Yo! I shall bite my tongue for the time being - much naughty fun could be had here.

But think about this: What do the following have in common? -

Mickey Mouse
Fred Flintstone
Daffy Duck
Homer Simpson
Madonna

Correct! All cartoon characters, except the last one never made us laugh very much.

Way too much postmodernism for me here - why do we have to overanalyse everything? Perhaps we need to remember that Madonna is human like the rest of us - having fun and living her life to the fullest and doing whatever suits her best at any time and place. As would everyone giving the chance. Maybe she is just enjoying being 'normal' for a while.

Thank you for an enjoyable and provoking discussion Leanne.

For the sake of playing the devil’s advocate, why must we commonly critique women on the grounds of their physicality.

While there is an observable commercial bias that offers slim figured women as the standard model of beauty, it seems pointless to attempt to overcome this bias by attacking slim women and trying to either redefine slim as ugly or inaccurately understand slim to be unhealthy.

The problem with this strategy is that instead of moving away from a focus on physical beauty – we are simply exchanging one version of beautiful (skinny) for another (plump).

If we are to ask people to stop judging women for their physicality then we must stop criticising them on that basis.

If Madonna is happy to spend a lot of time exercising (dancing) then let's be happy for her that she has found something in life that is satisfying and fulfilling.

Women of all ages face pressure to conform. As we get older, that conformity takes on a different nature. The classic depiction of the good (right) older women is a plump woman. Bad (wrong) older women are typically portrayed as skinny. A good, plump, older woman will dress sedately, deny her sexuality, be married to a man who is older than her and engage in cultural pursuits different from those of younger women.

Madonna continues to be revolutionary by offering a different model from this.

How odd that as some of us start to feel more comfortable with certain aspects of conformity (getting plump with age), we then cease to see this kind of conformity as conservative (the norm) and instead start to redefine it as right.

Madonna used to be bad because she was overtly sexual. Now she's bad because she's exercised. The conversation is a good one - but we should all challenge the basis upon which we build and defend our morality to ensure we're not just self justifying to make ourselves feel good.

Madonna has grown up and looks fantastic. Long may she reign!

I reckon Madonna's completely awesome, she awakens my oedopus complex quite nicely.
If she had, say, fat ankles or something, she'd still be awesome but you know, in a different sort of way. The best thing then is to be just friends.

She's got nothing on Beethoven.

Not worth commenting on.
One woman is jeolous of Madonna.
Gee there must be millions of women who are jeolous of her.

Are people still writing on Maddonna? It's baffleing, she never was shocking or cutting edge instead always poised perfectly for mainstream acceptance. Her talent is in portraying a persona in video, as a live performer?-well she certainly works hard. Her triumph that no-one can ever dispute is in holding a successfully viable carreer in pop music for 20 years and retaining a huge volume of hits that still have high rotation on radio. All the other stuff is the imagineing of theorists. She never was our toy or revolutionary. Sorry if you found her interview boring but she is a woman of 47 with 2 children. a husband, several properties to run, many staff to employ & multimillion dollar business & tye-ins to oversee, give the woman a break. I'm no fan but like most have enjoyed or bought some of her music over the years, she's nothing to me beyond that but I give her credit and at least the right to be a human being

This article was just retarded.

She is 47 and has had no plastic surgery
Works out like an olympic athlete to tour
Her voice started to give out during the concert

Your question should have been "Is Madonna is still relevant?". Well she IS and here's why;

Here is a recent quote on U.S. foriegn policy;
"Unfortunately our current government cannot see the big picture. They think too small. They suffer from the "what's in it for me?" syndrome. The simple truth is that the current administration has squandered incredible opportunities to bring the world together, to promote peace in regions that have only known war, to encourage health in places that are ravaged with disease, to make us more secure by living up to our principles at home and abroad. The simple truth is that the policies of our current administration do not reflect what is great about America."

Sure she can kiss Britney and cause a fuss but she also kissed Birhan Weldu, former victim of the Ethiopian famine, square on the mouth during Live 8 and no one seemed to notice it. Birhan Weldu was the poster child (literally) for starving youth in Africa. Madonna hugging her and kissing her on the mouth was one of the most life affirming moments I have ever seen. The fruition of a promise made to save lives.

She's not Madonna simply because she shocks us. She shocks us because she say's what's right and no one else has the balls to say.

Her concert graphically supported political and social causes. She is a champion of sexual freedom for gays & lesbians. She is one of the first and most consistant supporters of AIDS charities. She still puts out #1 records & just tied Elvis the only individual to have 36 top ten hits.

Let's have conversations/write articles with some substance.

Why 'Tom Kat' should the question change? This article related to the question that the author decided upon. It is not 'retarded' just because you didn't like the question. Women are defined and critiqued in terms of their bodies every single day. It is for this reason that articles such as this, which are of great substance, need to be written.

I found your article interesting and badly researched. With regards to Madonna's song "what It feels like for a girl" that is the correct title not what you put. This actually was a hit not failure. It actually became a #1 dance hit in the US and the highest selling DVD single in US history.
More importantly Madonna DID NOT pash Britney it was only a PECK if you watch the performance that is evident. The photograph printed of the event was taken at the right time to suggest it was a peck.