The Madonna and Drake kiss at Coachella this past weekend was a publicity stunt, although perhaps not a very good one. Many believe Madonna is talented enough where she doesn’t need to participate in such stunts, and Drake is successful enough not to need Madonna to boost his career. However, it’s the reaction to the stunt that is causing Madonna and others to call out the media on its hypocrisy.
Instead of shaming both Madonna and Drake for the stunt, the media is solely concentrating on age-shaming and slut-shaming Madonna, even going as far to accuse her of sexual abuse. Nitya Rajan of the Huffington Post wrote an article shaming Madonna and asked if people would have reacted differently if Madonna been an older male singer “forcing” a kiss on a younger female artist. However, commenter David Marenchy questions the “fact” that Madonna forced a kiss on Drake and believes it’s another example of sexism at work.
“It seems women are shamed no matter what when it comes to sexuality. This is the same thing that happened with the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake situation at the Super Bowl in 2004. It was a planned stunt and the woman was the one who was absolutely shamed. So, Drake and Madonna plan a stunt (not a very good one, I admit) and he shames Madonna — yet, the world cheers him on and even goes as far to accuse Madonna of sexual abuse. Madonna was right when she claims women’s rights haven’t really changed much in 20 years.”
Arthur Chu of Salon said to leave Madonna’s age out of the equation, because nobody has a right to grope someone else at will. Several commenters called the author out for using loose facts in order to slut-shame Madonna.
Raf1987, a frequent poster at Salon , summed up what some other people thought.
“Drake and Madonna had been flirting on social media before this. The performance was supposed to be sexy and flirty. He touched her hair during the kiss and later said that he was honored to kiss her. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was planned. Rape is horrible but when you compare it to something like this you seriously trivialize it.”
Madonna herself seems to be stung by the criticism. She has taken to Twitter and other social media formats to post about what she considers unfair and hypocritical treatment towards herself and her actions.
Facts. ?? #rebelheart pic.twitter.com/S7KaiKL9kf
— Madonna (@Madonna) April 14, 2015
I hope people are not mean to champagnepapi when he is 56 and still working the stage! That would not be nice! pic.twitter.com/p9QwiNBIne
— Madonna (@Madonna) April 15, 2015
It’s quite interesting that in the 1980s and 1990s, it was old conservatives who were bothered the most by Madonna. Now, it’s the young progressive liberals who are most offended by the Queen of Pop. Do you think the criticism towards Madonna is warranted, or is it ageist and sexist? Let us know in the comments section.
[Photo Credit: Business Insider ]