Madonna came out for the Grammy Awards on Sunday, specifically to honor Sam Smith and Kim Petras for being groundbreaking artists, plus Madonna wanted to give herself thanks for… all of it. As we discussed, Madonna looked “different.” She’s looked different for years – what started out as tweaks and ribbon lifts shifted into a new face and new body. Implants, fillers, surgery, all of it everywhere all at once. Personally, I don’t even think Madonna is embarrassed. I think she loves that people are paying attention to her, regardless of whether the attention is bad or good. Because everyone was “shocked” by her appearance, Madonna then got to act huffy and defensive (which she also loves).
Madonna took to social media on Tuesday to slam the internet’s strong reaction to her “unrecognizable” face at the 2023 Grammys. The singer, 64, explained that she had been excited to present Sam Smith and Kim Petras (who became the first transwoman to perform at the award ceremony and win a Grammy) ahead of their “history making performance” for “Unholy” but instead, people chose to focus on her looks.
The Material Girl explained, “Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim- Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face!!”
“Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny That permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass [sic] the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous.”
Madonna went on to say that she has “never apologized for any of the creative choices” she’s made nor the way she looks or dresses — and she won’t start now.
“I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come,” she continued before quoting Beyoncé’s “BREAK MY SOUL.”
The controversial singer told her fans that she looks “forward to many more years of subversive behavior -pushing boundaries-Standing up to the patriarchy -and Most of all enjoying my life.”
One, that’s not a long-lens distortion, that’s how she really looks now. Two, I’ve said all of this before and I’ll say it again – Madonna IS the victim of ageism and misogyny and she has been throughout her career. But that doesn’t mean that Madonna hasn’t internalized sexism and ageism too – a person who does this to her face and body has not accepted mortality and her age. And you know what? It’s her business. If she wants to get Khloe Kardashian-esque head transplants every six months, there’s no way for any of us to stop her. It’s as I said on Monday – the only thing we can do is stop being shocked by it.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty, Instagram.
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- Beverly Hills, CA – Madonna was seen arriving at Mr. Brainwash Art Museum in Beverly Hills for the Grammys after-party. Pictured: Madonna BACKGRID USA 6 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Beverly Hills, CA – Madonna was seen arriving at Mr. Brainwash Art Museum in Beverly Hills for the Grammys after-party. Pictured: Madonna BACKGRID USA 6 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Beverly Hills, CA – Madonna was seen arriving at Mr. Brainwash Art Museum in Beverly Hills for the Grammys after-party. Pictured: Madonna BACKGRID USA 6 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
…. It’s Madonna. She’s always been like this.
Yeah, it’s a bummer as it makes all her trailblazing in the past now seem like attention seeking.
Yes, that’s what it always was.
That’s exactly what I think too, I thought she would be the one to say screw it and age naturally just to say f you to the misogyny and sexism, but this is disappointing. Yes it’s her life and she can do as she pleases with her face and body, but it really makes me sad, mostly for her.
She is exhausting…..
In some ways I se her fear of aging and then her drive for expression thru art. It’s like she oddly just sees her body as a piece of art to be morphed.
She has always been about getting a reaction by being over the top or ‘transgressive’. If you were paying attention back then, it was pretty obvious. I was fed up with it back then and dismissive of it now. What she’s doing to her body now is a hell of a price to pay to try to relevant and hip and clinging to an age that has long since passed. She has attitude and no dignity and she’s guilty of ageism too by denying hers with all of these procedures.
I haven’t followed pop music simce 2010s. A pity that celebs feel forced to undergo plastic surgery
We’re noticing. That’s all she cares about.
That’s all she’s ever cared about.
She must be so happy right now!
Patriarchy? Lady, your beloved Kim Petras is on Dr. Luke’s label. Give me a break.
Also, IMO nothing says “standing up to the patriarchy” like compulsively rebuilding your face and body in an effort to keep looking youthful.
It’s certainly a reality that women are judged harshly as they age — but the ONLY way to change that is for women to embrace the reality of aging unapologetically.
