--- title: Madonna Blasts Sexism in Music Industry: 'To Age Is a Sin' description: Madonna delivered a blunt, powerful speech while accepting the Billboard Woman of the Year 2016 award on Friday canonical: https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-11T18:46:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:05.250Z og:title: Madonna Delivers a Powerful Speech Blasting Sexism in the Music Industry og:description: "If you're a girl, you have to play the game" og:url: https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0274041dadd6f318/6988b286e20a877ab0a9381f/madonna-billboard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Billboard Women In Music 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Madonna Delivers a Powerful Speech Blasting Sexism in the Music Industry twitter:description: "If you're a girl, you have to play the game" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0274041dadd6f318/6988b286e20a877ab0a9381f/madonna-billboard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Madonna Delivers a Powerful Speech Blasting Sexism in the Music Industry: 'To Age Is a Sin' > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 11, 2016 6:46 PM UTC  Madonna attends the 2016 Billboard Women in Music Awards at Pier 36 on December 9, 2016 in New York City. Madonna attends the 2016 Billboard Women in Music Awards at Pier 36 on December 9, 2016 in New York City. Taylor Hill—FilmMagic by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 11, 2016 6:46 PM UTC Madonna delivered a blunt, powerful speech while accepting the [Billboard Woman of the Year 2016](http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/women-in-music/7616927/madonna-billboard-woman-of-the-year-labrinth) award on Friday. “I stand before you as a doormat. Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer,” she said in the speech for Billboard’s Women in Music event, which will air on Lifetime on Dec. 12\. “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.” The singer said she learned that as a woman in the music industry, she had to play by a certain set of rules. “If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. You’re allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don’t act too smart,” she said. “Don’t have an opinion that’s out of line with the status quo. You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don’t own your sluttiness. And do not, I repeat do not, share your own sexual fantasies with the world. Be what men want you to be, but more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men. And finally, do not age. Because to age is a sin. You will be criticized and vilified and definitely not played on the radio.” Watch her speech above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/"},"headline":"Madonna Delivers a Powerful Speech Blasting Sexism in the Music Industry: 'To Age Is a Sin'","datePublished":"2016-12-11T18:46:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:05.250Z","description":"\"If you're a girl, you have to play the game\"","url":"https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/","keywords":["motto","Madonna","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0274041dadd6f318/6988b286e20a877ab0a9381f/madonna-billboard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0274041dadd6f318/6988b286e20a877ab0a9381f/madonna-billboard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Billboard Women In Music 2016","caption":"Billboard Women In Music 2016","creditText":"Taylor Hill—FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4597408/madonna-speech-billboard-sexism/","name":"Madonna Delivers a Powerful Speech Blasting Sexism in the Music Industry: 'To Age Is a Sin'"}}]}] ```