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Madonna Compares Ageism She Faces to Racism or Homophobia

"It's the last great frontier"

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Sadie Gennis

Madonna is not going to stop performing and flashing her ass just because people say she's too old. In fact, in the new issue of Rolling Stone, Madonna, 56, said that the ageism she faces is as serious an issue as racism and homophobia.

"It's the last great frontier. We fought for the civil rights movement. We fought for gay rights," said Madonna, who called her son the N-word last year and recently got in trouble for PhotoShopping Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. in bondage rope.

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"No one would dare to say a degrading remark about being black or dare to say a degrading remark on Instagram about someone being gay," Madonna said. "But my age - anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me. And I always think to myself, why is that accepted? What's the difference between that and racism, or any discrimination? They're judging me by my age. I don't understand. I'm trying to get my head around it.

Madonna did go on to clarify that she believes the ageism is mostly aimed at women. "We still live in a very sexist society. It's just like I said. It's the last great frontier. Because women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they're not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don't follow the rules. I never did, and I'm not going to start."

"When I did my sex book, it wasn't the average," Madonna continued. "When I performed 'Like a Virgin' on the MTV Awards and my dress went up and my ass was showing, it was considered a total scandal. It was never the average, and now it's the average. When I did Truth or Dare and the cameras followed me around, it was not the average. So, if I have to be the person who opens the door for women to believe and understand and embrace the idea that they can be sexual and look good and be as relevant in their fifties or their sixties or whatever as they were in their twenties, then so be it."