Raising the Bar on Growing Older
An Essay by Jill Roberts
Madonna’s appearance at the 2026 VMAs has produced plenty of commentary and criticism. But what’s getting somewhat lost in the details of her performance, demeanor, and appearance is that it was a pretty significant pop-culture event. Even if someone doesn’t particularly like what she’s doing artistically, there’s something powerful about the fact that she’s still doing it.
For a long time, our cultural picture of aging—especially for women—had a remarkably low ceiling. Fifty was the beginning of becoming “older.” Sixty meant slowing down. By their late sixties, particularly women in entertainment were expected to have moved into some dignified elder-stateswoman version of themselves.
And Madonna is standing on a VMA stage at 68 saying, essentially, No. I’m still here. I’m still ambitious. I’m still physical. I’m still sexual. I’m still making things. I’m still taking up an enormous amount of space.
You don’t have to like the corset to appreciate what that represents.
It changes my internal picture of what’s possible when I witness people in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s and 90s who aren’t treating those decades as an epilogue. They’re starting businesses, writing books, traveling, changing careers, falling in love, getting stronger, learning things, making art—and sometimes performing at the VMAs.
Setting the bar higher for what aging looks like is something I especially appreciate after crossing 50. And fortunately, it’s a pretty remarkable time to be growing older. The old milestones haven’t disappeared, but they seem increasingly less useful as instructions for how we’re supposed to live.