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Madonna… wtf??

358 replies

Teenyliving · 22/09/2022 21:43

Madonnas Instagram just popped up on my feed.

erm.

is it genuine? She has had so much work done that she looks about 25 - in the pics - I imagine in real life it looks kinda weird.

and it all seems to be some kind of weird porn inspired vibe - but in a very clunky and unsubtle way.

I am genuinely shocked. I haven’t really seen anything of her for quite a while.

is this a surprise to anyone else or have I been totally out of the loop??

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EmeraldShamrock1 · 23/09/2022 11:20

I take your point, but I meant does anybody on this thread think Hugh was a sex god.
Egh no.
He was a dirty predator with no respect whatsoever for the young women using his power and influence for sex and status.

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:21

I kind of get that she's making a point, your life doesn't have to include a twin set and slippers once you hit 60, and she was never going to grow old gracefully.

But there’s a massive middle ground between looking like Madonna at 60 and donning a twin set and pearls. People seem to be only able to think in extremes. Like if something is too revealing it’s “oh so she should wear a burqa?”

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:24

AtrociousCircumstance · 23/09/2022 01:30

I’ve really enjoyed this thread and sort of tried on all the different opinions like dresses - yes, she looks bizarre and distorted, yes it’s sad and disturbing…but also, yeah, she’s not behaving like a 64 year old woman ‘should’, she is outraging us with her filters and fillers and splayed poses, and that’s her job, that’s who she is.

She was the coolest girl in the world, once. But also she was always a bit too forced and try hard to be really cool. Both felt true.

What can’t be denied is that however playful or daring or defiant she may be with her current incarnation, the boot-mark of the patriarchy is heavy on her face.

I looked through photos of her from the 1980s to now and suddenly thought, I kind of miss her - I miss Madonna as she was and as she could be now. I wish I could see her determined, handsome, wry face in its natural gorgeousness. I wish we could actually see her.

The zeitgeist is raging through her, living through her body. And it is a weird sight.

She was the coolest girl in the world, once. But also she was always a bit too forced and try hard to be really cool. Both felt true.

I never thought she was cool. I'm a year younger than her and never once thought she was cool. It was all far too trying to too hard / oh look at me , I'm so outrageous / oh go on look at me, here's me swearing at the Turner Prize/ here's me publishing a sex book (without actually showing that much)

ReneBumsWombats · 23/09/2022 11:29

I take your point, but I meant does anybody on this thread think Hugh was a sex god.

Of course not, but the Mumsnet demographic was never his target audience. He was hailed as an icon until he died, even though various bunnies and girlfriends released memoirs over the years outlining what an exploitative dick he was - and surprisingly regimented and boring.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:30

Teenyliving · 23/09/2022 07:10

@LovingTheseAutumnSnippets exactly - there is certainly no sense whatsoever that she is actually getting any pleasure from licking a 25 year olds tongue in the back of a limousine sitting at an awkward angle so that there is a good camera shot

my view is that Madonna has never been more confirming of the patriarchy than she is now

I usually find talk of "the patriarchy" very irritating but it's laughable touting Madonna as ever being any sort of rebel against "the patriarchy".

Her whole career is built on embracing a "patriarchal" image of acceptable sexuality- her so called rebelliousness was as tame and patriarchy pleasing as it could possibly be.

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:31

She invented raunch culture didn’t she.

ReneBumsWombats · 23/09/2022 11:32

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:31

She invented raunch culture didn’t she.

Pretty sure leather and whips existed before the 80s. I've seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:33

nolongersurprised · 23/09/2022 07:17

last year she was on the The Tonight Show and there was all of this scripted, faux angst about how she is always so “unpredictable” and OMG what will she do next!!

And of course, predictably, she slid across the desk and humped it 🙄.

She may have been risqué and controversial in the 80s but it doesn’t really work anymore. Not because she’s older, but with the Internet age simulated sex and nudity isn’t really that shocking.

She wasn't even risque or unpredictable then. You're spot on about the faux angst. It was always so obviously scripted and calculating.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:33

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:31

She invented raunch culture didn’t she.

No she didn't.

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:37

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:33

No she didn't.

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She’s the embodiment of it, the idea of being the hottest and sexiest rather than the most accomplished, of performing rather than enjoying her sexuality.

ReneBumsWombats · 23/09/2022 11:41

She's hardly the first or only female singer to capitalise on her image and sexuality rather than her vocal talent. Kylie Minogue sounds like a chipmunk.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:42

ReneBumsWombats · 23/09/2022 09:13

Men are allowed to get old and Mick Jagger is a prick.

