Madonna has spoken out about the criticism she faced from “narrow-minded” people during the early days of her career, and how she paved the way for women in Hollywood to embrace their sexuality.
The singer shared her thoughts to Instagram on Saturday (22 October) to mark the 30-year anniversary of her 1992 book, Sex.
She reflected on the criticism she faced at the time for owning her sexuality and the progress made for the likes of sex positive pop culture figures, including Cardi B and Miley Cyrus.
“In addition to photos of me naked, there were photos of men kissing men, woman kissing woman and me kissing everyone,” Madonna wrote of the coffee table book.
“I also wrote about my sexual fantasies and shared my point of view about my sexuality in an ironic way.”
Commenting on how the book was perceived by media, Madonna wrote: “I spent the next few years being interviewed by narrow minded people who tried to shame me for empowering myself as a woman. I was called a whore, a witch, a heretic and the devil.
“Now Cardi B can sing about her WAP. Kim Kardashian can grace the cover of any magazine with her naked ass, and Miley Cyrus can come in like a wrecking ball.
“You’re welcome b****es,” she said, adding a clown emoji.
In the first few days of its release, Sex sold more than 1.5 million copies across the world. It sold 750,000 copies in the US in its first week.
In France, it held the record for the highest first-month sales for a book in history, before it was surpassed by Thierry Meyssan’s L’Effroyable Impasture in 2002.
Also on Instagram, Madonna shared a snippet from an interview she did with 60 Minutes Australia in 1992.
When asked if there was a message in the book, Madonna said there were “probably lots of messages”, and asked the interviewer: “What did you get out of it?”
“I got afraid,” he replied. When she asked why, he said: “I’d never seen the likes of it.”
Countering him, Madonna said: “You have so. You’ve never read Playboy magazine, or Penthouse, or anything like that?”
“Yes, but it was different with you. The picture of you astride the mirror, masturbating – I thought that was horrible. It just strikes me as horrible.”
“I think people’s reaction to specific situations in the book was much more a reflection of that person than me. Are you frightened of a woman who can turn herself on? Are you frightened of a woman who is not afraid to look at her genitals in the mirror?”
