film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

madonna-AFP.jpg

Madonna Sticks Her Foot in It Again: 'Women Are Still the Most Marginalized Group'

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | March 13, 2015 |

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | March 13, 2015 |


Oy, Madonna, just when we were feeling good about you for a moment, you go and say a thing like that.

Yesterday morning, I spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour or so listening to Madonna’s interview with Howard Stern. I’ll always look at her as a provocative and — in her 80s heyday — a groundbreaking artist, who can veer wildly from interesting to vapid (as proven by the headlines today). Howard and co-host Robin Quivers grilled Madonna on everything from celebrity relationships, marriages and break-ups to the controversy over adopting her children, to the way her father and family avoided handling her mother’s death. The singer handled every question with a thoughtful grace. If only she’d applied the same methodology to her Q and A with Out magazine…

Speaking in both interviews as publicity for the release of her latest CD, the singer addressed the subject of women’s inequality. When pressed by Stern, she knew enough not to compare her famous lovers, but when it came to discussing equality, Madonna stuck her foot directly in her mouth.

“Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights. People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period.

It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women.

Women are still the most marginalized group. They’re still the group that people won’t let change. To be a successful woman, you must fit into this box: You must behave this way, dress this way.

You’re still categorized — you’re still either a virgin or a whore. If you’re a certain age, you’re not allowed to express your sexuality, be single, or date younger men.”

Didn’t we just go through this with Patricia Arquette?

Let’s get this straight: Speak out for anyone’s rights; speak out for everyone’s rights. But, you should not — cannot — make comparisons to other groups who are also fighting for equality, and fighting for safety, and fighting for their lives. It’s not a contest, and nobody wins until everybody wins.


Cindy Davis, (Twitter)