Newsflash: Not All Madonna Fans Care About Her Age

...some still care about her music.

It's rather irritating when someone mentions Madonna's age (46) and interprets everything that is said after as a decline into uselessness and an emphasis on superficiality. Probably much of what is spread by fans on forums about Madonna is mistaken as negative, rather than mere sarcasm or realism.

Not all fans (especially to warrant sweeping generalizations like "Madonna fans fear her aging" or "Madonna fans think she should get a facelift") are concerned so much with her appearance degrading into wrinkles and saggy boobs as much as with her creating great music. I, for one, place much less value on her competing for youth and a place among hottie pop-princesses than I do in the style of music that produces. Make a killer clip without her appearing at all, if it suits the music. And if it is remarked that she looked terrible or that she acted stupid, it's because it's true in so-and-so's opinion, not to be perceived as causing an emotional breakdown or a horror in realizing she's no longer 20.

Furthermore, as has been suggested by some, it's stupid to suggest that she needs to fall gracefully into adult contemporary like ballads or Jack Johnson songs simply because she's nearing 50. So what? Madonna's always been about doing what people don't think suits her. Should she have been less upfront about women's power in sex because it wasn't common to do so? Should she have kept her bisexual experiences quiet because it wasn't a popular opinion to have? Should she have not had children because people thought she wouldn't be a good mother? Should she have not done children's books since it didn't suit a woman who had been so brazen earlier in her career? They all caused discussion, some good, some bad. I'm not suggesting she revisit these 'taboos' from the times they were considered so, though I wouldn't want to stop her if she did. Ridiculous as it may seem to some, producing electronic or rock pop at her age isn't a bad thing (nor are sappy love songs) if they are want she wants to do.

Personally, I've never been a fan of ballads or adult contemporary music in general, so I pull for another electronic-based dance album. I feel it's where her music is at its best; but I would never say that she should be restricted to one sort of music based on her age, her appearance or her history. How she appears and what society has drilled into our heads as being acceptable is evidently what some people seem to care about, but if you follow her lead, it shouldn't be foremost in a fan's mind. Her music and breaking the standard are what's more important.