the camera depicts the proper, educated class of people that make up the audience, drawing a contrast between the social standing of the spectators and the acceptability of the performer’s behavior on stage. Once Jolly emerges in this tuxedo, similar to the one her love interest

Kennington La Bessière sports in a later scene, she struts across the stage smoking a cigarette and teasing the audience, revealing how her behavior and dress pique the most focused attention.

Dietrich embraces masculine dress again two years later in Blonde Venus, signaling the power of particular fashion choices as well as the subsequent implications concerning gender and sexuality. She portrays the confident cabaret singer Helen Jones, who differs greatly from her off-stage identity Helen Faraday. Dietrich wears a sparkling white tuxedo, bowtie, and top hat in this number, dressing in drag for yet another nightclub performance (Abrams 4). In the final stage act of this film, Jones sports a happy facial expression, which Dietrich’s seductive eyes enhance. This attitude contrasts with the solemn air of inferiority that her character conveys off- stage. The troubled wife that remains mostly submissive to men throughout the film disappears

11 in this moment, as she exerts confidence and power once on stage. Her performances work as her only escape from her responsibilities as a mother and wife and the pressures from men. Her choice of outfit in this moment plays an important part in expanding her character, as dressed like a man, she demonstrates self-assurance in a way that does not exist when she is living merely as a woman. As a part of her edgy on-stage conduct that raises further questions concerning gender and sexuality, her masculine costume in this moment greatly contradicts her ornate feminine ones that she wears throughout the film. The masculine outfit stands out among the many dresses and female accessories that the character wears, as Dietrich conveys ambivalence without relativizing her masculine attire and behavior. Blonde Venus avoids the conventional resolution of punishing the main character for her indiscretions, as Faraday gives up her career as a performer to return to her domestic life instead. This plot development signifies that cross-dressing and female empowerment are not enough to free her from the restrictions of marriage that overcome the character’s freedom of performance in this film.

Dietrich’s Indefinite Gender

Alongside her tendency toward masculine dress, Dietrich applies various depictions of gender to her on-screen persona with the goal of using clothes and particular behaviors in her stage performances to bridge the gap between men and women and redefine how both genders are portrayed in film. Because her image encompasses both masculine and feminine characteristics, she acts out various gender attributes that do not necessarily represent those of a man or woman only (Studlar 217). Gender still exists to play with in her performances, as

Dietrich emphasizes that she does not have one gender, but instead toys with both masculinity and femininity without rejecting gender completely (Kennison 150). By doing so, she appeals to a range of audiences that celebrate her cross-dressing and the notion that, in spite of her male

12 dress, she is clearly a woman (Kennison 150). Such variations among gender positions help to dismantle the strict characteristics placed on each gender, allowing her to challenge Hollywood to encourage “gender in-betweenism” and increase personal expression (Lavin 67-69; Kuzniar

248). As a result, the ambiguity of gender and sexuality that her roles in these films encourage enables viewers to identify with both masculine and feminine positions (Lavin 69). This technique, on which Madonna later capitalizes throughout her career, reveals how Dietrich easily puts on both masculinity and femininity and successfully manipulates images of each gender.

Dietrich’s fluidity of gender both on- and off-screen disrupts traditional means of gender identification in a way that points to the importance of Dietrich’s work for revolutionizing society and empowering both men and women.

As a result of her decision to dress in drag during her first stage performance in Morocco,

Dietrich suggests a gender transformation that dictates her behavior as she performs “Quand l’amour meurt.” Jolly enters the stage in her male get-up, assuming the role of a man while also highlighting that she is in fact a woman. She struts toward the audience embodying male comportment while maintaining a feminine appeal. Dietrich’s acting emerges as the most essential aspect of this scene, as she enacts a masculine attitude that coincides with her provocative choice of clothing. She adjusts her bowtie with a slight tilt of her head, which demonstrates her influence as a performer and the spell she casts over her audience with this androgynous dress and masculine attitude. As she continues the song, Jolly tips her hat on occasion before she taps it into a permanent tilt. This crooked hat, and the manner by which she achieves it, calls attention to her love interest Private Tom Brown’s role as a troublemaker and a womanizer, as he is depicted with a slanted hat often throughout the film. For instance, he later tries on her top hat, which, alongside his decision to put the flower she gives him behind his ear,

13 signals his potential interest in gender-bending as well. Further, he knocks his hat to the side before writing the note that he changed his mind about their plans to escape together, enhancing his male traits and highlighting how accurately Dietrich displays them while dressed in drag.

Through her masculine uniform and attitude, which address the devious motives of both Brown and Kennington La Bessière, she imitates these gentlemen’s behavior that emerges as characteristic of all men. While embracing a masculine walk and enhancing it with male-coded poses and mannerisms, Dietrich asserts power because of her tuxedo.

Dietrich continues her play on gender in Blonde Venus when she assumes masculine dress once more in another captivating stage performance that blurs gender conventions. She uses another masculine tailored suit to comment on male tendencies that contrast with the portrayal of her female character off-stage throughout the film. By exhibiting particularly male mannerism through carefully executed body language in this moment, she casts aside the notion that her character is a housewife turned prostitute (Studlar 222). By wearing men’s clothing, she exhibits a “butch look” via her tails and top hat, for example, which, alongside her short blonde hair, provides the air of a man while she successfully maintains female qualities as well (Kuzniar

239). Under the impression that her character’s cabaret performances offer an escape from the gender codes and limitations associated with being a woman, Dietrich’s performance emphasizes how her time on stage gives her a break from her life as a wife and mother. In other words, she is liberated by the stage, giving her freedom to express both her masculine and feminine traits.

Depicted in a long shot that features her with one hand in her pocket and the other holding her cigarette, she poses momentarily with one leg cocked in a way that encourages attention from the audience. Dietrich wears her top hat tilted to one side once again, suggesting her character’s ability to attract attention from men and sharp notice from female competitors. Her coy smile

14 alongside her strategic body language unveils her understanding of the power her costume and attitude possess, as it challenges gender norms and traditional filmic portrayals of sexuality.

Dietrich’s Ambiguous Sexuality

Dietrich’s play with gender during her stage performances complements her depictions of sexuality in these moments, as she uses her appearance and actions to emphasize controversial sexual preferences. The new modern culture that emerged after World War I led to an increased representation of sexuality in the mass media, a development in society on which Dietrich capitalized (Abrams 2). In response to an increasingly liberated society, she shared ideas surrounding sexuality in her work in entertainment with her audience (Abrams 2). Indications of

“sexually deviant desires,” for example, repeatedly occur in her films, as she deliberately projects sexuality to appeal to her male and female spectators (Kuzniar 242; Kennison 154).

Further, because Dietrich is interested in more than heterosexuality, she channels an “unlicensed sexuality” that she demonstrates through her “enigmatic flirtatious eyes” and other visual components (Kuzniar 242). By carefully structuring the visual representation of herself, she provides characters that are “sexually mobile, promiscuous, and erotically charged” as a means of contributing to the increasingly popular notion of ambiguous sexuality and freedom (Studlar

236). Sex works as an important aspect of her personal identity, while the projection of her ambiguous sexuality corresponds with her star image during this period.

