Madonna compared to Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I for trying to look youthful

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Seen and Unseen: The face formerly known as Madonna

Fox News' Raymond Arroyo has the latest on the fashion choices at the Grammy Awards and Sam Smith's devil-inspired performance on 'The Ingraham Angle.' 

Novelist Jennifer Weiner defended Madonna’s much-scrutinized appearance at the recent Grammy Awards by comparing her looks to past efforts by iconic women like Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth I.

The 64-year-old pop singer garnered attention after the ceremony Sunday night for her appearance before introducing singer Sam Smith. In a guest essay for The New York Times, Weiner acknowledged that, in a close-up shot, Madonna "looked exaggerated, pushed and polished to an extreme" in a way that unsettled people. 

However, she also noted that many famous women throughout history have gone to unusual lengths to appear beautiful.

"Throughout history, many aesthetic interventions were meant to be subtle, invisible, private, whether it was Cleopatra slipping off to bathe in donkey milk, Queen Elizabeth I patting a toxic mixture of vinegar and lead on her face, or a 1950s housewife discreetly touching up her grays. Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure!" Weiner wrote.

Madonna speaks on stage at the 65th Grammy Awards, held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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Beyond that, Weiner suggested that the appearance at the Grammys was intentional as a way to force people to discuss "ageism" in pop culture.

"I’d like to think that our era’s greatest chameleon, a woman who has always been intentional about her reinvention, was doing something slyer, more subversive, by serving us both a new — if not necessarily improved — face and a side of critique about the work of beauty, the inevitability of aging, and the impossible bind in which older female celebrities find themselves," Weiner suggested.

Madonna herself proposed that concept in an Instagram post attacking her critics.

Madonna, circa 1984 (Michael Putland/Getty Images)

"Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech, which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim, many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long-lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone's face!!" Madonna wrote. "Once again, I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous."

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She added, "I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career, but I understand that this is all a test, and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come. In the words of Beyoncé, 'You won't break my soul.' I look forward to many more years of subversive behavior, pushing boundaries, standing up to the patriarchy, and most of all enjoying my life."

Regardless of whether Madonna intended to be at the center of this backlash, Weiner celebrated this "brilliant provocation."

Madonna speaks onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 12, 2021. (Jeff Kravitz/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS)

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"Is it possible that Madonna has been so blinkered by her fame and wealth that she’s lost the ability to see herself objectively, like Michael Jackson pursuing an ever-thinner nose or Jocelyn Wildenstein doing … whatever it was she was doing? Yes, but whatever her intentions, the superstar has gotten us talking about how good looks are subjective and how ageism is pervasive," Weiner wrote. "In the end, whether she meant to make a statement or just to look younger, better, ‘refreshed,’ almost doesn’t matter. If beauty is a construct, Madonna’s the one who put its scaffolding on display."