@Maida, this is what I think, too. Madonna said a while back (10 years?) that she felt forced to stay “young looking” — forced by the entertainment industry, and by our misogynistic society in general.
At the time, it made me so sad because with Madonna’s tremendous celebrity, she was in a unique position to challenge those pressures—simply by not succumbing.
Saying no to going under the knife and all the various cosmetic procedures would have been truly radical! Instead, M made the conventional choice—in her own unconventional way, of course. Feels like a missed opportunity to me… but entirely her right and privilege. $$$ #plasticpeople $$$
Agreed. We don’t fight it by continuing to spend billions every year on cosmetics and procedures to look youthful, we just…age, and learn to be ok with it instead of listening to the bs that youth is preferred. And people can say all day that they do these things for themselves and no one else, and it makes them feel better, and I believe they truly feel that way, but I hope more women start to question WHY it makes them feel better. That comes from somewhere! If we didn’t have societal pressures to stay youthful absolutely no one would do this stuff, and I’m guilty of it too! I wear make up and do my hair and feel more put together and prettier, and I see my wrinkles and start to fret sometimes too, but I know that I’ve been bombarded by our sick youth obsessed culture.
I agree, Madonna herself is the embodiment of ageism and misogyny. I mean, who else would do this to their face if they didn’t hate the idea of women aging?
Exactly this. She’s not experiencing ageism. She’s experiencing people’s distaste for her own shame and failed attempts to hide aging. SHE is ageist.
I thought Kim was no longer working with Dr.Luke. I hope she has moved on from that situation as he is a terrible human.
What I don’t get is how can freaking Madonna not have access to good work? Is this a choice, though I have yet to see fillers and botox look flawless there are people who have managed to look decent. She should call Kris Jenner, Martha Stewart, they obviously have had work done but still look their age and not freakish.
I think it’s really fascinating to watch this discussion unfold and see what people will point to as “good” plastic surgery work vs “bad” — the “good” work is all the kind of stuff that people can allow themselves to pretend is natural, like it’s the result of “good” genes or a lifetime of “good” living and not the results of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of surgery, recovery, and maintenance. It’s the kind of surgical work that lets the observer believe, however delusionally, that such a thing is achievable for themselves with enough lifestyle changes like drinking more water or using a special serum and tap-tap-tapping it into their undereye skin instead of rubbing it in. And the “bad” work is always work that can’t be denied. It’s work that throws a spotlight on the contortions our culture requires aging bodies and faces to go through in order to stay “relevant”, work that doesn’t erase the passage of time. It’s work that allows other people to attack the individual as “freakish” or “fucked up”, instead of attacking the larger culture of youth worship as freakish and fucked up.
Amen to all of this.
Rather than discuss what Kaiser said in the last paragraph about the fact that misogyny and ageism is what leads folks like Madonna to undergo these procedures, people just want to talk about “good” v “bad” plastic surgery and blame the individual for it. And you better believe that if she hadn’t had work done, folks would be complaining about how old she looks. It’s a no-win situation.
The real “freakishness” is the attitude that women shouldn’t age or should pretend not to age.
Wendy is out here dropping truth bombs on a Weds morning! I also think we’re seeing a shift in the perception of “good work” and “bad work” happening as a symbol of class. The amount of regular folks getting Botox and injections is on the rise, so now the insanely wealthy folks are upping their surgery games to show they can afford hundreds of thousands of dollars of work. It’s the next phase of our kultural Kardashianation.
100% Wendy, so well said.
I mean we can get on a high horse here and judge people’s faces all day long but I would say that “good” is the kind of surgery that gives you the face you want. Whether that’s what others think looks good or not is really beside the point imo. This is always my question when women start on this journey. What was your objective in the beginning and did you maybe get off track? Does Madonna look in the mirror and think “Hell yeah baby, look at me!” I suspect her perception of herself is very different from what we see.
