Madonna gave a heartrending, emotional speech at Billboard Women in Music 2016 that touched on feminism, sexism and much more.
"I stand before you as a doormat. Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer," she said.
"Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse."
She remarked that male artists had more freedom than females. "'Wait a minute, isn't Prince running around with fishnets and high heels and lipstick with his butt hanging out?' Yes, he was. But he was a man.”
Madonna also remembered being criticized for setting feminism back. "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.'"
"I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around," she explained. "Michael is gone. Tupac is gone. Prince is gone. Whitney is gone. Amy Winehouse is gone. David Bowie is gone. But I'm still standing. I'm one of the lucky ones and every day I count my blessings."
Billboard Women in Music airs Dec. 12 on Lifetime at 9PM ET.
