Madonna acts like a serious male artist and people hate her for it

Writer Naomi Wolf studies the theory that Madonna acts just like a serious male artist would – and people hate her for it. And with the release of W.E. Madonna is as unapologetic as ever – and it's doing wonders for the collective female psyche.

Is Madonna a self-absorbed megalomaniac with a touch of the arriviste? Probably; but so are dozens of equally brilliant male artists in other mediums, whose imperfect but worthwhile new efforts are treated with hushed awe (see the reverence accorded the solemn and often tedious Tom Ford film, A Single Man). The reliable media theme of 'Hating Madonna', whenever she steps out of her pretty-girl-pop-music bandwidth, is so consistent that it deserves scrutiny in its own right.
Why can the press just not wait to hate Madonna at these moments?
Because she must be punished, for the same reason that every woman who steps out of line must be punished. Madonna is infuriating to the mainstream commentariat when she dares to extend her range because she is acting in the same way a serious, important male artist acts. (And seizing the director's chair, that icon of phallic assertiveness, is provocative as hell.) She is taking for granted that she is allowed to stretch. This is intolerable, because Madonna has not done the sorts of things that allow women of immense talent to get 'permission' or 'to be liked'.
What is so maddening? She does what every serious male artists does. That is: she doesn't apologize for her talent or for her influence. What comes across quite profoundly when one interviews her is that she is preoccupied with her work and her gifts - just as serious male artists are, who often seem self-absorbed. She has the egoless honesty of the serious artist that reads like ego, especially in women.
Madonna is that forbidden thing, the Nietzschean creative woman.

To read the rest of this article visit guardian.co.uk/madonna-hating-we-superbowl
The author Naomi Wolf will be online on Friday to discuss this article and answer readers' questions at www.guardian.co.uk

Thanks to Brian

Comments

[David]

brilliant article and totally true. Thank-you Naomi Wolf for telling it like it is!

[Dan]

Bravo to Madonna. Still pushing envelopes, still controversial, still revolutionary as ever. People are so quickly to brush her aside for the next It girl. However, Madonna keeps reminding them who the It girl/woman is. Keep on pushing Madonna. We like it.