A few years ago I read an article in which a plastic surgeon said that in years to come, it won’t be the Hermès bag or the house in the Hamptons that will be the status symbol but obvious plastic surgery. As in, you can tell someone has the means for the “upkeep”. I think we’re seeing that this guy wasn’t wrong.
It might be having too many procedures at once/ one right after the other?
That hair style is doing her no favors either. It’s an odd choice and honestly I think it ages her even more and brings more attentions to the work done to her face.
I was trying to place the hairstyle. Carrie Fisher in Star Wars comes to mind.
Swiss Miss Cocoa
Look up the Croyden facelift. J-Lo does it too.
I am so stealing Swiss Miss Cocoa.
I don’t think a good surgeon would touch her face now
Yeah, nothing ageist about taking a carpenter’s plane to your face to shave off all the wrinkles. But I’m glad she’s proud of being so brave that she goes out in public looking like a completely different person.
Have any of us wonder why celebrities in general feel the need to shave the wrinkles off their faces as you say? The answer is an unequivocal: Us. Because of our unattainable expectations that celebrities must always look young and beautiful (especially women) they feel compelled to do horrible things to their faces to the point of being no longer recognizable.
But do people expect that? Since it’s women who feel most need to do these things to themselves, it seems more men want that than women.
I don’t expect that. I like wrinkles. I like faces that move. I have always been opposed to plastic surgery and injectables. I am not the problem.
Madonna looks like a clown. Her business, of course, but she’s getting the surgeries and injections because she has internalized the misogyny and ageism. That’s not me. I’m a nobody who doesn’t matter to Madge; she’s responding to herself alone.
It’s not from us. The directives come from the top down. Peoples’ faces in movies in the 70s and 80s looked real. TV and movies were the first to adopt the HD cameras that necessitated perfection at all times. Regular people weren’t doing that.
The expectation is there because it is force-fed to us. That is why I object when people say choice-based feminism is toxic. We are responding to forces that are driven not just by beauty experts but by marketing executives and ultimately money in brackets far beyond what we can attain.
well men aren’t spending hours every day on gossip blogs talking about how haggard women look — so we probably own a fair share of it.
Is it ageist to say “you would look better if you aged naturally”….? Isn’t that the opposite?
To be clear, I want Madonna to do whatever she wants to make herself happy. Just making the note.
I was thinking the same thing. She seems to be the one suffering from ageism. I’m 60 years old so I know what it’s like to watch your face change. It’s hard but I’m not in the public eye. She looks so sad and pathetic to me.
It’s kind of like what came first, the chicken or the egg. You can’t cry ageism and then buy into it by messing with your face. She is absolutely correct about ageism, but at the same time she hasn’t made peace with aging. Yesterday on Twitter somebody posted side by side photos of their aging naturally 64 year old mom and a photo of Madonna. The mom looked beautiful, not young, but beautiful. And then there was Madonna.
Sharon Stone, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Angela Bassett are the same age as Madonna. I don’t know if any of them have had any “assistance” but they all look beautiful and confident, not like they’re trying to look 20.
If Madonna is truly happy this way, great, but I don’t know if she sees the same thing we do when she looks in the mirror, if that makes sense.
We all have different genetically determined speed of aging. Some people get few wrinkles even in their 70’s and some of us get wrinkles in our early 40’s. Madonna has a complexion that tends to age faster than average.
Disagree about her complexion. Madonna is Italian – she has gorgeous olive skin that never sees sunlight, that’s why it looks pale. Madonna was the first celeb I knew who started shunning the sun, way back in the 80’s. Nicole Kidman came next with the big hats and sunscreen. Many others followed suit. Prior to that, “a healthy tan” was in. Think Liz Taylor in the 70’s, Cheryl Tiegs, etc.
Lots of Italians are fair-skinned and blue-eyed. I read somewhere a few years back, after photos emerged of her swimming in a full length outfit that basically covered her entire body and someone holding an umbrella over her head, that she’s actually allergic to the sun and breaks out in hives if she’s exposed to it more than a few minutes or isn’t wearing a super-strong SPF sunscreen.
