MADONNA, JUST TURNED 60, HAS THE AUDACITY TO REMAIN IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Madonna just turned 60.
And if there’s anyone who knows about the pitfalls of being an aging while female and famous, it’s the singer who has courted controversy from her first hit album, 1984’s “Like a Virgin,” onward.
Smeared as a slut for her brash sexuality in the early years of her career, Madonna has endured a different, sneering tone from the public the past decade.
In 2015, she inspired a wave of ever-soslightly condescending coverage for her “wacky” flashing stunt on the Grammys’ red carpet. Dispatches from her Rebel Heart world tour in 2016 — an ambitious trek that grossed more than $100 million — accused her of being late, drunk and mentally unfit to tour.
That same year, coverage of her custody battle with ex-husband Guy Ritchie over son Rocco often painted her to be the tortured loser, forced to let her son stay in London with his dad. Her 2015 attempt at a party anthem, “(Expletive) I’m Madonna” was smeared as “delusional.”
And there was the debacle that was her guest appearance during Drake’s 2015 Coachella set, which turned what was intended to be an eyebrow-raising kiss into a public humiliation when Drake turned to the cameras afterward with a look of exaggerated disgust.
These stories shared a similar cringe as they assessed their subject: an aging woman with the audacity to stay in the spotlight. And Madonna, who has proven an astute cultural critic throughout her career, has spent the past few years fighting back, in her continually unapologetic flamboyance and her barbed defenses of her behavior.
“I take care of myself. I’m in good shape,” she said, responding to the criticism of her Grammys derriere-flashing stunt. “I can show my [expletive] when I’m 56 or 66 or 76. Who’s to say when I can show my [expletive]? It’s sexism. It’s ageism. And it’s a kind of discrimination.”
She reacted similarly in a 2017 interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “Does somebody ask Steven Spielberg why he’s still making movies? Hasn’t he had enough success? … Did somebody go to Pablo Picasso and say, ‘OK, you’re 80 years old. Haven’t you painted enough paintings?’
“I’ll stop doing everything that I do when I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ll stop when I run out of ideas. I’ll stop when you [expletive] kill me. How about that?”
Yet there’s still a prevalent belief that Madonna has been living out her 50s with, as The New York Times described in a 2015 story, a “lack of dignity.”
Madonna responded with the quiet rage of her speech at the 2016 Billboard Women in Music Awards that has only gotten more relevant. Honored as the awards’ Woman of the Year, she gave a 10-plus minutes speech on sexism, ageism and other abuses she’s weathered.
“I stand before you as a doormat. Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer,” she deadpanned in her opening remarks. “Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse.
“There are no rules — if you’re a boy. If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. Be what men want you to be. But, more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men.
“And finally, do not age,” she said. “Because to age is a sin. You will be criticized, you will be vilified, and you will definitely not be played on the radio.”
One year before the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements took hold, Madonna’s speech spanned just about every cause the movements have advocated, touching on her own sexual assault before advocating for women in the industry.
Madonna preached the power of women supporting one another.
“Women have been so oppressed for so long, they believe what men have to say about them,” she said. “As women, we have to start appreciating our own worth and each other’s worth. Seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by, to support and [be] enlightened by.”
Since her speech at the end of 2016, Madonna has celebrated her adoption of twins from Malawi and opened a children’s hospital in that country. She is said to be preparing her 14th studio album.
At 60, a line from her speech continues to stand out.
“People say I’m controversial,” she said. “But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.”
“I’LL STOP DOING EVERYTHING THAT I DO WHEN I DON’T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE. I’LL STOP WHEN I RUN OUT OF IDEAS. I’LL STOP WHEN YOU [EXPLETIVE] KILL ME. HOW ABOUT THAT?”
MADONNA, in a 2017 interview with Harper’s Bazaar