Why is Madonna always trying to be sexy?

Sex sells, but women are almost always the ones doing the selling, and they are almost always selling to men. When men are pimping and reaping the rewards, the cultural take is that women are being taken advantage of. But when women are in control, our culture accepts it as empowerment. When Madonnna exploded onto the scene in the '80's and became a hugely successful, very sexy pop star, she kept control of her image and profits, and this was unusual. Comparisons were made with Marilyn Monroe-- how Marilyn was a victim of men's objectification and it killed her. But not Madonna. She's in control of her image.
In the "Like a Prayer" video, big themes are attempted to be dealt with-- victimization, racism, religious oppression, freedom, and through it all, Madonna is sexy. Everyone else is fully clothed, robed from head to foot even, but Madonna wears a low-cut slip with straps falling off her shoulders. She dances provocatively in front of burning crosses and singing choirs. She seduces the Christ/Saint figure on a church pew.
Women throughout the ages have always tried to look beautiful/sexy to attract men. Women contort, distort, slice things into and out of their bodies, and cover their faces with paint. Because this practice has carried on through the ages, the question arises: is this trait "essentialist" in that it "reflects a natural difference between men and women that is as much psychological, even linguistic, as it is biological?" (Rivkin 766). Will women always dress to attract men because biology demands mating and consummation? Or is women's image choice, which is consistently different from men's, constructivist, "merely the product of conditioning under patriarchy" (Rivkin 768).



Works Cited
Rivkin, Julie and Ryan, Michael. "Introduction: Feminist Paradigms" Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed.Julie Rivkin, Michael Ryan. Malden: Blackwell, 1998. Print.