Was it Layah Heilpern or whatever her name is, the Bitcoin grifter and rancid antifeminist/Andrew Tate supporter? Because yes, her mom was very lovely… but if anyone thought that woman’s face displayed natural aging I have a lovely bridge to sell them. Perfect bone-white teeth, dewy unlined forehead, microbladed brows, and probably more. But this is perfect demonstration of what i commented about in a thread above this post, about how “good” cosmetic work lets the observer pretend it’s natural.
Oh please, Madonna has always been about “look at me” and she’s not the only woman on the planet who’s been a victim of ageism and misogyny ever since the dawn of time. Sure, do whatever you want with your face, it’s your business – but don’t pretend it’s creative or trailblazing to make yourself look like every other plastic surgery addict.
You know who else was a plastic surgery addict? Michael Jackson. And look what happened to him. Is that ageism or sexism, Madonna? No, that’s a deep insecurity and, in her case, narcissism. She said she was the only one left of the big four (Prince, MJ, George Michael), but she’s going to do herself in soon with this crazy need to up the ante and inject whatever this shit is all over her face and body. This isn’t going to end well for her, and it’s a shame. She had Lauren Hutton good looks that would last until her dying breath (if looks is really what she’s been concerned about). Now she is a balloon-faced mess. No one asked her for this. It’s her own internalize hatred of aging and her own obsession with youth and fear of mortality. Don’t blame this on anyone but yourself, Madge. This is on you.
Perfectly put. I do however think that her distortion is on the inside too. She appears to me to have adopted pain killers or opioids and on her IG always has a glass of wine in her hand. This can distort reality quite a lot. She used to be fast talking and disciplined, excessively so…now her speech is slurred and slow. I think she is in denial about what’s really going on.
It is just so sad how desperate she has become for attention, and she has been like this for a while now. I can still remember when she was awesome. A raging narcissist….but awesome. The younger generation is only going to know her as this joke of a woman. It’s like her desperate need for attention is erasing her legacy
+1. Exactly my thoughts. She was a pioneer and still calls herself one. When all I see is she’s become a follower of extreme plastic surgery she calls Art. What about the art of aging gracefully? I am all for tweaking here and there but she has become like an alien of addiction. A Fem-Bot.
Lucky Star – the coolest. 🤩 I loved her.
It’s neither ageism nor sexism or any kind of -ism to observe her face in its current form and have an opinion on it.
I mean she paid to look like this. It is absolutely in her power to NOT look like this so I feel absolutely fine commenting on it. It’s not bodyshaming if you did it to yourself on purpose imho.
Like a previous commenter I cannot believe she does not have access to better surgeons. At this point it is clear that she has lost all perspective and probably suffers some seriouy dysmorphia if she looks in the mirror and still recognizes herself. Spend that money on therapy Madge!
I will say that I can’t imagine how high the pressure to stay young-looking must be for celebrities, and if changing your appearance like this is what makes you happy…fine, but loads of plastic surgery isn’t subversive.
The thing is, I don’t believe for one second that this level of ongoing plastic surgery makes anyone happy. Once you go under the knife multiple times for multiple things, you’ll never be satisfied.
Her face looks painful.
Travis barker and many other male musicians are covered head to toe in tattoos and we consider that a personal artistic choice. I look at Madonnas changes the same way. She isn’t pretending to just exercise and use fancy cream and that this is naturally how she looks (as Kim k does). I personally wouldn’t want to look like she does but humans have always modified their bodies in odd and funny ways.
At some point, all this “creative self expression” just becomes garden variety body dysmorphia.
My Grandmother had a saying I (try to) live by ” Other people’s opinions of you are none of your business.”
Aside from her face/body — her styling is just so very bad, the costume-y outfits, the brassy hair, the odd hair styles, the tongue kisses with staff — it is just all so LOOK AT ME with a twinge of desperation and that part is the saddest for me. She is still relying on the old shock tropes that got her through the 80’s and 90’s.
She had some truly great music in the 80s and 90s. I don’t know what she’s got now.
Memories and regrets.