Dietrich’s first drag stage act in Morocco offers a number of key moments concerning sexuality that unfold as a result of her fashion choices and that challenge gender constructions.

Jolly enters the stage in her cross-dressing attire to begin the performance and goes on to taunt male attention and then repel it in order to experiment with women. Dietrich demonstrates “sheer sexual power” by attracting the women’s interest and disregarding the overwhelming attention

15 she receives from the men (Kennison 153). As every man in the room carefully observes her, especially Brown, Jolly enters the stage and then moves throughout the crowd. The precise camerawork in this sequence exemplifies the overwhelming sense of sexual experimentation that this performance conveys, as a number of close-ups reveal Brown’s undying affection for her as well as her preference for women. A number of exchanged gazes expose Brown’s profound interest in her as well as her reciprocation of his advances, as close-up shots of him looking intently at her mirror those of her returning his interest. The various cuts to him looking at her and her acknowledging his advances, as well as those of La Bessière, suggest her awareness of her appeal to men, which she toys with by displaying affection toward women. As she sings, she draws away from the man who reaches his arm out at her, while several close-ups feature her love interests carefully observing her performance. In the light of their careful gaze, she approaches a lavishly dressed woman, taking the flower from her hair and then looking her up and down. Dietrich leans in and kisses the woman, flicking her hat afterward in a demonstration of her enjoyment in openly displaying her multifaceted personality. This moment of sexual deviance questions the portrayals of heterosexuality that makes up the rest of the film, suggesting that her desire to exercise various sexual interests and provide a riotous performance necessitates her androgynous outfit.

Dietrich’s final stage act in Blonde Venus consists of her masculine dress and challenge to gender norms, which successfully give way to her character’s striking displays of ambiguous sexuality. She highlights her character’s deviance from the accepted moral norms for women with provocative moments that call attention to her wavering sexuality and the proper comportment of women during this period. Jones effectively escapes the bonds of heterosexuality via her tuxedo, self-reliance, and entourage of chorus girls in her final stage act,

16 allowing her to demonstrate her appreciation for women (Kuzniar 247). Upon taking the stage, she briefly fondles a chorus girl, smiling as she touches her breast. Driven by her white tuxedo and top hat, Jones takes part in a manly gesture although she clearly resembles a woman, suggesting women can also admire and enjoy members of their own sex. After catching the eye of each man and woman in the audience, she ventures into the crowd where she comes across her former suitor, Nick Townsend. He puts his hand on hers and she lingers near him for a moment, as a close-up captures the pair engaging in cheeky banter. This carefully executed interaction reestablishes their connection, suggesting that Dietrich’s character is also interested in men.

Jones continues performing the song after demonstrating a sexual interest in both women and men, deepening the character’s complexity within the traditional love story narrative.

Conclusion

The impact Dietrich’s 1930s on-screen style has had on popular culture is evident in the many ways she inspired later popular music and cultural sensations like Tina Turner and

Madonna. The German star’s tendency to challenge gender and sexual norms through dress inspired many stars throughout her prosperous career and in the years thereafter, while the

“Queen of Rock and Roll” and the “Queen of Pop,” respectively, emerge as her pupils in this respect. Because Dietrich’s audience was not entirely accepting of the various ideas she presented on screen, her fashion choices are particularly important for the changes that German and American society underwent during this period and the revolutions she and her peers inspire today. Because her films encompassed the “immoral, the unconventional and the law evading,” according to Studlar, she provided influential roles that communicated her preference for freedom via fashion and enhanced the notion that she was in control of her image (227).

Dietrich’s taste for rebellion and social change, which her on-screen performances reveal, point

17 to how the figure of the New Woman encompassed androgyny, calling attention to gender and sexual identity in relation to modernity. The New Woman assisted in representing modernity, whose increased autonomy and liberation paved the way for Dietrich’s success and her influence over later stars.

Chapter 2

Feminine Dress and Sex Appeal in Tina Turner’s Biopic and Live Performances

Introduction

In the decades after Marlene Dietrich took Hollywood by storm with her inflammatory style and intriguing film performances, the United States experienced a period when women’s rights and equality was not at the forefront of politics. The country transitioned toward a period of feminist consciousness after the 1950s, however, setting the stage for a new generation of provocative female performers. As the careers of several compelling film and music stars flourished in the wake of World War II, second-wave feminism also came to prominence, shedding new light on ways of dressing and behaving for women. Tina Turner serves as an important star whose interpretation of fashion, gender, and sexuality has impacted popular culture since the 1960s. Her role as an African-American rock and pop singer dictates her contribution to American music, stage performances, and popular culture, calling attention to the scrutiny that performers of color faced in a white-dominated industry. At the beginning of her career, her star persona encompassed the respectable type of visual performance that Motown encouraged. This controlled, reputable image soon gave way to fiery, sexualized performances that revolutionized her live shows and increased the breadth of what was acceptable for women to communicate on stage. Turner’s fashion and style enhance this groundbreaking nature of her music and performances, as she uses her look and behavior to diverge from the music industry’s traditions.

The Rise of Tina Turner

Turner’s rise to fame as a rock and roll superstar in the 1960s is, in addition to her singing voice and performance skills, in part attributed to her prominent dress and performance

19 style. She boasts the title of the first black female stadium concert performer for many reasons, but the way in which she transcends limitations placed on women and people of color makes her an important case study when evaluating how performers influence and shape society. Turner’s distinctive live shows demonstrate the influence her artistic endeavors have had on popular music and American culture throughout the past six decades, as the visual nature of her shows makes them powerful and especially memorable. In her essay “Tina Theory: Notes on

Fierceness,” Madison Moore explores the intricacies of Turner’s performances and personal style. Moore refers to Turner’s “volcanic stage persona” as the cornerstone of her success, as each aspect of her performance is carefully choreographed to elicit a particular effect (78). She notes that Turner seeks to over-perform, for example, by altering the room’s dynamics via her

“sartorial, creative presence” in a way that challenges limiting identity categories like gender and sexuality (72). Further, Moore notes how Turner relies on the “transgressive potential” of existing in the public eye in a world where white patriarchy dominates showmanship (72). This notion compels Turner to demonstrate a certain ferocity, where she reinvents her image through various aesthetics in her appearance and live shows.

The success of girl groups, whose music and star personas reflected the country’s social, political, and economic climate, serves as a backdrop for Turner’s success as a singer and performer in 1960s American society. A number of girl groups represent the feminist ideals associated with the country’s postwar political climate, as well as the corresponding notions of gender and sexuality that their music and performances conveyed. Will Stos explores the role they played in reforming the music industry and politics in “Bouffants, Beehives, and Breaking

Gender Norms: Rethinking ‘Girl Group’ Music of the 1950s and 1960s,” shedding light on the revolutionary nature of some girl group lyrics and personas and contextualizing Turner’s notable

20 rise to fame. He reveals how many female vocalists in this era depicted stereotypical notions of femininity by emphasizing girlhood and respectability in their music and performances to highlight how Turner works against and broke free from these norms (118). Although this genre of music included references to feminist rhetoric, same-sex relationships, and sex before marriage in its lyrics, for example, it also comprised more normalized subject matter, such as marriage and heterosexual relationships, giving Turner the opportunity to rebel against the

“idealized femininity” that many songs and artists promoted (Stos 121). Turner’s image and songs in the context of the mainstream American appreciation for girl groups, therefore, demonstrates how she challenged normative standards and made the idealized girl image in the

1960s and 1970s irrelevant.

