I actually have sympathy for Madonna. I don’t mean that sarcastically, and I’m not going to criticize her appearance like I did back in the day. We ran in those same circles. Basquiat et al.
She’s 70 and still doesn’t get it. I sincerely hope she wakes up, for her own sake.
She, like a lot of people in that industry, has been a very negative influence on our culture. Not because she invented fame or sex or money. Those things were already there. She just helped turn them into the whole point.
For decades the move was the same: change the image, push it further, get people talking, then act like the outrage means you’re brave. It sold.
It also taught a lot of people that attention is the prize, and that putting your sexuality out in public is the fastest way to get it. It's not much different from Only Fans today.
“Material Girl” wasn’t just a catchy song. It helped make it seem normal that your worth and your stuff and your image all go together. Look at celebrity culture now. Look at social media. That idea went everywhere.
People say she was empowering women by taking control of her image. Fine. There’s some truth in that. She ran her career and didn’t wait for permission.
But there’s another side. When the culture starts treating sex and shock as the main language of power, it messes with people. Especially younger people who are still trying to figure out dignity, love, and what a decent life looks like.
Madonna wasn’t the only one doing it. The whole industry was. She was just better at it than most. That’s what I mean by she still doesn’t get it. The world she helped build is already here.
Everybody’s performing. Everybody’s selling themselves. Doing the same old provocation now doesn’t look rebellious. It looks like she can’t tell the difference between being free and being stuck in the act that made her famous.
I don’t hate her. I just think the influence was real, and a lot of it wasn’t good.
Look, Madonna fans, I don't want to dwell on this but it’s not only about aesthetics. Clothes also affect how you carry yourself, and they strongly shape how other people read your personality.
If Madonna wants to be seen as an intelligent, sophisticated, cultured woman, she has to dress in a way that supports that image. Clothing is a form of communication.
A look can signal seriousness, taste, discipline, or the opposite, even before a person speaks. Style doesn’t automatically create those qualities, but it can either reinforce them or undercut them.
If the clothes contradict the impression she wants to make, people are less likely to take that impression seriously.
Don't get mad at the messenger. Try to address the message.
Calling me fat and bald and all the rest isn't a win on your end.
Try harder.
Madonna and ageism.
As a general pattern, people tend to become less physically attractive with age, and that is widely observed across cultures.
Skin loses collagen and elasticity, so wrinkles, sagging, and thinner skin appear.
Fat redistributes, muscle mass declines, hair grays or thins, finger nails brittle, muscles weaker, posture often changes, height and neck sags and shrinks, the back curves and features associated with youth and fertility fade after menopause too.
Those traits are strong cues in human attraction, so the average drop in physical attractiveness is real, not just a social invention.
Individual variation is large. Some people age more slowly, stay fit, or remain appealing through other traits such as confidence, status, or personality.
Madonna has the resources to fight this with plastic surgery, so she has a slight advantage.
Attraction is also not only physical, it's also your personality and character, intelligence and so much more.
But the baseline biological trend is that physical attractiveness declines with age, especially after midlife.
Pointing that out is a description of what happens, not automatically ageism or misogyny either. It's just reality.
There is nothing Madonna or anyone else can to do stop aging.
This is the problem my freind. @gabrielHLucero