The Rant: Madonna Shouldn't Have To "grow Old Gracefully"

Posted: 06/02/12

Philippa Warr

Follow: Ageism, Fashion, Madonna, Super Bowl, Superbowl

Photo: Getty

Madonna has been making headlines all week thanks to her latest single and eagerly anticipated Super Bowl Half Time Show.

Madonna has also been receiving a lot of flack online for basically not being able to circumvent the laws of physics and stop the ageing process.

Memo to my Grandmother - don't even THINK of doing cartwheels. #Superbowl
- Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 6, 2012

So many people tuning in to watch some old pigskin, but enough about Madonna.
- braden graeber (@hipstermermaid) February 6, 2012

Madonna just needs to embrace that she is 50 and grow old gracefully #sb46 #superbowl46
- Tom Dubreuil (@TomDubreuil) February 6, 2012

To put it simply, making the observation that Madonna is essentially 30 years older than she was 30 years ago does not a well-constructed criticism of Madonna's cultural or artistic worth make. Similarly the related-but-subtly-different "Why won't she grow old gracefully?" which is offensive and lazy.

The first point is pretty easy to call naysayers out on. Madonna - and every other living thing on the planet - has no choice on whether she gets older or not. She just doesn't. Neither do you.

The second one is slightly harder because it calls on all manner of deeply ingrained social attitudes towards ageing:

That as people (particularly women) age they diminish in value
That attractiveness has a shelf-life
That there is a right and wrong way to age
That someone older than yourself is automatically less relevant
That there is one way of being attractive (young, pert and perky)

'Growing old gracefully' references each of these assumptions without sounding heavy handed. It's a very easy way of dismissing Madonna's current output by making her seem ridiculous, graceless and elderly.

That's not to say that you shouldn't feel free to criticise Madge* - her Super Bowl performance owed a *great* debt to Kylie's Aphrodite tour and her single Give Me All Your Luvin' - although catchy as all heck - is pretty pedestrian once you look past the chorus and ignore the boost Nicki Minaj brings. You should also note that she has proven herself capable of indulging her own whims on an international 119 minute critically panned historical romance kind of scale and has a personal problem with hydrangeas.

So yes, Madonna is ageing. It doesn't automatically make her irrelevant, unattractive, or uninteresting. It also doesn't mean she has to start taking naps in the afternoon or stop wearing corsets. And it definitely doesn't mean it's okay to call her out for getting older.

Style Evolution: Madonna

1985
 The platinum blonde, messy hairdo (when roots were cool), the bold red lips and black corset; Madonna showed off what would become one of her most iconic looks at the American Music Awards in 1985.
1986
 She rocked a ball gown and biker jacket combo on a night out with ex-husband, Sean Penn, at the premiere of At Close Range.
1987
 Madonna was red hot on stage during her Who's That Girl world tour at Wembley.
1990
 Madonna did hr best Marie Antionette impression as she performed her hit single Vogue with at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards show in New York.
1990
 Madonna's most iconic image was born during the Blonde Ambition Tour in Wembley, thanks to a certain Mr Jean Paul Gaultier.
1991
 Talk about making an entrance. Madonna flashed the famous cone bra when she arrived at Cannes Film Festival in 1991.
1991
 This Scottish country dancer come ballerina style wasn't Madonna's finest fashion moment but it went down a storm at a screening of Jungle Fever in Cannes.
1991
 Hollywood royalty, Madonna and Michael Jackson dressed to impress for the 63rd Annual Academy Awards after party at Spago's.
1995
 The singer left Jean-Paul Gaultier's 1995 spring/summer ready-to wear show with the designer himself.
1995
 Madonna rocked all-over satin and some very big hair as she collected the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. Nineties fashion at its best.
1995
 Madonna showed off her sexy red carpet look as she arrived at the Webster Hall in New York in a slinky white gown and a leopard print coat.
1996
 All eyes were on Madonna at the Evita premiere in LA. There was no guessing who the star of the show was with that outfit.
1997
 The singer looked fab in a cleavage-boosting gown at the Golden Globes in 1997.
1998
 Madonna arrived at the 1998 Oscars with her  brother Christopher Ciccon.
1998
 She changed her image for the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. She swapped her famous blonde curls for a sleek, black style. We're sure her cropped, sequin flares must have been on trend back then too...
1999
 The singer arrived at a Versus fashion show and in true Madge style, she sported a cowboy hat and a very sheer top.
1999
 Madonna toned things down for the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 1999.
2000
 But her eccentric outfit choices soon returned at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Who else would wear a red, rhinestone embellished suit to collect an award?
2004
 Madonna's stage style at its best on the UK leg of her Reinvention world tour.
2005
 We don't know where to start here; the leotard, the cropped jacket, the knee-high boots a, the fact that it's all purple? The pop icon dressed the part for the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2005.
2006
 She looked pretty in pink at the Vanity Fair party in 2006.
2007
 Madonna oozed old school Hollywood glamour at the Oscars a year later.
2008
 Her on stage style didn't disappoint on the first date of her Sticky & Sweet world tour in Cardiff.
2009
 She rocked a Marc Jacob's for Louis Vuitton design at the Costume Institute Gala held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
2009
 On stage during her Sticky and Sweet concert in Goteborg, Sweden.
2010
 She sings, she dances and she opens gyms. The star celebrated the opening of her Hard Candy Fitness gym in Mexico City.
2011
 Madonna was on form at the 2011 Costume Institute Gala; she looked fabulous in this Stella McCartney gown.
2012
 Madonna's spectacular Super Bowl half time show
1984
 The Material Girl on stage in her heydey.