Motown’s popularity during this period further shaped Turner’s role as a prominent female artist battling racial and gender limitations, as she rebelled against the mid-twentieth century girl group image. As an African-American artist breaking the mold in terms of physical appearance, star persona, and performance style, she worked against the Motown standards that promoted groomed, well-behaved performers of color. Moore reveals how Turner uses her physical appearance and stage performances to comment on the depiction of African-American people and culture in the media, while widening the scope of what styles and behavior were deemed acceptable. Motown constructs images of women of color promoting positive notions of middle-class black America, she writes, while Turner’s portrayal of herself as a young, rough, and wild woman hindered the label’s efforts to improve the representation of African-Americans in the media (77). Motown, for example, went to great lengths to emphasize how a woman, especially a non-white woman, who put time and money into her appearance was considered dignified. By hiring the etiquette instructor, Maxine Powell, to train finishing-school-type girls,

21 for example, Motown cultivated star images that sharply contrasted with the “fire-spitting Tina

Turner” that achieved tremendous success during this period (Moore 77). Turner effectively broke away from this proper girl group look, as her performances differed from other groups like

The Supremes.

Turner’s racial origins shed light on her role in American culture by contributing to the discussion of how women of color express themselves through dress and on-stage performances.

Born in Nutbush, Tennessee but rooted in St. Louis, Turner combines her Southern origins with her life in the Midwest, incorporating these two American identities into her appearance, singing, and performance style. By drawing on the differences between the South and the Midwest, she emphasizes her migration from South to North (Royster 103). She draws white listeners into a world of “black desire and pain,” while utilizing a fierce performance style that upsets social, political, and aesthetic limitations derived from race to initiate change and progress in the representation of African-Americans in music and popular culture (Royster 103; Moore 72). As a female African-American artist with crossover appeal, Turner takes advantage of the stage to comment on the social, political, and sexual politics that accompany womanhood in the United

States. By doing so, she breaks free from race, gender, and sexuality-oriented boundaries in her stage performances, captivating her audience and challenging these identity categories.

Turner’s Flashy Fashion

Fashion is a crucial component of Turner’s look, as she uses particular ways of dressing on stage to captivate her audience and augment the influence of on-stage musical performances.

Turner commands a powerful stage presence, using fashion to complement her voice and construct her star image. This charisma exemplifies Moore’s notion of “over-performance of the self,” as various aesthetics like wigs and costumes are at work during Turner’s live shows (72).

Her sense of fashion and personal style illustrates the influence her look has over her vast audience, which stems from her role as a powerful black female artist. As opposed to the tame nature of other girl group performances during this period, she exhibits a powerful physical presence in the way she poses and dances, which she enriches with various fashions that cultivate this specific brand of performance. Turner sports sparkly, cabaret-influenced ensembles reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich in particular, relying on short skirts and dripping sweat to fuel her heated performances. She often appears in fringe dresses that spur comparisons to drag queen and cabaret performers, which allows her to channel her style in a way that advocates for improvements in how gender and sexuality are portrayed on stage.

Turner’s signature style stems from her tendency to sport flashy, feminine clothes that display her body and accompany her every movement. Her live performances exhibit the “styling of the body” that documents the “political thrust” of her “spectacular sartorial style,” which has contributed to her success over the years (Moore 71-72). Her signature short mini-dresses, for instance, often include tassels, which she enhances with long, swinging wigs. Turner’s costumes also involve sequins, fringe, sunglasses, big shoulder pads, and hats that work together with the way she choreographs her body movements to sculpt her intriguing performances (Moore 71).

Moore suggests that these accessories transform Turner from a “mere mortal” into a “fantastical image” that enchants the audience and leaves spectators enthralled by her elaborate performance

(71). These sparkling, mesmerizing outfits give her on-stage persona an air of seduction, which calls attention her to how she presents gender and sexuality on stage. Turner’s flashy style of dress further raises questions surrounding race and beauty in a way that Dietrich’s star persona does not, where, with a focus on glamour and performance, white female bodies and femininity are still preferred over ones of color in the media.

Brian Gibson’s Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993) captures the star’s notable fashion and style, using actor Angela Bassett to channel the significance behind

Turner’s physical appearance and mannerisms. Bassett’s performance of the hit song “Proud

Mary”1 exhibits Turner’s characteristic manner of dressing, and showcases what makes her a remarkable stage performer. The scene unfolds as Bassett takes the stage dressed in a tiny, sparkling dress that openly displays her legs and muscular physique. Her portrayal of Turner is mesmerizing as a result of this outfit, as the shimmering gold dress and matching heels communicate the essence of Turner’s stage performances and reveal how crucial her fashion choices were in terms of captivating her audience and enhancing her live spectacles. As she speaks the song’s opening lines, Bassett slowly shakes her lower body back and forth, tapping her foot on the stage and shaking her hips to make the sequins sparkle. She works her dress in a way that makes the glistening fringe move from side to side like Turner does, highlighting the visually stimulating outfit by constantly moving as she delivers her lines. The lights accent each groove in her muscular arms as she shimmies her shoulders, while her dress, which ends well above her knees, flows with her body and shows off her legs. This outfit creates a stunning, hypnotic presence where Bassett’s on-stage appearance coalesces with the music to create an unforgettable moment between Turner and her audience.

Turner’s captivating fashion choices have lasted for over six decades, enhancing her One

Last Time Live in Concert (2001) performance at Wembley Stadium. This video-documented live performance demonstrates how her unique manner of dress and powerful on-stage presence transcends time, as she employs the same flashy style and captivating charisma that introduced her into American mainstream culture fifty years ago. She opens with “I Want To Take You

1 “Proud Mary” is a rock song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence

Higher,” taking the stage with her many back-up dancers. She sports short yet wild hair and a glowing black bodysuit while her dancers perform in shiny gold outfits. This flashy look builds on her earlier ones, where she stands out on stage in this glistening ensemble, making her show unforgettable. As she delivers her powerful vocals for this historic ballad, she shines in her low- cut leather bodysuit, which accents her fit body. Turner struts around the stage amidst her gold- clad back-up dancers, whose outfits contrast with her dark, lean look. Her muscular arms, legs, and shoulders are on full display in this get-up, while she dances around, working the stage with killer vocals and precise choreography. As she goes through her highly stylized dance moves, her bodysuit glimmers under the lights and the chains hanging from her waist move to the rhythm.

This energetic performance demonstrates Turner’s fashion choices and performance style, as she uses the techniques that allowed her to rise to fame in this modern-day extravaganza.

Turner’s Unconventional Gender

The combination of Turner’s feminine fashion, toned body, and powerhouse vocals calls attention to the role gender plays in her live performances. Turner’s nonconformist depiction of gender stems from her rejection of the femininity and respectability that girl groups exemplified.

