Madonna’s Erotica and SEX book and how they bucked a very anti-sex trend

It’s 1992, and the gay world is in the throes of the AIDS crisis, where former allies are melting away (or coming out with religion-based homophobic statements), no one wants anything to do with the gay community and any idea of ‘sex-positivity’ is shouted down by the ‘abstinence’ brigade. It was into such a world that Our Glorious Leader, Madonna, released Erotica, her fifth studio album. Alongside a controversial photo book titled SEX, this project radically confronted the taboos around sex—especially queer and kinked sexuality—in a cultural landscape largely defined by fear and shame. More than just a pop record, Erotica became an audacious statement on desire, loss, and survival amid the devastation wrought by AIDS. It also rocked.

By the end of 1991, over 33,000 people had died from AIDS-related complications, making it the second leading cause of death for those aged 25 to 44. The main reaction to the epidemic was stigma, repression, and silence. Yet Madonna chose to go in the opposite direction. She exploded myths and prudery, putting queer sex and kink at the forefront, attracting conservative ire and labels such as ‘vulgar’, which must have delighted her.

Erotica introduces listeners to Mistress Dita, a dominatrix persona through which Madonna explores power and submission in a rich tapestry of New Jack Swing and house music. The Erotica video, based on ‘outtakes’ from the SEX book, pushes boundaries with diverse depictions including a romantic scene with actress Isabella Rossellini on a beach, a threesome involving supermodel Naomi Campbell and rapper Big Daddy Kane, as well as a scene with two butch, bald lesbians in a leather bar setting. The shoots by fashion photographer Stephen Meisel that these images came from were significantly more hardcore featuring Madonna being held at knifepoint, sitting on an old man’s lap, seemingly being raped by skinheads in a school gym… Not to mention the nudity, the likes of which had never been seen before. As Eddie from Ab Fab would say, ‘full tit ‘n’ minge’.

Beyond the surface kink and sex-positive bravado, Erotica moves into complex and emotional terrain. Tracks like Bad Girl depict coping through casual sex and self-destruction, while In This Life serves as a poignant elegy for those—many in Madonna’s own circles—lost to AIDS, with lyrics speaking of the grief and apathy faced by the community. The song Why’s It So Hard pleads for empathy and for an end to prejudice.

Madonna’s connection to queer culture ran deep. Before her rise to pop stardom, she was embedded in the vibrant Manhattan underground queer punk and ballroom scenes, places captured by photographers like Nan Goldin and mythologised by artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, referenced in many of the photographs in SEX, a book that came in steel covers and is now worth hundreds. That personal history intersected tragically with the loss of close friends—including artist Keith Haring and dancer Gabriel Trupin—to AIDS. Such proximity to the epidemic fueled the urgency and authenticity of Erotica.

The album also resonated within the broader political climate where activist groups like ACT UP were mobilising to confront government neglect in the AIDS crisis. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Madonna did not shy away from these issues, having already put on a huge fundraising concert at Madison Square Garden and including a safer sex leaflet in a previous album, Like a Prayer. Around Erotica and SEX, which threatened to end her career, instead of stepping back, she used interviews to speak out against homophobia in the music industry and society at large. Notably, her two-part interview with The Advocate—the first global star to do so for a national gay magazine—highlighted her vocal allyship.

While Madonna has continually been both lauded and criticised for her approach—ranging from accusations of cultural appropriation to praise for genuine advocacy—scholars like Michael Dango emphasise the importance of nuance. He encourages understanding how her work both created opportunities for marginalized groups and served her commercial interests. Brian McNair, in scholarship published by Psychology Press, noted that while the album’s themes and the accompanying SEX book posed financial risks causing a temporary dip in Madonna’s record sales, she ultimately reclaimed her cultural influence, underscoring her enduring impact on queer visibility in mainstream music.

Over 30 years later, the dialogue surrounding sex, queerness, and pop culture has transformed considerably, yet the reverberations of Madonna’s Erotica remain relevant. Her ability to address taboo subjects honestly and with both sensuality and vulnerability carved a space for exploring identity and desire during a time of widespread suppression and crisis. As she told Vanity Fair in 1991, ‘I think the problem is that everybody’s so uptight about sex that they make it into something bad when it isn’t, and if people could talk about it freely, we would have people practicing more safe sex.’ Three cheers for Our Glorious Leader! Hip hip…

Source: Noah Wire Services