Camille Paglia has accused Madonna of ‘maudlin self pity’ after the singer claimed she had missed out on female support at the beginning of her career.
Madonna spoke out about the sexism, misogyny and abuse she has struggled with over the years while accepting Billboard’s Woman of the Year award.
In her speech, she also criticised Paglia, a famed feminist critic, for allegedly claiming she set women back by objectifying herself sexually.
“Camille Paglia the famous feminist writer said I set women back by objectifying myself sexually so I thought ‘oh, if you’re a feminist, you don’t have sexuality, you deny it.’ So I said ‘f**k it. I’m a different kind of feminist. I’m a bad feminist.,” Madonna said in her speech.
Paglia, an American academic who is known for seminal feminist work Sexual Personae, has now revealed that she was one of Madonna’s first major supporters. She has also drawn attention to her 1990 comment piece in the New York Times entitled ‘Madonna – Finally, a Real Feminist.’
“It is truly tragic to see Madonna descend into embarrassing displays of maudlin self-pity and irrational accusations against others,” Paglia said in a scathing statement to the Daily Mail.
Paglia suggested Madonna had become a ‘prisoner of her own wealth and fame.’ She also claimed that the media were previously keen to bring her and Madonna together but the musician was not keen.