She does not appear wholesome nor respectable when she performs her songs on stage, which, combined with her strong body, gives her a wild edge that complements her flowing, flashy clothes. The girl group era paved the way for her contestation of gender norms given that, as opposed to being “adorned in symbols of hegemonic femininity” like other girl groups, Turner departed from typical gender constructions (Stos 140). Her body confidence on-stage appears masculine, while her muscular arms and legs contrast with her feminine dress. Furthermore, short skirts and dresses emphasize her legs in particular, but also her muscular body, resulting in the “gender-bending muscularity” that sets her apart from the period’s other female performers

(Royster 109). These techniques add a dimension of sex appeal to her live shows, which highlights gender issues and restrictions concerning sexuality.

Bassett’s “Proud Mary” performance in What’s Love Got To Do With It also captures the contradictory nature of Turner’s performances, which calls attention to Dietrich’s same approach to performing. Dressed in a gold fringe dress with her hair flowing everywhere, Bassett’s feminine clothes contrast with her character’s more masculine physical features. She utilizes vocal style in this moment to highlight the midpoint between masculine and feminine, where she alters her singing voice, taking on a deeper tone to increase the song’s impact and connect with her audience on an emotional level. Because emotional expressiveness in voice, dance, and other body movements emerge as key components of Turner’s stage performances, Bassett channels these characteristics in this moment, capturing Turner’s renowned stage presence and the influence she has over her fan base (Royster 107). After the dramatic a cappella opening, Bassett dives into her performance of Turner’s song as the rock star herself, harnessing the “rough sound of black blues women” that contrasts with her girly, ornate dress and high heels (Royster 105).

She embodies the “growling, throaty grain” of Turner’s voice, harnessing African-American music history and building on her contradictory, flashy feminine outfits and accessories (Royster

105).

Turner employs various gestures and facial expressions to complement her fiery outfit and strong physical appearance in One Last Time Live in Concert, emphasizing her play with gender in this performance. She delivers an energetic performance of “I Want To Take You

Higher,” where she owns the stage dressed in a tight, black bodysuit that shows off her muscular body. She diverges from her characteristic mini-dress in this segment of the concert, sporting a tank-top-inspired top half and short-cut trousers as the bottom half of her ensemble. This more

26 masculine look, which also appears in Madonna’s latest Rebel Heart World Tour, coalesces with her deep, powerful voice, as she pushes the song out in a moment of power and absolute artistic control and exhibits her trademark facial expressions to add femininity to her performance. She employs a number of gestures to go along with the words, making her signature rolling motion with her hands and offering the odd karate kick throughout the song. These facial expressions and gestures work alongside her compelling outfit, as she commands her role as the center of attention and channels her image of a powerful African-American woman in control of her star persona. She dances with her mouth agape, often pursing her lips outward while furrowing her eye brows and stretching her face into various contortions. The combination of these gestures and facial expressions reveals how her sexy outfits work as a starting point when communicating her appealing femininity, along with the many masculine traits she also embodies as a way of creating the ambiguous depiction of gender that enthralls her audience.

Turner’s Exaggerated Sexuality

Turner’s use of gender-bending fashion and her body, which is reminiscent of Dietrich’s similar performance tactics in the 1930s, translates into her role as an artist who pioneered how sexuality is depicted on-stage in a way that is much less controlled and restrained than Dietrich’s approach. Turner incorporates a number of visual techniques into her performances to evoke sexuality, singing about love, sex, and romance in a “sexually-charged way” while making use of her flashy outfits and provocative dance moves (Royster 109). Furthermore, Turner’s complex image combines a sexually free African-American woman with one that is a victim, which adds depth to each performance and highlights the issues concerning race, sexuality, and relationships that she deals with in her work (Royster 104). Each facet of her style and persona is carefully chosen to communicate an image of African-American female sexual freedom and spontaneity,

27 which attracted crowds of women seeking a “raw, new sense of freedom” that existed beyond the bounds of the middle class in the 1960s and 1970s (Royster 107). This provocative sexual persona, which thrives on the edges of sexual morality and respectability, encourages female sexual power.

Turner’s role as a female figure promoting sexual freedom comes across in Bassett’s

“Proud Mary” performance, where her sexually-provocative outfit works as a starting point to demonstrate the rock star’s tremendous sex appeal. From the song’s opening spoken lines,

Bassett’s performance conveys the sexuality that makes up Turner’s on-stage performances. Her connection with the audience as she sings the words comes through as sexually provocative, while she maintains this appeal to her spectators through eye contact and handholding. By emphasizing her tendency to make eye contact with the female crowd members in particular,

Bassett maintains Turner’s strong relationship with the audience by peering into the crowd and embracing the performer’s characteristic head nodding and finger popping. Bassett exercises complete control over her body, like Turner does, shedding any notion of feeling innocent, obedient, or domestic. As she sings the song’s loaded lyrics, Bassett stretches out her bare, muscular arms and sways to the rhythm, casting a strong sexual shadow over her every move.

She frees herself from the ideal of heterosexual love, marriage, and domestic life, focusing instead on her strong sexual appeal and the air of freedom that the stage grants her. Bassett continues singing out the lyrics, while consciously shaking her body in a way that attracts attention to it until the lights go out and she purses her lips toward the audience, giving her fans a seductive kiss.

She builds on her outfit to magnify her intense physical presence decades later in her

Wembley show, as Turner offers a captivating demonstration of raw sexuality and emotional

28 power. Her tight, form-fitting attire in this number segues into her powerful performance, where she goes beyond using her singing voice and dance moves to elicit feelings of sexual freedom and empowerment. She expresses sexual roughness via various intense facial expressions and gestures, going beyond these non-gender-specific traits to embody confidence and pride as an

African-American woman in charge of her image and behavior (Royster 111). By taking advantage of her stage presence, Turner incorporates powerful handclaps and stomps into her performance to excite the audience and communicate her power as a performer. She also draws on various non-verbal sounds like “whos” and “heys” to accent her singing, drawing on African-

American musical tradition and adding an edge to her vocal performance. She utilizes the various noises, such as shouts, groans, and wails, prevalent in black music to further suggest the

“freaky side” of black sexuality (Royster 106). She embraces these noises to exhibit the significant role they play in orchestrating her sexual persona and encouraging her audience to embrace their own sexuality.

Conclusion

Tina Turner rose to international fame during a time when white female artists were able to make music, while black women in the United States were striving to gain greater representation in the media and American culture. In the midst of various constructs of whiteness in visual culture, Turner’s star persona addresses Hollywood and the music industry’s tendency toward glamourizing and idealizing white performers and their femininity. Working off the implications of excess, style, and performance in African-American culture, she challenged preconceived notions surrounding both white and black performance styles, creating a star persona and signature live shows that were solely her own. She challenged the music industry’s preference for safe, refined stars through fashion and style, shedding light on how white

29 performers and ones of color alike relied on overly feminine, respectable star images. The revolutionary nature of Turner’s provocative fashion choices and intriguing live shows suggests the part women in rock music play in influencing visual culture. Because she is an artist whose energetic, elaborate shows translate well onto the screen, Turner has influenced generations of performers and forever changed the music and film industries.

