Madonna Tribe posted a dead-on quote from Shirley Manson of the band Garbage from her recent interview with Bullett about ageism and Madonna. Shirley’s candor is refreshing and her point is clear and accurate. The media is constantly trying to marginalize strong women and when strong women age, it’s doubly so. This is so rampant, it creeps into the culture and—in my mind—only adds to body issues, low self-esteem, and disorders such as anorexia and bulimia in young girls and women. Perhaps even worse, it attempts to erase a whole facet of our population by insidiously portraying age in women as a negative and something to be mocked or dismissed. Here’s Shirley:

“The tabloids complain about her looking old, and people laugh at her for that. Then Madonna goes and fixes her face, and they laugh at her for that. Even though they begrudgingly say she looks amazing, they’ll still laugh at her for trying to look young.

Then she steps out, looking amazing, and the tabloids go and blow up a picture of her aging hand. Nobody’s doing that to George Clooney, blowing up pictures of his hands! I look at these magazines, and I want to say to them, What’s your point? That she’s aged? Does that surprise you? Or is your ‘point’ an attempt to undercut what she’s achieved?

I think it is, even if it’s on a subconscious level. And you probably wouldn’t turn down those hands if they were grabbing you under the table, you fucking idiots.”

She says it perfectly, no? Watch a video of Garbage’s latest video for ‘Blood For Poppies’, after the jump.