BODY POLITICS

Hey, Gen Z, Madonna has every right to be sexy at 60

MADONNA is naked again. On Instagram, the 63-year-old singer posted semi-nude photos of herself reclining on a bed topless, her very toned rear clad in fishnets. There’s nothing new or surprising about this. Madonna has been sharing nude photos of herself since the publication of her 1992 book, "Sex," which featured images of sexual fantasy ranging from BDSM to threesomes.

And once again, people are outraged.

There’s nothing new about that, either. That "Sex" book was considered so controversial it was banned in Ireland and Japan. Meanwhile Pope John Paul II called Madonna’s 1990 Like A Virgin Tour, where she simulated masturbation, “one of the most Satanic shows in the history of humanity.”

But this time, it’s not stodgy, religious reactionaries who are upset. It’s young people. Gen Zers whine under her Instagram post that, “Madonna..hun, you’re old enough to be 90% of instagram’s Grandma… [the] majority of us don’t want to see some nanny with her bits out.” And, “I would be so ashamed if my 60+ mother posted pics like these on IG…” and “Ew, Grandma, put on some clothes.”

This too, is perhaps not all that surprising. Gen Zers have been labeled as “puriteens” by Rolling Stone and admit to being less sexually active than prior generations. Among 20- to 24-yearolds born in the 1990s, 15 percent say they have had no sexual partners since age 18. That was true of only 6 percent of 20- to 24-year-old Gen Xers born in the 1960s and ’70s.

Gen Z has some fairly prudish outlooks as well. One 2017 study by YouGov found that only 1 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds said they would feel comfortable having sex on the first date, as opposed to 27 percent of 35- to 44year-olds.

Madonna has forgotten more about sex than these kids will ever know. The singer quipped over Instagram that she was “Giving thanks that I have managed to maintain my sanity through four decades of censorship…… sexism…… ageism and misogyny.”

But she’s not the only celebrity who’s gotten flack of late for being sexy at (nearly) 60.

The cast of “And Just Like That,” the new chapter of "Sex and the City,” has been similarly criticized. The stars — Sarah Jessica Parker, 56, Kristin Davis, 56, and Cynthia Nixon, 55 — were met with social-media commenters referring to them as “botoxed hags” and claiming, “It’s menopause in the city.”

“And Just Like That” showrunner Michael Patrick King told Vogue he was very annoyed by memes comparing the fashionable trio to “The Golden Girls,” calling it a “bitchy response.”

If women were ever considered sex symbols in the past — as the ladies of SATC and Madonna most certainly were — people seem to take special delight in reminding them that they’re over the hill. Perhaps it’s to punish them for having fun in their youth when Gen Z seems to be having no fun at all.

“There's so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would Never. Happen. About. A. Man,” SJP remarked to Vogue.

She’s right. Entertainment Weekly raved about Mick Jagger’s “sexy swagger” during a 2021 show where he strips off his jacket and “cavorts momentarily in his lithe, black mesh top.” Mick Jagger is 78 years old. Meanwhile, figures like Sean Connery were considered not just sexy at 59, but People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. This year, the Sexiest Man Alive is Paul Rudd. At 52, he’s approximately four years younger than Sarah Jessica Parker.

But older women may be having the last laugh, despite the online haters. The dating site Match.com found in 2018 that the age at which women experienced the best sex of their lives was 66.

One can only imagine what Madonna will be posting in three years.