Chapter 3

Madonna and Cross-Dressing in Past and Present Live Stage Shows

Introduction

Madonna, since beginning her career in the 1980s, has joined Marlene Dietrich and Tina

Turner in utilizing fashion as a vehicle for self-expression in the entertainment industry. The implications associated with particular fashion choices have become increasingly prominent in popular culture thanks to Madonna. Because she curates her image through various forms of media, she utilizes fashion in multimedia platforms to construct her identity. Madonna serves as an important example of an artist that uses different fashion trends and behaviors to shape her image. She adopts looks from past stars and older forms of entertainment and adds to them, capturing and commenting on trends in society while creating popular works of art in music and film. Madonna further exemplifies how fashion and style add ambivalence and significance to her projects, as she uses these elements to tip her hat to her predecessors and shape society’s social, political, and economic climate. Carefully choreographed performances from her world tours shed light on how she utilizes fashion and style reminiscent of classical Hollywood and the early years of rock and roll by alluding to stars like Marlene Dietrich and Tina Turner. Madonna adds scope to their legacies while recreating revolutionary moments, using detailed outfits and particular mannerisms as a way of provoking thought about how women are still expected to dress and behave.

Madonna Then and Now

Madonna’s role as the star of her stage shows captured on film in recent years demonstrates how she designs her on-stage style to stimulate her audience and represent current events. This ability to capture trends in society through outfits and performance is key to her star

31 persona, which has allowed her to remain relevant for so many years. Further, by recycling images from past stars and moments in history and transforming them in a way that challenges modern society, she provokes outrage in a similar way that Dietrich and Turner did years earlier.

Coincidentally, Madonna’s most provocative outfits surface during her record-breaking, high- grossing world tours, where she uses the stage as a platform to wear thought-provoking outfits and act in ways that sparks discussions in the media. The stage, therefore, functions as a place where the performer appears to express herself, which calls attention to the role male-oriented personas play in demonstrating the restrictions women still face in their everyday lives. Because she always includes an act where she and her back-up dancers dress in drag and exude a mix of masculine and feminine behavior, she recreates Dietrich’s cabaret scenes from the 1930s and

Turner’s later performances with the goal of inciting fervor in a way that the German and

American stars did decades before her.

Many instances of cross-dressing in Madonna’s concerts allude to Dietrich’s iconic moments, signifying how and why the German actress inspired generations of performers and remains important today.2 Dietrich emphasized the notion that the stage gives the impression of a platform for freedom of expression and control over female bodies and images, which functions as a pillar of Turner and later Madonna’s career and success. Madonna furthers the notion that certain outfits and behaviors are better accepted as part of a performance as opposed to everyday life, so she embraces masculine ways of dressing and acting to embellish her concerts and encourage her fans to express themselves. By evoking Dietrich’s legacy of initiating change,

Madonna has carefully constructed her persona in a way that recalls elements of classical

2 Madonna draws on both Dietrich and Turner’s past performances in her performance of “Express Yourself” for her Blonde Ambition World Tour and “Vogue” for her MDNA World Tour.

Hollywood and endows them with expressions of contemporary attitudes. Although she draws inspiration from Dietrich’s film performances and clothing choices in many ways, the film star’s moments of cross-dressing contribute most to Madonna’s live performances. By dressing like a man in each show, Madonna conveys an interest in gender-bending and sexual fluidity that

Dietrich also embodied via masculine dress.

Style played an important role in establishing Madonna as a provocative star and agent of social change in the decade she began her career. Trends in 1980s American society first paved the way for Madonna’s signature style, which, courtesy of the many stars that came before her, benefitted from the increase in media presence that emerged alongside the construction of her complex star image during this period. Ramona Curry refers to Madonna as a “rock and media star” in “Madonna From Marilyn To Marlene-Pastiche And/Or Parody,” suggesting that in addition to her performances, she uses the media as a means of documenting her inflammatory outfits and actions on a larger scale (15). According to Curry, the country’s mass media has a history of acknowledging and endorsing Madonna’s evolving image, and Madonna took advantage of this media coverage throughout the 1980s to cultivate a controversial image reflective of popular culture (15). The star’s complex image evokes intertextuality today like it did back then, as she continually draws on past styles, like those of Dietrich and Marilyn

Monroe, to recall noteworthy moments in history and reintroduce them into contemporary society.

Madonna also often draws on her European roots as a means of adding dimension to her image and contextualizing her music and stage performances. The pop star accentuates her

Italian heritage in particular by stressing her father’s Italian descent, which has led to critics referring to her as an Italo-American singer. She remains categorized as an American star that

33 cannot speak Italian, however, and one that only records music in English. Because Madonna was born in America, she fails to possess the foreign appeal that Dietrich used to enhance her popularity in America and abroad. Nonetheless, her portrayal of Italian culture amidst images of

Hispanic, Japanese, and other world cultures calls attention to the role her American heritage plays in creating her artistic persona and her widespread appeal (Prieto-Arranz 180). Dietrich’s sexy foreign persona relies on her German cultural legacy, but Madonna draws on her American pedigree, alongside her European roots, in the same way Turner does to add significance to her work. Madonna’s nationality and family history work as a starting point, as she utilizes foreign and exotic places in her work to complement her changing image. Because Dietrich and Turner also acted in fiery performances with sexual innuendos that stemmed from exotic settings, their precedent allows Madonna to address gender and sexuality while appealing to a larger audience.

In light of the Italian heritage that Madonna often mentions in her videos and performances, she also alludes to her American upbringing, which highlights how American performers also inspired her. She grew up in Detroit, where Motown and other sources for music thrived, which links her to Turner’s peers and other acts that came out of this region. This

Northern upbringing, which comes out in moments like her impersonation of Michael Jackson on-stage, mirrors Turner’s success in the Northern United States, calling attention to their complicated pasts in terms of family and relationships as well as their American origins.

Madonna’s European ancestry and American naturalization both work to her advantage, as she emphasizes her strict Catholic upbringing and the many ways her work aims to break down the limitations associated with it. The combination of sex and religious symbols, which serves as a cornerstone of her iconicity and lasting success, is in part derived from Turner’s gospel background, given that singing in church paved the way for her success as a musician. Turner’s

34 religion-centered powerhouse vocals later translated into highly sexualized, provocative performances, laying the groundwork for Madonna’s play with sex and religion. Madonna, therefore, also uses contradictory ideas to craft her notorious star persona and fuel inflammatory moments given that she draws on Turner’s departure from gospel music in favor of more suggestive lyrics and a sexually-charged live show.

