Madonna’s Face: The Elephant in the Room We’re Supposed to Ignore

Madonna says the recent outcry at the Grammys over her face is ageism and misogyny. She’s wrong.

Madonna’s not happy.

She says the recent criticism of her face in the 2023 Grammys is rooted in “ageism and misogyny.” And she blames the patriarchy.

The world of entertainment is harsh towards women, that’s a well-established fact. I’m sure Madonna has battled sexism, ageism, and other forms of -isms in the past 40-plus years as an entertainer.

But her recent appearance at the Grammys is none of that.

It’s about how grotesque her face looks by her own doing. It’s also about how an iconic, beloved rebel has succumbed to mainstream expectations of women’s looks.

And even then, instead of proudly owning her decisions and what she considers to be beautiful, she needlessly lashes out at everyone and everything.

Her ruined face is the elephant in the room we’re supposed to ignore.

What happened?

Madonna went up on stage at the 2023 Grammys looking savvy with a black neck-tie and suit skirt. In her signature style, she teased:

If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative, or dangerous, you are definitely on to something.

That pretty much sums up what Madonna has represented for over four decades. She has been pushing boundaries and provoking controversy.

I loved her for that. As a young girl who went to a Catholic, all-girls school, I lived vicariously through her.

But while introducing Sam Smith and Kim Petras to the stage, the public couldn’t help but notice her ghastly look.

Instead of paying attention to her words, the public was flabbergasted: What the hell happened to Madonna’s face? She is unrecognizable. What a shame.

And, of course, Madonna, in her Madonna way, spat back.

In an Instagram post, she said:

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 past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous.

She also blamed the photographers for taking “close-up” photos of her, thereby “distorting” her face.

My entire life, I’ve loved Madonna for being strong-willed and adventurous. I idolized her as someone who would fight for the non-mainstream perspective, someone who could see beyond established opinions.

With plastic surgery having become the norm and even expected for women but all the more when they age, I had hoped for Madonna to stand up and gracefully and proudly own her age.

Evidently, she instead pursued a different path. And while that is immensely disappointing for me, she is absolutely free to do so.

Mean

Look, I’m all for women going through the knife to look better or younger. More precisely, I’m all for everyone doing what they feel comfortable and good with.

But if you get called out, don’t blame misogyny or ageism or the photographers. And don’t expect the public to look away.

Last year, rapper 50 Cent went after Madonna after she posted a photo of herself on Instagram. It showed her on her stomach, under the bed wearing a mesh stocking waist down.

He said:

Yo this is the funniest shit! LOL. That’s Madonna under the bed trying to do like a virgin at 63. she shot out, if she don’t get her old ass up. LMFAO.

Now that’s mean. That’s ageism. It was uncalled for and I applaud Madonna for telling him off. 50 Cent ended up apologizing.

Disagreeing with — and criticizing — someone’s plastic surgery results is an age-independent concept, though.

I disagree with all the plastic surgeries Jocelyn Wildenstein’s had, no matter what age she was, and I disagree with what Madonna has done to her face. Not because of her age but because she ruined her looks.

Misogyny means “hatred of, contempt for or prejudice against women”. Is this misogyny, though?

While I, as a woman, am not exempt from misogynistic views, I strongly believe the criticism of excessive plastic surgery is gender-independent, too.

Plenty of men have seen harsh criticism for their plastic surgery, just ask Mickey Rourke.

It’s not ageism or misogyny

Misogyny exists and so does ageism. Most female actresses that play the main character are in their 20s and 30s, while most men are in their 30s and 40s.

I understand if you haven’t had any work done and the public is attacking your looks. That’s definitely ageism. But if you’ve had an overwhelming amount of procedures done to your face and people are shocked by it, that’s not ageism.

That’s genuine shock.

Madonna’s strong, beautiful face is now just another bizarre plastic surgery story. How is misogyny to blame for that? Or the photographers? And why do we have to shut up about it?

It’s almost like she’s twisting the narrative. As if transforming her face is female empowerment. At most, it serves as a bad example.

When facing criticism, own it

I’m 100% against women who use misogyny and ageism to claim victimhood.

Madonna has every right to have as many plastic surgeries as she likes to. There will always be some who disagree with her decision though, me among them.

That’s not misogyny nor is it ageism, it’s just disagreement.

By lashing out against her critics in that manner, she loses even more of what once defined her public image: proud defiance rather than childish petulance.

Madonna, who used to provoke the establishment and mainstream opinion intentionally, has now become a part of that very establishment and opinion.

She was supposed to be the one who defied the norm.

Instead, she’s another botched-faced celebrity that Madame Tussauds would have to rewax.

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