Madonna has spoken out against criticism of her appearance after presenting at the Grammy Awards Sunday night. In her latest Instagram post, the multi-award-winning singer lamented being “caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in,” after a close-up photo of her face went viral online and sparked a torrent of negative comments.
The image was taken while Madonna was introducing Kim Petras and Sam Smith’s performance of “Unholy.” (Smith identifies as nonbinary, while Petras became the world’s first openly transgender woman to perform at the event.) Madonna called it a “history making moment,” adding: “Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim — many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face!”
Madonna’s Instagram page was flooded with comments calling her scary, unrecognizable and denouncing her supposed “obsession with plastic surgery” — though the singer has never publicly addressed rumors of cosmetic enhancements. The British television host Piers Morgan, who is often criticized for making hateful and sexist comments, dedicated a segment to the viral photo on his Talk TV show, “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
The 64-year-old musician clapped back at the remarks, saying in her Instagram post that the world “refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45.”
I – Word Understanding
Lament – to express sorrow or grief
Ageism – discrimination against a particular age group (elderly, etc)
Misogyny – hatred or prejudice against women
Permeates – to spread throughout or to penetrate something
Torrent – a sudden, strong rush
Nonbinary – a person who identifies as neither entirely male nor entirely female
Distort – to change the appearance of something making it look strange
Denounce – to criticize ; to say something is wrong
II – Have Your Say
1, Share your opinion about Madonna.
2, How do you feel about plastic surgery and other efforts that people do to stay young-looking?
3, Is ageism an issue in your country? In what situations is it manifested in your society?
943 Madonna hits back at ageist criticism after Grammy Awards appearance