Several developments in society kept Madonna relevant during the first two decades of her career to the extent where timing has proved crucial throughout the new millennium as well, helping her to appeal to her audience in America and abroad. Because her career blossomed in the years leading up to Western society’s transition from modernity to postmodernity,

Madonna’s popularity in both periods illustrates how her career transcends time, as her work constantly depends on and adapts to changes in society. Jose I. Prieto-Arranz correlates

Madonna’s rise to fame with postmodernity in “The Semiotics of Performance and Success in

Madonna,” noting that her career began near the end of the period of modernity, which paved the way for her influence as an icon in postmodern society. He attributes her success in part to the increasing prominence of the communication field on which Madonna capitalizes as a means of selling her star persona on a global scale, since she appears in “virtually all the media in the world,” while remaining a mass media celebrity both at home and abroad (Prieto-Arranz 177 and

179). Because her music, videos, films, and photos facilitate the “formation and reformation” of her star image, she maintains her widespread appeal as a result of technological developments and flourishing multi-media platforms (Hallstein 125; Curry 19). Alongside the “variability of her image,” which is her most commercially useful characteristic, she also frees her fan base from generational restrictions by adopting the newest trends in music and society and applying them to her celebrity persona (Curry 25). In addition, because she appeals to people who are

35 familiar with past and present American popular culture and beyond, she appeals to teenagers in the 2000s in the same way she appealed to them in the 1980s.

Dietrich’s history of notable fashion and performances has contributed to Madonna’s relevance and success throughout several decades. Rebecca Kennison dubs her Dietrich’s

“modern day successor” in “Clothes Make the (Wo)man: Marlene Dietrich and “Double Drag’,” confirming the connection between the two women’s triumphant careers and legacies (154).

Although Dietrich rebelliously performed in drag and stretched gender roles before Madonna was born, their provocative performances work together to comment on society despite the many decades dividing the peaks of their entertainment careers. Kennison notes that Dietrich blurs the lines of traditional gender identification by mixing male and female attributes, a technique that

Turner adopted and one that Madonna exploits throughout her oeuvre (Kennison 147). Dietrich embraced elements of gay male and lesbian fashion, adopting various pieces for her outfits and performances that displayed a “femme sensibility,” which Madonna plays with during her shows

(Kennison 147). While Dietrich “effect[ed] a female stance” in her personal style and behavior,

Madonna draws attention toward the masculine aspects of her attire, bringing these elements to consciousness over the feminine ones (Kennison 147-149). Madonna, therefore, takes Dietrich’s idea farther by using her clothes and body parts to emphasize the masculine nature of her style and performance during stage shows, as opposed to the feminine, to assert power in a way that

Dietrich did not aim to do.

Madonna’s Defiant Style

Madonna exemplifies a contemporary star that has exercised nearly complete control over the construction of her image and star persona over the years. The ability to “renew her superstar status” over time stems from taking memorable moments in film and adding her own

36 contemporary take on cultural themes, social ideas, and timeless costumes (Curry 17). By adopting elements of popular culture from America and abroad and using them in a way that propels social change, Madonna makes herself a lasting “cultural product” as long as social, political, and economic issues exist in the world (Prieto-Arranz 173). This facet of her style accompanies the “ambiguous workings” of her many performances, as she portrays heated topics like religion and sexuality in different ways that in the end comment on society and provoke varied reactions (Curry 17). She enhances her preference for ambiguity by embracing multi- layered meaning in her work, which serves as another cornerstone of her success. This meaning stems from nonverbal forms of communication that Madonna adds to her ever-changing look”and live performances, while her clothing and mannerisms primarily display multiple layers that are representative of different historical periods.

Madonna’s impact on popular culture is in part derived from past iconic moments, the themes of which she interprets and reintroduces to modern society. Madonna adopts Dietrich’s cross-dressing, for example, translating components of the German star’s style to her stage performances to take on issues that have survived over the decades. Because Dietrich’s signature drag outfits and corresponding behavior brought her much notoriety, Madonna employs them to provoke a similar reaction from current crowds, suggesting that a woman dressed as a man remains a revolutionary concept. In other words, as Kennison also reveals, for drag to still be considered “disruptive and subversive” something to disrupt and subvert must exist in the first place (149). Strict and widely practiced gender codes, therefore, still exist today, otherwise

Madonna dressing in drag and behaving like a man would fail to stir up controversy. No drag could occur without these codified gender roles, and so, by drawing on images from nearly

37 eighty years ago, Madonna reminds her spectators that the performers she admired championed for change in the same way she does now.

Madonna’s Blonde Ambition World Tour Live (1990) uncovers the conventions of her live shows that embellish her star persona and influence the music industry as a part of popular culture. Madonna intentionally models herself after Dietrich, for instance, dressing in drag in her

“Express Yourself” music video and in the corresponding live performance of the same song. As she delivers “genre-theory-defying shows” that match songs with mise-en-scène stemming from cabaret, theatre, and dance, she draws on Dietrich’s outfit from a 1930s cabaret performance as a means of tipping her hat to the iconic star and restoring the concept of cross-dressing for her contemporary audience (Prieto-Arranz 179). In this reenactment of her “Express Yourself” video, where she assumed a masculine image that was considered gender-bending at the time, she appears on stage to sing amidst the machinery-based mise-en-scène that she borrowed from

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) to set up the undertones of sexuality and power that accompany her drag. Madonna emerges dressed in a black, double-breasted suit with her short blonde hair brushed back from her face. As the platform rises up to the stage, she remains squatting with her legs apart and one hand on her hip while the other hand holds a monocle to her eye like Fritz

Lang. Amidst the male garb and suggestive attitude that she conveys through rehearsed, choreographed body language, she remains very much a woman, although she adopts male apparel and behavior. She then stands up provocatively and throws off her monocle to reveal the heavy, almost comedic female make-up on her face. This look contrasts greatly with her masculine fashion and style, which gives way to femininity given that the suit is low-cut and almost reveals her breasts.

Madonna continues cross-dressing long after the 1990s to reshape her star persona and introduce these androgynous looks to a new generation. The pop star’s updated version of her

Dietrich-inspired outfit returns in Madonna: The MDNA Tour (2012) in a section of the concert dedicated to exploring masculinity and femininity through fashion and sensuality. Because

Madonna’s live shows have become their own genre, consisting of four acts that combine elements of Broadway musicals, ballet, and art and street performance among other influences, she continues this legacy by combining her classic songs with a cabaret-style performance

(Prieto-Arranz 186). She opens the third act of the show with her hit song “Vogue,” which mentions Dietrich among other golden-era Hollywood stars and serves as the basis for the black- and-white video whose stylistic inspiration comes from 1930s Hollywood films. Madonna uses the song’s music video as a starting point again for staging its live performance, applying its aesthetic innovations in a way that visually cites Dietrich’s star image. This “pastiche of star images” and 1930s cinematographic imagery appear when she assumes the stage dressed in a crisp, white-collared top, flared black pants, and a black tie (Curry 21). She begins this section clothed in a combination of male and female clothes, embracing aspects of both sexes to consciously provoke by cross-dressing and to add to her sex appeal. Madonna returns to the masculine look from her performance of “Express Yourself” in 1990 by sporting flared black trousers, but she builds on this style with a decorated corset, fitted white top, and red lipstick in a way that makes her seem more feminine like Turner and less masculine like Dietrich.

