In bell hook’s cultural criticisms, she argues how intellectual stereotypes often stem from the contexts of our cultural investments, shaping our very own motivated representations. Hook notions how the ways in which the many aspects of popular culture have promoted capitalism, patriarchy, and also misogyny.

In part 5, Hook discussed pop icon Madonna. Paying notion to the fact that Madonna herself aspired her own claims of engagement with feminism and politics. The fame and attention she received was based on her motivation that challenged the sexism of her industry. Her daring approach made her a cultural phenomenon as we still appreciate her as an important pop icon today. While some saw her motivation to break new grounds for women as empowering, others argue the ways in which she reattached new meaning to sexism and male supremacy.

Hook discussed how the circumstances Madonna put forth in efforts to promote and re-invent herself reattached new meaning to sexism. While Madonna herself claimed to be fighting for the politics of female empowerment, the sexist images she continued to put forth repudiated her original theoretical values. Hook also argues that with money as a driving force, there is always more stardom to be had in patriarchy. The circumstances Madonna took to claim profits and success defied her own imagine of women as ‘powerful’. Her idea of breaking these boundaries, I believe, recreated as well as reinvested the stereotypical images of the women that have been constructed for years.

The media obviously has an extremely powerful influence on culture. During a time where female pop culture had never seen such sexuality, Madonna recreated the image of ‘the women’. In an industry where perpetual re-invention is a motivational force, Madonna went against her own beliefs in the role she played in female politics as these ‘re-inventions’ cast a more darkened shadow upon women and how they are portrayed in the media today. I agree with Hook’s idea that Madonna, like many rappers, sympolizes greed. For she, despite the circumstances she took and the values she condemned, took whatever measures necessary to produce profit and success through the use of her body and sexuality.