@Surelynot – I really needed your grandmother’s wisdom today. Thank you so much for it. (I guess I should thank Madonna, too, but I‘ll just wish her more peace than she appears to have.)
Madonna has every right to alter her face and body the way she wants to. I’m not crazy about her current look but she obviously likes it, and I support this.
Second this. It’s her face, she should have the face / hair / clothes / styling that she wants and that she likes.
Everyone gets to make their own choices BUT lets not be disingenuous and act like she’s had good work done here. It’s not a good look, I said the same thing about Kenny Rogers. You do something extreme to your face, you can’t be that deluded that people won’t notice or comment. I’d be impressed if she said “I did what I did, so what?”
She can do what she wants to herself. Her acting as though she doesn’t look so different that it’s alarming to the public is bull. Like Kaiser said, she’s happy that folks are talking about her. Too bad the chatter isn’t more about her music.
Next time she makes an appearance everyone should get on board with:
“Madonna looked very nice. Her outfit was pretty.”
My problem is that all her modifications (face, skin, body and hair) are all explicitly, almost comically Blackfishy. Am I out of line? It feels eerie to me, like she’s trying to turn herself into Doja Cat or MTS or Minaj. If she were getting the kind of work other women of her age and race were getting, it might not be so jarring. But lip fillers, BBLs and TLC-homage hairdos are a touch too much on the racial appropriation scale for me.
No, you aren’t out of line. I give all of the work side eye for a reason. She’s up here getting a BBL and other enhancements and “twerking,” but we aren’t supposed to be commenting on this elder white lady clearly highjacking a distinctive look. I talk about everyone, from Khloe to Kim to Madonna, when they do this. I call all of it out.
And the grill. … don’t forget the grill.
She used to be a trailblazer. Now she’s just a sad borrower desperately seeking relevance.
And she’s standing up to the patriarchy by submitting to the patriarchy’s obsession with youth.
not out of line at all — on the nose and I hadn’t connected all of those dots previously.
Oh honey, you were caught in the glare of bad plastic surgery. Look do you, but seriously??? Oh and get a better Dr., they’re either not really good at what they do or they’re intentionally messing up here….
Madonna has been a joke since her prolonged Austin Powers impersonation. I sincerely loved Ray of Light as it came out when I was in 8th grade, but I feel like that was her last great moment.
I’m sure she has some validity to this claim as we all do but she has also willingly fed into this very narrative. The work she’s had done to her face, the Instagram filters she uses to further enhance it, it’s just a mess. Sit down
I loved her Ray of Light era, too. Spirituality was at the forefront of her life then, and she made a point of showing other people there was so much more to life than the material. Coming from the Material Girl, it meant a lot! 🙏🏼
Ray of Light is my favorite era of Madonna. I can’t believe I bought all of that at the time. She was aging naturally then. My mother is 68 and she looks so refreshed. I don’t know what is going on with Madonna but this isn’t a good look.
I’m not a huge fan of her music, but Ray of Light had some outstanding tracks on it. They did not suggest that she would go for this Weimar-era Goth look later on. I expected her to go more natural, vaguely hippy-ish looks as she got older, so this has been tragic to witness.
I feel like if you stuck another needle in her face, she’d deflate. Maybe once the work settles it won’t look so bad? Because this looks awful.
Surgery results aside, I think Madonna is in panic mode trying to stay relevant. Lady, you are in your sixties. You cannot look like you are in your thirties without seeming too try hard. She was famous for always trying to shock us a little more than last time. Now it’s only sad looking. I’d be cheering her on if she would come to the functions as herself with no apologies. That’s confidence to be admired.
In the past decade or so, anytime there is backlash against Madonna, it’s been ageism and misogyny instead of taking any kind of accountability for herself. She’s entitled to look the way she wants and put on any performance that suits her. She doesn’t owe us any explanation on any of that. However, it’s not on us to say she looks wonderful or to stoke her ego and she would do well to learn that (but never will). It’s also not necessarily on us to buy what she has to sell. Madonna wants to put her bad plastic surgery on the public. Girl, you did this to yourself. I don’t even understand why she wants to compete or go against the pop stars today.