Madonna’s Mixed Gender

Madonna’s on-stage persona draws on both masculine and feminine influences from popular culture, raising questions about gender in her live performances through cross-dressing and staged androgynous images. The pop star’s play on gender has been the hallmark of her

39 career. Her direct “gender address” emerges through various “contradictory practices” that challenge gender roles and revolutionize how they are presented on stage and in the media

(Curry 16; Hallstein 130). As a result of her preference for adopting both male and female attributes in her appearance and movements, Madonna’s fluidity of gender identity has dubbed her “genderless” in many respects (Kennison 150 and 147). Her goal of avoiding being considered one gender unveils the many ways she has adapted her style to bend gender, as she employs her on-stage apparel, back-up dancers, and mise-en-scène to challenge any notions of possessing a single, defined gender. Her presentation of gender emphasizes the role appearance plays in challenging gender and sexual norms, as her outfits reveal how gender works as a social, cultural, and psychological construct.

Madonna takes the opposite approach to displaying gender than Turner does, flaunting masculine clothes and highlighting her feminine features, as she presents characteristics of both sexes in her performances to blur gender lines like Dietrich and Turner did before her. Through her suit, monocle, and leotard, which accents her female body parts, Madonna suggests all forms of gender in her Blonde Ambition tour like Dietrich did nearly six decades earlier. She

“assertively claim[s] all possible gender space” while performing “Express Yourself,” as her appearance and gestures resemble Dietrich’s attempt at emulating male behavior while maintaining a feminine appeal during her performance in Morocco (1930) (Kennison 155; Curry

21). Madonna’s body language demonstrates her take on masculine comportment, as she arrives on stage in a suggestive crouch with one arm on her thigh and the other holding a monocle to her eye. She then uses her body to enhance her masculine on-stage image through nonverbal behaviors like pelvic thrusts, arm flexing, and body grabbing in this performance, embodying

Turner and later Michael Jackson by adopting his signature dance style. As a woman dressed like

40 a man who still very much resembles a woman, she acts out his characteristic crotch grab and rigid strut, combining the styles and codes of the 1930s with the 1980s to toy with gender positions and comment on society. She usurps “rebellious masculine youth culture” into herself as a product of popular culture (Freccero 164). In addition to male dress and suggestive man-like movements, she also conveys femininity through her exaggerated make-up, platinum blonde hair, and the act of breaking free of the suit mid-song to disclose a much more feminine outfit.

By using cross-dressing during live performances later in her career, Madonna continues to comment on gender, combining the two genders and pitting them against each another. Her focus on representing gender and blurring its conventions arises once again during her performance of “Vogue” as a part of her MDNA tour, where she draws on her “repertoire of playful gestures and expressions” to exude a mix of male and female dress, as well as feminine dance moves and seduction techniques (Curry 18). She crouches down with her legs apart once again, alluding to her performance of “Express Yourself” in the 1990s, and then she goes on to play with codes of femininity through feminine motions and dance moves. Madonna poses with one hand on her hip with her leg cocked while her other hand reaches into the air, proudly presenting herself as a woman dressed in both male and female attire. Amidst her mash-up of

Dietrich-like trousers alongside a collared top, black tie, and elbow-length gloves, like the ones popular during the girl group era, Madonna intensifies this look with a constricting corset from which she aims to break free. While she poses this way, her momentary break in action continues to undo “dominant gender codes,” as focus transitions to her back-up dancers, where each male dancer is clothed in feminine attire and the female ones are strictly in male garb (Freccero 170).

As a result of these androgynous costumes, Madonna asserts her power in this moment and empowers both men and women by suggesting that gender is a social construction that should be

41 challenged. Her facial expressions and body movements, in combination with these drag uniforms, signal irony as she aims to convince her crowd that gender exists as a spectrum.

The Debate Around Madonna’s Sexuality

Sexuality is a key component of Madonna’s work both on and off stage, which she emphasizes through clothes, behavior, and various symbols that have attracted and repulsed her audience over the past thirty years. The “mainstream appeal” of her sexuality, as well as the

“ebullient, actively desiring feminine” feeling it gives off in her music videos and live performances, have contributed to her widespread success (Curry 21 and 16). Her emphasis on sexuality challenges and reinforces gender roles, as her “assertive sexuality” breaks down stereotypes associated with men and women (Hallstein 125). She further “transcend[s] mere sexuality” through explicit depictions of sex, which she connects to spirituality and gender construction in controversial ways (Prieto-Arranz 176). By embracing androgyny and a

“markedly masculine masquerade,” for example, which contrasts with the “feminine mask” she also often wears, she toys with gender constructions that call attention to sexuality and the lack of freedom it continues to attract in modern society (Curry 28). In order to address this problem, she adopts the feminine as a masquerade, “posing” as feminine in many instances to dismantle the divide between sexes and encourage her audience members to express themselves (Freccero

170). This play with gender and sexuality has in turn led to her characterization in the media as a

“powerful, successful, sometimes boldly iconoclastic, sexually active, independent woman” whose image and star persona propels society toward a more powerful, accepting state through popular culture (Curry 17).

Madonna’s provocative depiction of sexuality occurs most notably during her live performances, where she draws on her outfits and dance moves to depict ideas from her songs,

42 videos, and other visual media. Her representation of male and female sexuality occurs in the opening number of her Blonde Ambition tour; she performs the lyrics to the overly sexual

“Express Yourself” with accompanying gestures, dance moves, and facial expressions. Because this song’s sexual meaning is more explicit than her other music from this period, she uses it in her performance to represent sexual trends in a way that differs from later performances of the same song. The visuals match the lyrics during this song, as opposed to when she provides a disjunction between lyrics and performance to initiate different readings of her songs and music.

Her provocative dance moves clearly suggest sex in this performance, which is reminiscent of

Turner’s many sexually provocative ones, while she puts forth a message of gender equality in a way that presents the song as a hymn to freedom that encourages women and other oppressed groups. The inspirational undertones that emerge in this song work alongside her “recurrent androgyny/sexual ambiguity interplay,” as she aims to appeal to various suppressed groups in a way that encourages them to exert personal freedom and embrace their individuality (Prieto-

Arranz 185). Madonna utilizes various facets of expression in her performance of this song, as her black tuxedo gives way to her leotard and cone bra. Her cone-shaped breasts protrude from the male attire to represent her feminine sexuality breaking out of its masculine masquerade. The bottom of her leotard comes over the top of her pants and she eventually sheds her suit in favor of the shimmering pink onesie, signaling her transformation from man to woman. After moving her hips sexually and touching her breasts, she gets rid of her male wardrobe in favor of a female one at the moment that her lyrics refer to heterosexual relationships. By suggesting heterosexuality in this performance through simulating sex on-stage with a male dancer in between her legs and pumping her arms in provocative ways, she represents sexual preferences a spectrum as opposed to two extremes.

By continuing to display sexuality in live performances, Madonna demonstrates how society’s response to depictions of cross-dressing and gender identity add sexual fuel to her subversive on-stage antics. Madonna’s live performances have become more sophisticated over time as a result of the more detailed, intricate shows that originate from the intertextuality of her work. She continues to add new meanings to her songs through visuals, such as in her 2012 stage version of “Vogue.” Because the song is lyrically about enjoying oneself on the dance floor no matter who one is, she embellishes this theme of escapism through sexual outfits and mannerisms that encourage freedom of expression. Fashion serves as her main tool of expressing uninhibited sexuality, as she sports another cone-shaped bra that accompanies a restrictive corset.