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Patti Smith , who is, and always was, a gazillion times "cooler" and more interesting than Madonna is allowed to get old. So are Stevie Nicks and Natalie Merchant, Chrissy Hynd.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:44

caroleanboneparte · 23/09/2022 10:47

She doesn't look young. She looks like that Wilderstein woman.

It's horrible that even a rich successful woman like her has to submit to pornofied beauty standards.

If she doesn't have the strength or freedom to be herself what hope is there for the rest of us??

Oh stop exaggerating. This silly egotistical woman is the exception- the rest of us, famous or not, will just get on with our lives.

MarshaBradyo · 23/09/2022 11:47

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:44

Oh stop exaggerating. This silly egotistical woman is the exception- the rest of us, famous or not, will just get on with our lives.

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Exactly. What Madonna does has zero implication for me either

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:47

ReneBumsWombats · 23/09/2022 11:32

Pretty sure leather and whips existed before the 80s. I've seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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That is not what I meant by raunch culture. You may wish to Google if you’d like to know more.

nolongersurprised · 23/09/2022 11:49

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 11:42

Patti Smith , who is, and always was, a gazillion times "cooler" and more interesting than Madonna is allowed to get old. So are Stevie Nicks and Natalie Merchant, Chrissy Hynd.

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Joan Jett is still rocking the leather vests and performing at 64. She looks great.

silverclock222 · 23/09/2022 11:56

I think she's awful. She doesn't look younger to me, not if you look closely you can definately see her age.

nolongersurprised · 23/09/2022 11:57

Joan Jett

Although I suppose Joan Jett was always more “edgy” than “sexy”. She is fantastic though. No pearls in sight.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 23/09/2022 12:03

KimberleyClark · 23/09/2022 11:47

That is not what I meant by raunch culture. You may wish to Google if you’d like to know more.

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I know what you mean by raunch culture. Madonna didn't invent it. The concept started long before Madonna- Erica Jong and Germaine Greer played their part too. Madonna just joined in.

Hopefullysoon2022 · 23/09/2022 12:41

nolongersurprised · 23/09/2022 11:57

Joan Jett

Although I suppose Joan Jett was always more “edgy” than “sexy”. She is fantastic though. No pearls in sight.

The thing about Joan Jett,Cher,Tina Turner was they pushed a little then stopped.

Madonna always went for the jugular.
She always did what she wanted to do.

She didn't marry the head of a record label,or her father wasn't her manager.
She also didn't have famous siblings.

She did it the hard way.
Going round djs and record companies trying to get heard.
For that she deserves respect.

LovingTheseAutumnSnippets · 23/09/2022 12:55

I loved Madonna in Evita too. She was amazing. At that point it looked like she was venturing into cinema and was toning it all down and becoming admired for her other talents.

When she married Guy Ritchie and moved to the UK I thought she was going down the whole faux Duchess route and quite liked that. I think if they had worked out she wouldn't be making a holy show of herself now.

plainjane40 · 23/09/2022 13:04

InsomniacVampire · 23/09/2022 09:24

I saw an interview with her a few years ago and Im sure she was on a lot of drugs (prescription), she seemed totally in a different place and it was hard to follow her rambling. I think the yars of wild life and touring just take their toll, and all the surgeries and procedures she went through. I remember Andre Agassi said how manysports people cant get out of bed without a few paracetamols because of the chronic pain, and for many performers it is probably the same.

I don’t think she’s had a “wild life” though - she was always famously clean living and had the iron will power to maintain an extremely healthy lifestyle. She was teetotal I believe, smoked a very occasional cigarette (and that was probably only for photo shoots). She’s not like many other stars who lead a rock and roll lifestyle, take lots of drugs and booze and age badly as a result.

plainjane40 · 23/09/2022 13:06

Choconut · 23/09/2022 09:25

I agree and it's so sad, the desperation to stay young and beautiful or you're no longer of any use. And the desperation is so clear that it's uncomfortable IMO. I agree with the pp who said she seems to be filling and or filtering herself to try to look like her daughter.

She should have had naturally good/less wrinkled skin as I read (if true) that she was obsessed about staying out of the sun and she had a great shaped face. I'd love to have seen her with long messy silver hair, big sunglasses snogging aging rockers and with something to say - ie that women can still want and enjoy sex in their 60's. I'd have loved that photo of her sticking half out from under the bed to be ironic about the invisibility of older women as sexual people. I'd like to see fun sexual pics with her clearly being her age. Anyway as a child of the 80's that is where I would have liked to have seen her go.

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I agree. I’m sad she didn’t go down this route, I would still be a huge fan if she had!

gnilliwdog · 23/09/2022 13:08

She was the material girl. It was all about looks, money, fame and she's still chasing it. Got to admire her drive.

plainjane40 · 23/09/2022 13:15

I loved her in this interview. Talk about kick ass!