Meet Madison Moore, Ph.D. Candidate in Critical Fierceness Studies at Yale

Madison Moore is quickly becoming one of the world's foremost experts in fierceness.

By Jorge Rivas Apr 24, 2012

Meet Madison Moore. He’s a Ph.D. candidate in Yale’s American Studies program, specializing in popular culture. His dissertation looks at iterations of glamour in fashion, nightlife, and music.

Moore says he came to his area of study because of fierce women in his life.

"Well, it all starts with my grandmother," Moore told Blackbook Magazine recently. "I grew up as the only boy surrounded by a bunch of fierce divas. My grandmother and her sisters, so my great aunts I guess, would always get dressed up to the hilt to go out to the casinos ("the boat"), to church or to a concert I was in, and especially for big family parties. I’m talking rhinestones, sequins, feathers, heels, wigs–they were always taking it there."