Lately, perhaps due to being in constant crisis mode and grieving over the part of my life that is forever lost due to tinnitus and hyperacusis, I have thought a lot about my past and my childhood. I thought this could be an interesting thread. I think who we idolize as young persons affect our lives a lot more than we think. Who was your biggest childhood idol?
As a kid of the eighties and a big music lover, it may come as no surprise that my childhood idols included the likes of Whitney Houston, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Bowie, Kate Bush, etc.
I still consider all the above-mentioned musicians phenomenal and unmatched (I know it is controversial to mention Michael Jackson given the context with his child abuse etc but I am only talking about his music which I think no one can argue were master pieces in the genre of pop - whether you are into pop or not).
But for me, as a young girl (and I am sure many other young girls), no one had a greater impact on my young impressionable brain, eyes and ears than Madonna. I was a huge fan, the biggest. The first music cassette tape I ever got was the "True Blue" album, and I listened to it over and over (probably not healthy for young ears but many childhood friends did the same without having hearing issues today, so I don't know...)
For several reasons, I no longer feel that way about Madonna. She has changed a lot (seems a lot less authentic to me today), and I am a lot older and with that comes the ability to "see through" a lot of the things that she did that seemed so magical at the time.
Nevertheless, at the time, she was the greatest in a way that is difficult to comprehend today because the world of celebrities is a lot more fragmented. The superstars of the eighties were really HUGE stars and they had an aura of exclusivity. Today, anyone can set up a YouTube account and gain 2 million followers in a short time. If you know what I mean. It is just a different world and to me less interesting (typical comment from an older forties-something person, I know
)
I think what Madonna did (for me and so many other young girls of the 1980s) was to clearly demonstrate that there are many ways of being a woman and that your future is not carved in stone. You don't HAVE to get married, buy a house and start a family (which everyone back in the 1980s still expected all women to want and pursue). Sure, you can do all that if you want to but there are different ways of living and women have CHOICES. You are actually allowed to follow your own path and march to the beat of your own drum. It felt liberating. I did not know a lot of women like that in my personal life, if any.
Of course, I could not articulate or even think all of this as a child but I could somehow FEEL on an intuitive child-level what she was representing. She seemed, to me, like a little girl dressing up, but she was not a little girl, she was a grown woman, and I found that so intriguing. Later, in the 1990s, I started losing interest and also realized that as a musician, she is not at all on the same level as geniuses such as Kate Bush or David Bowie - she is much more of a phenomenon, less of a musician. But back in the day, she was my biggest childhood idol because of her charisma, vibe and strong personality. She felt playful. Her ability to survive can still inspire me to this day.
I wonder how a strong personality like Madonna would tackle tinnitus and hyperacusis... With those conditions you cannot fight them or work your way out of them, only tolerate and accept them quietly, and my theory is that this would seriously challenge an extroverted and action-oriented workaholic like Madonna.
Just thought I'd share this. I am interested to hear who y'all idolized when you were small / younger
As a kid of the eighties and a big music lover, it may come as no surprise that my childhood idols included the likes of Whitney Houston, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Bowie, Kate Bush, etc.
I still consider all the above-mentioned musicians phenomenal and unmatched (I know it is controversial to mention Michael Jackson given the context with his child abuse etc but I am only talking about his music which I think no one can argue were master pieces in the genre of pop - whether you are into pop or not).
But for me, as a young girl (and I am sure many other young girls), no one had a greater impact on my young impressionable brain, eyes and ears than Madonna. I was a huge fan, the biggest. The first music cassette tape I ever got was the "True Blue" album, and I listened to it over and over (probably not healthy for young ears but many childhood friends did the same without having hearing issues today, so I don't know...)
For several reasons, I no longer feel that way about Madonna. She has changed a lot (seems a lot less authentic to me today), and I am a lot older and with that comes the ability to "see through" a lot of the things that she did that seemed so magical at the time.
Nevertheless, at the time, she was the greatest in a way that is difficult to comprehend today because the world of celebrities is a lot more fragmented. The superstars of the eighties were really HUGE stars and they had an aura of exclusivity. Today, anyone can set up a YouTube account and gain 2 million followers in a short time. If you know what I mean. It is just a different world and to me less interesting (typical comment from an older forties-something person, I know
)I think what Madonna did (for me and so many other young girls of the 1980s) was to clearly demonstrate that there are many ways of being a woman and that your future is not carved in stone. You don't HAVE to get married, buy a house and start a family (which everyone back in the 1980s still expected all women to want and pursue). Sure, you can do all that if you want to but there are different ways of living and women have CHOICES. You are actually allowed to follow your own path and march to the beat of your own drum. It felt liberating. I did not know a lot of women like that in my personal life, if any.
Of course, I could not articulate or even think all of this as a child but I could somehow FEEL on an intuitive child-level what she was representing. She seemed, to me, like a little girl dressing up, but she was not a little girl, she was a grown woman, and I found that so intriguing. Later, in the 1990s, I started losing interest and also realized that as a musician, she is not at all on the same level as geniuses such as Kate Bush or David Bowie - she is much more of a phenomenon, less of a musician. But back in the day, she was my biggest childhood idol because of her charisma, vibe and strong personality. She felt playful. Her ability to survive can still inspire me to this day.
I wonder how a strong personality like Madonna would tackle tinnitus and hyperacusis... With those conditions you cannot fight them or work your way out of them, only tolerate and accept them quietly, and my theory is that this would seriously challenge an extroverted and action-oriented workaholic like Madonna.
Just thought I'd share this. I am interested to hear who y'all idolized when you were small / younger
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