Culture

Madonna expertly dissects sex, sexuality and ‘conservatism’ in resurfaced 1990 Nightline interview

Mar 01 2021
Written by Patrick Kelleher

Madonna on Newsnight in 1990. (YouTube)

Madonna is being showered with praise after an old interview resurfaced on social media in which she hit out at the stagnant, conservative discussion around sexuality.

The gay icon appeared on ABC’s Nightline in 1990 to respond to the controversy surrounding her music video for “Justify My Love”, which MTV famously refused to broadcast because of its frank exploration of sex.

During a legendary appearance on Nightline, Madonna hit out at the “conservatism” that was sweeping the nation and spoke of the importance of exploring sexuality.

“I think that sexuality is something that Americans would really rather just sweep up under the rug,” Madonna said.

The trailblazing singer-songwriter said she hopes her music video – which shows her being seduced into a threesome in a hotel – would provoke an “open discussion” between children and their parents about sex.

“Madonna, you have to help me here,” the interviewer responded. “When a 10-year-old sees you chained to the bed or sees your boyfriend bound up and another woman comes by while you’re there… you know that that’s a fantasy and you know that other people are able to deal with all kinds of sexuality, but a 10-year-old is going to get awfully confused here,” he said.

We’re pretending like we don’t have a lot of teenagers that are having sex in the world right now.

Madonna replied: “Good, then let them get confused and let them go ask their parents about it, and let their parents explain to them that it is a sexual fantasy and that these things exist in life, like they see violence, it exists in life.

“It’s not a pretty picture necessarily, it’s a frightening thing, but it’s a reality. Why are we willing to deal with the realities of violence and sexism and why aren’t we willing to deal with sexuality? Why?

“The networks won’t even play ads on TV that are about condoms, about birth control, about practicing safe sex, we’re pretending like we don’t have a lot of teenagers that are having sex in the world right now. Why are we subjecting ourselves to this kind of ignorance?”

Madonna hit out at parents for ‘not doing their job’

The Nightline interviewer told Madonna that parents might argue it was up to them to educate their children about sexuality in their own time and in their own way.

“Well guess what, they’re not doing their job,” Madonna replied, “because teenage pregnancies in this country have reached a highest high, we have sophomores in high school that are having their second babies already. And the rate of AIDS is rising in the heterosexual community at a really frightening rate. So why is that? These parents are not doing their jobs.”

The interview was shared on Twitter on 27 February and quickly racked up thousands of likes, with many queer people praising Madonna for her trailblazing approach to sex and sexuality.

When young queer people don't understand why us olds love her so much, I try to explain that at the height of her popularity, Madonna was pushing an agenda that frightened people when nobody else was and she had everything to lose but she did it anyway… https://t.co/oMTteRRgsg

— Peaches Christ (@PeachesChrist) February 28, 2021