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Adam Lambert recommended track Vogue by Madonna in Immaculate Collection by Madonna in Music (curated)

 
Immaculate Collection by Madonna
Immaculate Collection by Madonna
1990 | Rock
8.8 (6 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I remember being a kid when this song came out and I couldn't get it out of my head. I was obsessed with the music video and I kept singing it and dancing around to it. I think the significance now - I don't think I realised it then - was that it's so gay. ""I know now - I didn't know then - that Madonna was referencing the ball culture of New York, which is this incredible culture that queer people of colour started in New York with these underground gatherings. They would fantasise about being different versions of themselves and winning competitions amongst themselves. It was a way to build each other up and to celebrate who they were. ""In many ways, it was very ahead of its time and I think Madonna was inspired by that. She even had that in her video, she had people voguing and people dancing, from that world. I think I remember looking at those dancers and being like 'Huh, they're kind of feminine… Okay.' I didn't really quite process it because I was pretty young. I think there's a lot of subliminal significance for me, seeing one of my pop idols celebrating and being a part of that world for her song."

Source
  
This book has one of the best forewords I've ever seen. Bornstein explains that since 1994, when the book was first published, language has changed a lot, and terms that were used regularly then, like transsexual, are highly offensive now. So she has heavily rewritten the book to change the language, but she goes on to say that language is an always-changing thing, and in five or six years this edition, too, might be offensive in the language used. Then she apologizes for that. My favorite lines are one of the last paragraphs of the foreword:

"Now, if anything you read in this book makes you feel bad or wrong or small and weak, then please know that I said something wrong. This book was written many years ago, and the culture I wrote it in is not the culture in which you're reading it. So, if you find anything to be personally insulting, please accept my apology and keep reading with the knowledge that your identity and how you express your gender are correct only when you feel they are correct."

It was a wonderful note to start the book on. I just loved "if you are offended, if this invalidates your identity, then I AM WRONG." Bornstein transitioned in the 80s, and has been an outspoken advocate of queer and trans people most of her life. She is definitely a figure in queer history that more people should read about.

The rest of the book is every bit as good as the foreword. Bornstein absolutely destroys the concept of gender in this book, dissecting it and looking at all the parts and pieces to attempt to figure out why society is so set on the binary system. She more than makes her case that gender is a spectrum, not an either/or. And not just a spectrum between "more male" and "more female" but a colorful kaleidoscope of gender expression and identity. She does not shy away from sensitive topics like surgeries and anatomy. She talks to the reader like she's your favorite outrageous aunt, sitting in the family room gossiping over heavily-spiked tea.

The formatting was occasionally confusing; she has the usual justified text, but then she has left-aligned passages (usually quotes from other people) and right-aligned passages (side-bar like content; I'm unclear if these are notes she made on the original text or what, but it generally clarifies or alters what the main text is talking about.)

I would HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about gender issues. Bornstein has an incredibly entertaining way of writing, and she loves to challenge what we think of as gender.

You can find all my reviews and more at http://goddessinthestacks.com