Madonna Is Ruining All My Favorite Causes

With sales of Madonnas latest album,MDNA,at historic lows, its not surprising that the accompanying world tour has been less a musical event than a carefully choreographed spectacle of political controversy. Virtually every show included a political statement, tailor-made to the city Madonnas performing in. InParis, she put a swastika on right-wing French politician Marine Le Pens forehead. InIstanbul, she flashed a nipple. InWashington, D.C., she called President Barack Obama a black Muslim ironically, she later added. Music and Hollywood press covered each concert as its own,sui generis,moment of protest and art.

Madonnas regional diatribes often seemed dilettantish and desperate, but for a while I was able to convince myself that her catch-all activist stance was well-earned. Or that anyone who said otherwise was sexist, anyway, eager to tear down a woman determined to be a sex symbol into her Social Securitycollecting years. After all, wasnt the rosary-desecrating foe of the Vatican a natural ally for Pussy Riot, the feminist punk band locked up for two years for performing in a Russian Orthodox church? Pussy Riot wasexcited by Madonnas in-concert tribute, and their plight only served to remind me how sacred Madonnas, and all of our freedom to strip down and say dumb things is. Until now.

On Wednesday, Madonna slotted Malala Yousafzai into the current events portion of her Los Angeles set list. A 14-year-old Pakistani, Yousufzai has been a brave advocate of girls education rights since the Taliban in her home Swat region forbade girls from attending school in 2009. Last week, she and two friends were critically wounded by a Taliban gunman who opened fired on their school bus. Yousufzai is still unconscious.

In earlier concerts, Madonna had voiced her support for political causes by stripping down to her bra, turning away from the audience to reveal the name of the causedu jour Obama, Pussy Riot stenciled on her back, and dedicating the song Human Nature to them.

Express yourself/Dont repress yourself.

And despite the much more delicate circumstances surrounding Yousufzais cause, Madonnas Los Angeles tribute was no different. Bra, back tattoo, song. I take that back: Photos from the concert show that Madonna also stripped down to her thong and fishnets.

On one level, I know I should be glad that Madonna is raising awareness for a cause I care about. And that I shouldnt expect much cultural sensitivity from a woman who wore a bindi and sari for the length of one album's promotionin the nineties. But this prefabricated protest leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Stenciling Malalas name on her back, though a reliable way to get pictures of her still-hot-at-5! 4 body ci! rculated, seems like a clear provocation against Muslim modesty. Her quickness to link sweet, scarf-wearing Yousufzais fight for education with her own first-world fight for hyper-sexualized free speech Did I say something wrong?/Oops I didnt know I couldnt talk about sex. reveals how narcissistic her politics are.

This made me cry, Madonna said, of Yousufzai.

Do you understand the sickness and absurdity of this?she added.

Yousafzai was airlifted out of Pakistan to the U.K. today, so theres reason to hope shell recover in safety. But its worth asking whether Madonna didnt further endanger Yousufzai by using her one-size-fits-all protest on her. The Taliban, which quickly took credit for Yousafzais shooting, has vowed to kill her as retribution for her obscenity. Here's what qualifies as obscene: She was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her ideal leader, a Taliban spokesman told Reuters. She was young but she was promoting Western culture.Now shes being promotedbyWestern culture, too, a faction of it that even I think is gratuitously lewd upon occasion.

As for Pakistanis, the tweets and comments on news articles and YouTube videos of Madonnas performance are a mixed bag. Some express gratitude for an international celebritys support of Pakistans daughter. Others are appalled by the publicity play, which disrespects Yousufzais cause and condition. Still others wonder, rightly, when Madonna will dedicate a song to the innocent women and children killed in U.S. drone strikes on Pakistan.