I remember when Madonna was fat shaming her fans as well as talking about all the unattractive guys with pimples that were her fans. She said they are “horrible to look at.” She seems fine with being judgmental and misogynistic as long as it is pointed at somebody else but when it is pointed at her suddenly it is a problem. Reminds me of Taylor Swift in this regard
Madge can do whatever she wants & if she didn’t like her look, she’d change it. She’s neither recognizable nor relevant now except as a caricature of her former self.
Sigh. Much like KK, Madonna was beautiful in her original form. Now, it’s just another case of meat face/filler face. I hope she doesn’t Jocelyn Wildenstein herself.
I think it’s sad that she feels she has to do much work to her face and body.
She always does this.
She blames ageism and the patriarchy every time anyone criticizes her which Leos are known not to like and I get it. Most people don’t like to be called out, but the bottom line Madonna is, you did ruin your legacy for me with this need to stay looking like a Kardashian.
No way is butt implants a part of creative expression and hers are terrible looking. Idc.
She always made women feel liberated and now she’s just a sad clown still trying to do “provocative” things and call it art. Which I realize now is what her whole schtick has been all these years.
I realize art is subjective but this need to call everything shocking and weird art, is boring and not it.
The bottom line is she doesn’t have the talent like say a Mariah Carey, to hold onto and we are seeing in real time that she won’t even try to write new material, she just want to coast on being this Dita character forever.
There are certain realities in life: no one stays at the top forever, no one is young forever, no one is the It Girl forever. I always thought Madonna should have focused more on her acting, accepting being a character actor, the second or third lead. She could have played the sexy older woman in a host of movies and TV series, a featured or guest star.
Let’s be honest, her ego is WAY too large to allow her to play a character role and acting was not in her wheelhouse. I understand that she was good in A League of Their Own, but I sat through that rip off of Basic Instinct she made with Willem Dafoe. The guffaws from the audience every time she tried to emote. She was terrible in Dick Tracy and The Next Best Thing where she made sure that every male who addressed her character had to say “how beautiful she is”, AWFUL. She can’t act. I can even be more honest and say that she can’t sing either, girlfriend is notoriously tone deaf (Elton john has said it and a few of her background singers. heard a raw cut of Ray of Light years ago…. YIKES!!!) but she puts on a great show.
I agree that she has never been a good actress, much less a great one. But she is talented and charismatic and maybe that would be enough? If she’d be willing to accept a secondary role, which I doubt she would. Much better than trying to be the next great music sensation again.
Makes Lady Gaga’s career moves look like total genius by comparison. She’s diversifying and splitting her time between acting and her music. Hopefully, she’s paying attention to her musical forebear’s trainwreck and will go a different way.
Great point about Gaga. A savvy smart woman not blinded by her ego.
Let’s talk about body positivity at the Grammys, Thank you Lizzo. Please go away Madonna. You are no longer relevant to the music scene and it has nothing to do with how you look or what you wear.
It is her face, her money. My problem with her is the “You didn’t hear my speech and celebrate these two artists shtick”. She wasn’t celebrating them either. She does this so many times. She shows a new style, face, body to get attention to herself. Then when she doesn’t get the right amount of compliments she plays the “You weren’t paying attention to my message, or celebrating these artists, or hearing about my cause, or whatever she was supposed to be promoting. She did this in the 1980’s, the 1990’s, the 2000’s, 2010’s & the 2020’s. She will do it in 2030, 2040, 2050.
I am sure Beyonce is just grimacing she got dragged into the Madonna mess now, lol.
They let her do Aretha Franklin’s tribute at the Grammys’ when people who actually were friends with Aretha were sitting in the audience ( Smokey and Stevie). She went up there and did this gross self-centered tribute to herself and then got in her feelings when people called her out.