This important wardrobe choice corresponds with her declaration of sexual freedom, as it corresponds with her male dress and female accessories, suggesting that individuals of all genders and sexual orientations should be free to enjoy themselves. Because she is an “exhibitor of a powerful femininity,” she uses her body and style in this performance of “Vogue” to convey the underground subcultural dance movement from the 1980s that the song embodies and translate it to contemporary society (Hallstein 130). In response to the influence of the song and video in bringing an underground subculture into mainstream popular culture through her power and influence as a performer, she goes back to the increasing popularity of dance music from the

1980s and introduces the song as a way for promoting sexuality in contemporary society.

Conclusion

While Madonna creates intertextuality between each new show and her past work in fashion, film, music, and, she also draws on influences from an array of artists whose legacies she rejuvenates and integrates in her own work. Because each live performance accompanies new messages, she exists as an important figure in the American media, recognizing trends in

44 popular culture and translating them to her star persona. She draws on a number of Marlene

Dietrich’s looks from the 1930s and beyond as well as many elements of Tina Turner’s decades- long career. Madonna expands on their fashion, style, and social commentary especially in recordings of concerts that are edited into film form. By taking after these pioneering performers,

Madonna earns her reputation for transgression, novelty, and shock via similar non-verbal means. The narrative structure of her concerts comment on gender and sexuality, and the construction of her shows and star persona situate her in line with Dietrich’s and Turner’s long, prosperous careers.

Conclusion

The discussion surrounding how women are portrayed in film continues today, as scholars refer to Marlene Dietrich, Tina Turner, and Madonna as examples of female performers whose shows capture highlights from historical periods and advocate for social change. Each woman’s work encompasses twentieth-century feminist ideals that encourage women’s liberation and present gender and sexuality on a spectrum as opposed to two extremes. As the debate concerning on-stage depictions of female stars carries on, it calls attention to fashion’s role as a catalyst, as these stars represent gender and sexuality through stimulating visuals in their live performances. Dietrich, Turner, and Madonna succeed in using fashion to communicate relevant social and political ideas that would otherwise be considered disruptive and subversive. Because

Hollywood filmmaking dominates contemporary popular culture, these three stars capture their live concerts on film, transferring them onto the big screen. They convey their progressive attitudes toward the advancement of women in society to a larger audience in these films.

Dietrich’s success in the 1930s exemplifies the social, political, and economic issues at hand in the years leading up to World War II, which she addressed with her alluring star persona and contribution to Hollywood filmmaking. Her signature cross-dressing performances from this era highlight how fashion serves as a vehicle for conveying issues surrounding gender and sexuality. Because her characters’ masculine outfits and ambiguous sexualities brought her much notoriety, Dietrich’s film roles from this period demonstrate how on-stage performances captured on screen communicate developments in society and changing attitudes toward women.

Through her portrayals of these seductive cabaret performers in Morocco and Blonde Venus,

Dietrich revolutionizes how women are expected to dress and behave, paving the way for

Turner’s equally contradictory, intriguing star persona.

Turner rose to prominence in the decades after World War II amidst the surge of second- wave feminism and women’s studies in the 1960s and 1970s, which influenced the construction of her star image and the nature of her live performances. Her racy, overly feminine way of dressing corresponds with the lasting impact fashion had on live musical performances captured on film, as her outfits, body movements, and voice present gender and sexuality in a way that is reminiscent of Dietrich’s acting work. Because her revealing outfits and sexually charged performances set her apart from other performers during this period, Turner’s unique performance style calls attention to race and ethnicity and how they translate to live shows featuring female performers. Turner serves as a pioneer in the music industry who revolutionized how women look and behave on stage, while her success makes her a role model for women of all races and ethnicities. Her steamy public performances exert representations of gender and sexuality that build on Dietrich’s work while laying the groundwork for Madonna’s play with these ideas later on.

Madonna came onto the popular music scene in the wake of Turner’s popularity in the

1960s and 1970s, cultivating her persona with past looks and performance techniques from other successful female film and music stars. She draws on both Dietrich’s and Turner’s fashion statements, often dressing in drag while incorporating various feminine accessories and traits into her masculine looks and behaviors. Madonna links these two stars’ legacies by taking ideas from both performers’ shows and rejuvenating them in her own live performances. In order to emphasize the role fashion plays in advocating diverse representations of gender and sexuality,

Madonna embraces androgyny as a way of integrating Dietrich’s masculine look with Turner’s feminine one. She uses this play with gender further to fuel her display of ambiguous sexuality that both women before her also included in their shows. Madonna’s intriguing collage of old

47 looks and performance techniques from film and music history makes her an important contemporary artist that continues to revolutionize how women appear in the media.

Each female performer’s clothes, mannerisms, gender identity, and sexual preference play a critical role in how she presents herself on screen. Dietrich, Turner, and Madonna use fashion as a starting point to cultivate their unique on-stage images and star personas, which present new ways of understanding gender and sexuality. Each woman’s style evokes the notion that popular film and music stars work to empower the male and female members of their audiences, although their ideals concerning acceptable dress and behavior for women remain controversial in modern society. The ability to dress and act freely remains a luxury that only stars such as these have access to, as certain depictions of gender and sexuality through clothes and behavior are reserved for the stage. Live musical performances, especially ones captures on film, serve as a platform for expressing progressive attitudes toward gender and sexuality that are not celebrated outside the media. As the quantity of provocative performances, like Dietrich,

Turner, and Madonna’s key on-screen moments, continues to grow because of performers like

Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, the issue of how women are portrayed on-screen will eventually extend beyond the media. By empowering and educating the modern world’s young men and women, these performers play a critical role in making sure that everyone can openly embrace his or her own interpretation of gender and sexuality.

Works Cited

Filmography

Blonde Ambition World Tour Live. Dir. David Mallet. Perf. Madonna. Pioneer Artists, 1990.

Film.

Blonde Venus. Dir. Josef von Sternberg. Perf. Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, and Cary

Grant. Paramount Pictures, 1932. DVD.

Madonna. “Express Yourself.” Online video clip. YouTube. WMG, 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 2 Apr.

2016.

Madonna: The MDNA Tour. Dir. Danny B. Tull and Stephane Sennour. Perf. Madonna.

Interscope Records, 2013. Film.

Madonna. “Vogue.” Online video clip. YouTube. WMG, 26. Oct. 2009. Web. 2 Apr. 2016.

Morocco. Dir. Josef von Sternberg. Perf. Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, and Adolphe Menjou.

Paramount Pictures, 1930. DVD.

One Last Time Live in Concert. Dir. David Mallet. Perf. Tina Turner. Serpent Films Productions,

2000. Film.

What’s Love Got To Do With It. Dir. Brian Gibson. Perf. Angela Basset and Laurence Fishburne.

Touchstone Pictures, 1993. Film.

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