At the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, Madonna was told that her “career was over” following an unfortunate on-stage fall. Now, age 68, the Queen of Pop has proven why she was given that name in the first place, winning one of the night’s most prestigious awards, Artist of the Year.
Madonna opened the 2026 MTV VMAs — performing on that stage for the first time in 23 years — and was this year’s leading nominee with a career-high 13 nominations, followed by Taylor Swift with 11. She won a total of seven awards, the most of any artist on the night.
Her opening performance did not disappoint, and it featured appearances from collaborators Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx, as well as A-listers Julia Garner, Seth Rogen, Sombr, Debi Mazar and Andrew Watt, in a version of Bring Your Love from her 2026 album Confessions II and Danceteria Afterhours.
So yeah, guess it’s fair to say Madonna’s career did not end in 1984. It was only the beginning.
However, despite her success over the last year, the one detail audiences can’t seem to get over is her age — or rather, how she should, and shouldn’t, be acting at 68 — and unfortunately, Madonna’s story reflects the lives of far too many women around the world.
Tracey Spicer AM, journalist and author of Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, spoke to WHO about the double standard women face in their personal lives and careers, and pointed to the real success story stemming from Madonna’s career: the women who are refusing to be invisible and continuing to ‘act like Madonna’ in Australia.
Madonna didn’t just have a big night, she’s had a big year
This year is Madonna’s fifth time opening the VMAs after having previously performed in 1989, 1993, 1998, and 2003.
Last time, in 2003, she performed alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott with a performance that made headlines with those kisses. Since then, she’s built a career spanning over 40 years.
However, this year alone, she performed at Coachella, dropped her 15th studio album, Confessions II, and released duets like Bring Your Love with Sabrina Carpenter, Love Sensation with Kylie Minogue, and Danceteria Afterhours with Charli xcx.
She referenced this busy schedule in her Artist of the Year acceptance speech.
“I really want you to know that I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself, and really making the music that I wanted to make,” she said, shooting down the hate she has received in recent years for simply being herself.
The music industry’s double standard
While it’s hard to believe anyone would hate on the icon of pop music, if you scroll through the comments on any of her recent social media posts or announcements, there is far too much noise around how she should dress, look, and act her age.
Even after her 2026 MTV VMAs performance, viewers flooded online comment sections with negativity. From claiming she was wearing a “nappy” on stage to calling her performance “beyond cringe” and telling her to “retire and put on age-appropriate clothes”, audiences have claimed that the pop legend has “completely ruined her legacy”.
“This language is all about control,” Spicer told WHO. “These words are designed to shame women back into their boxes, reminding us there’s a narrow window when we’re allowed to be visible, sexual and joyful.”
However, what about the older men in music? Where’s the scrutiny for Mick Jagger performing in tight leather pants and throwing his jacket around the stage at 83 years old?
“Male artists are allowed to age,” Spicer said. “But women must shelve their ambition and sexuality at a certain age. You rarely hear an ageing rock star in leather pants described as ‘desperate.'”
Madonna has never been anyone but, well, Madonna. Although it seems we only accept pop legends before they reach a certain age.
The industry is changing, but it isn’t enough
Despite more diverse portrayals of women in film and literature, women are given an earlier ‘use by date’ in their careers and expected to become invisible.
The 2026 Emmy Awards were praised for celebrating older women and stories. From Hacks‘ Jean Smart making history as the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every single season of an ongoing TV show to Julie Andrews’ Emmy win at 90 years old for voicing anonymous gossip writer Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton, women over 60 were well and truly in the spotlight.
But, even these moments of celebration come with a catch.
“Seeing Julie Andrews celebrated at 90 is a joy, but the fact that it makes headlines tells us it’s still the exception rather than the rule,” Spicer said. “The biggest gaps remain in the music industry, behind the camera, and for older women of colour, who are still largely invisible. I worry that AI tools trained on biased data will quietly entrench that invisibility.
“One glittering night doesn’t undo decades of women being quietly written out of the script after [age] 40. The real test is whether those wins translate into more roles, more funding and more opportunities next year.”
Spicer also added that “progress isn’t linear”, and warned against the “algorithms feeding young people content every day”, pushing some “regressive ideas about how women should look and behave”.
“See: Tradwives. We can’t be complacent. Every generation has to fight for this ground all over again,” she warned.
What’s the real success story from the 2026 MTV VMAs?
The solution? Stop treating older women as novelties.
“Put more older women in the rooms where decisions are made – newsrooms and boardrooms – and feature us in everyday stories, not just as novelties,” Spicer added. “Brands also need to audit the AI tools they’re increasingly using to generate images, because these systems often default to young, thin and white.
“Representation shouldn’t be a special feature; it should be business as usual.”
There are also more women ‘acting like Madonna’ than people realise.
“I go dancing most weekends, and the floors are filled with women of all ages celebrating the liberation of moving their bodies to the beat,” she said. “Day discos are absolutely huge. This is a modern social phenomenon that I don’t see reported in the news.”
So, if you’re feeling hopeless, join other women on the dance floor!
“Embrace joy. That voice in your head isn’t yours,” Spicer added. “It’s decades of media messaging, and you’re allowed to turn down the volume.
“Getting older is a privilege denied to many, so wear the sequins, hit the dance floor and chase that big ambition. Madonna’s not asking for permission, and neither should you!”
Even if Madonna’s night at the 2026 MTV VMAs was a complete disaster (whatever that means!), it still would have been a success. Awards or not, she represents a movement of women who refuse to become invisible.
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