”How dare she?”
The Queen of Controversy is back and proves once again that nobody pushes buttons better than her.
The worldwide press jumped on the Interview magazine cover story like kids on the presents under the tree on a Christmas morning, with reactions either focused on the one single picture from the Mert and Marcus spread where Madonna exposes her breast, or the opening up about her relationship with drug use.
Some reactions are in the most classic tabloid style (see the front pages of today’s Sun and Daily Express below) while other seem to make more interesting points, like this piece by Claire Cohen on the Telegraph:
How dare she? At 56, no less. I’d wager you won’t see a report today that doesn’t mention her age alongside her cup size.
‘Still got it!’ a few have already trilled.
Groan. They’ve utterly missed the point.
Madonna’s decision to pose topless has nothing to do with showing-off her wrinkle-free cleavage – nor male titillation. That she’s an older woman is powerful, yes. But, to me, it seems pretty clear that this is far from a pop star trying to prove that she’s ‘still hot’ in her fifties.
Madonna’s age is just a convenient stick to beat her with. It’s an easy reason for critics to cry ‘put ‘em away’ without, on the surface, seeming sexist.
(…)
Madonna is flying in the face of what the naked woman ‘should’ look like. She’s controlling her own image, just as she’s always done. Her attitude? Just because she’s in her fifties, why should she hide away?
The sugary pink cardigan that exposes her breasts in the Interview picture, says it all. ‘I’m not ready to button-up like a little old lady. Thanks all the same’.
We all should applaud her (preferably while wearing cut-off PVC gloves) for it.
Click here to read the full article from the Telegraph.
