Op-Ed: Madonna Is Bold—Just Not When It Comes to Aging

Madonna once signaled the future; now, argues Glynnis MacNicol in the New York Times, she's running away from it. In a personal essay that starts with the author's childhood devotion to the singer, MacNicol traces how Madonna blew up taboos around women's sexuality, religion, and identity—then contrasts that legacy with her current, heavily altered image and youth-obsessed performances alongside women her daughter's age. The woman who once expanded what middle America thought a female pop star could be is now, MacNicol suggests, embodying a culture where "untouched" faces are rare and cosmetic work is the new norm.

MacNicol wrestles with whether it's fair to fault the 67-year-old for seemingly yielding "to some very punishing beauty standards that insist women's value lies only in their performance of youth," or whether the discomfort fans feel is really about their own fear of aging and loss of power. Rather than simply scold her, MacNicol argues, we should see Madonna as once again forcing us to look at uncomfortable truths: "transgression is out, filler is in," and very few of us are as fearless about aging as we like to imagine. For the full argument, and MacNicol's own "sense of betrayal," read her piece in the Times.