I grew up listening to Madonna, and I really enjoy her music. But, as a person, she is exhausting. She looks bizarre on a Michael Jackson level, and it is frankly sad. She is beyond insecure, and I think that’s on her. Hardly a poster child for self acceptance or mental health, in my opinion.
I love Madonna as an artist, no one compares to her. Since she’s turned 60 she’s gone so heavy on the surgery and it makes me sad because she looked so good throughout her 50s. I was just looking at at pic of her from 2015 met gala and she looked so good considering she was 57. Anyway this is why I don’t ever wanna go down the cosmetic procedures route because if Madonna can’t find a good doctor then no one can.
I wonder if it’s not so much a case of finding a good doctor but of finding a doctor who will say no to what Madonna wants to do to her face. I guess a really good doctor would tell her to stop but I’m sure all that money is tempting. Of course, I don’t think I’d want to be know as the doctor who did that to her face.
I said this on another Madonna post the other day and I’ll say it again. She’s frightened — frightened of growing old, frightened of no longer being relevant, frightened of not having the clout she used to have. So she’s clinging to absurd amounts of disfiguring cosmetic surgery and procedures and sh*tting all over everyone using the same old “I’m a victim” crap. It’s not ageism and misogyny Madge, it’s actually feeling sorry and concerned for you that you have chosen to go down this slippery slope of self-obsession to pretend you’re still youthful and hip. The only glare you’re in is the one of your own making.
She can do whatever she wants.
She just makes me sad. Whether or not you think she has/had talent, she’s a mfing single-name superstar. I also agree that she has every right to do what she wants, both with her body and her life. However, nothing about her current looks or behavior feels authentic. It feels awkward and forced and like it’s coming from a place of terrible insecurity. She’s Madonna. That should be enough, but it doesn’t seem like she thinks so.
It doesn’t look AS bad when she shows her neck. Part of the weirdness in some photos is that it looks like she has no neck. But still. Not good. At 61, I find ageism to be such a drag. My husband got in big trouble the other day for saying my dress made me look like a granny but once you moved up to my face I looked like a “hot young chick.” First of all, I AM a granny and have zero desire to look hot or young for anyone!! I want to dress comfy. Poor man. He didn’t know what to say! Let me age! Let women age! We don’t even have to do it well or gracefully!
Madonna being “shocking” is no news, and I really think that the reason many saw her as “unrecognizable” was because she has bleached or eliminated her eyebrows (and they’ll be back next week).
Honestly, I think her beautiful eyebrows have been there (thick or thin) through all her looks over the years, but most who haven’t seen her recently are maybe seeing this (disturbing) look for the first time. Eyebrows (and lack of them) can certainly change the way you perceive a face.
As Cher once said, “It’s my body. If I want to put my tits on my back, it’s my choice,” or some such thing. And, of course, she’s right.
Right but the difference between Cher and Madonna is Cher is just going to tell you to “go f**k yourself” and walk away. Nor does Cher really care whether or not she’s relevant. The issue is here we are again with Madonna playing the victim and blaming ageism and sexism instead of her horrible choice in plastic surgeons and her need to stay relevant.
Cher knows she’s a legend and acts accordingly. She knows she doesn’t have to bother chasing what Madonna is chasing and that’s why everyone bows to her as the GOAT.
So many people here are like, “If she doesn’t let herself “age naturally” then she’s got internalized sexism and ageism.” Ok, so all of us who do not want to look like floppy raisins after menopause should throw in the self-care towel to “stick it to the man?” That’s… ridiculous. Let’s not go to extremes here, y’all. An easy way to test this is to ask, “If all men disappeared tomorrow, would I still do this?” Cause rest assured, I would keep up my skincare regimen. I would actually wear MORE makeup. If there were no men around to terrorize me every time I go out in public, I would only wear sexy, gorgeous clothing items that make me feel beautiful and show off the bewbs. LOL.
I totally agree that Madonna displays a lot of attention-seeking behavior. But two things can also be true at the same time – she could be doing this for herself. We are all free to do what we choose, with enough money, and if Madonna wants to turn herself into a plastic borg being because she thinks it looks sexy, ok then. Her definition of hot doesn’t have to be yours. Or mine. Personally, she’s an example of what I do NOT want to do to my face because her alterations aren’t in alignment with my beauty preferences. But that’s me!
This.
As someone who has recently watched my entire body shape change in the space of a year due to menopause I am mildly alarmed — like I have never been shaped like THIS and no amount of diet or exercise is going to fix the apple shape heritage that I had been dreading. AND my eyelids doubled in size and completely caved in to gravity in the same 8 month period.
Here i am considering a bleph and maybe some lipo — hell, I’ve even thought to myself, maybe that ozempic craze isn’t a bad idea.
Madonna face and a giant ass isn’t in my future — but I understand now how it all begins…
Both are true. But the addictive game of shaming women for not being strong enough to resist every pressure or insecurity will almost always take priority.
Madonna didn’t volunteer to be anyone’s anti-plastic surgery/pro-natural aging icon. That’s a role others wanted for her, or wanted to dangle over her head as something she needed to live up to in order to legitimize anything else she did. That’s a game that’s played with women over A LOT of issues. But even if she had filled that role or come close to it, there was always going to be more nastiness about a naturally aging Madonna than there would be for a more conservative, palatable older woman. It would have been justified with, “she’s put herself out there.” An all-natural Madonna still dating, dressing, and presenting the way she does, and emboldening the young artists that she has instead of slut-shaming them like her peers, would still get people going on about how she needs to hang it up and stop resisting a certain set of values now that she’s no longer young & hot. That’s part of the point everyone rushing to say “there’s no misogyny or ageism in the reaction to her, she’s the problem” are missing.
Whether they’re young or old, there really isn’t much letting women like this go peacefully or just letting them go through life’s ups and downs and insecurities without trying to turn it into what Meghan Markle called a gotcha moment. There’s something phony about pretending the shaming is 100% concern, especially when patterns say otherwise.
All I see is a woman terrified of aging and blowing her head up like a balloon to make sure she doesn’t see one. But she can spend her money however she wants.
The uncanny valley is a real thing and she’s tweaked herself into it. I’m sure that ageism and misogyny contributed to her decision to get each of those procedures, but the strong reaction is because she no longer looks quite human. It’s a sign of body dysmorphia. She’s chasing diminishing returns. This isn’t empowering it’s compulsive. That’s why good surgeons will be reluctant to work with her going forward. She won’t be satisfied and they don’t want her advertising their work. Remember when Michael Jackson’s nose collapsed?
All these treatments could end up seriously damaging her health or outright kill her.
No one seems to mention that.
That broach is hilarious! Go Madonna!
She is such a hypocrite, ageism my ass, if she really wanted to fight ageism, let yourself age and do it gracefully, not all this horrible surgury. I really though better of her. very disappointed.
So sad that after everything she has accomplished, she is now at the “any attention is good attention”
I have mixed feelings about Madonna’s latest face. I’m a year younger than her, I remember so clearly how gorgeous and unique she was at one time. Hated it when she started working out to the point she looked too thin and ropey but that’s my opinion. It is tough enough aging as a private individual, can’t imagine aging in spotlight. I use sunscreen and stay out the sun, I rarely drink alcohol and have never smoked, I use Retin-A and aha. I’m aging pretty decently and have very good skin. I’m not interested in laser resurfacing or any surgical stuff or even Botox or fillers. My choice. Though I do think Madonna is being disingenuous blaming misogyny.
Stupid hair.
I don’t even know what to say.
Madonna was one of my first loves, I saved money from my babysitting gigs to buy a lot of things, because Madonna, including finger-less lace gloves.
It’s not ageism or misogyny when you destroy your body to this level. Madonna is now like that cat lady from the 90s, who still looks like a cat.
Papa don’t preach? Madonna’s inner monologue is deeply disturbing, it has to be, there is zero excuse for this. See: Cyndi Lauper, living her best life, because she hasn’t tried to give a blow job to the massive machine Madonna is beholden to.