Mert Alas & Marcus PiggottWhile Madonna has inspired several generations of women and girls, she says there’s nobody currently around today to whom she can look at for inspiration. Why? Because, she says, there’s nobody remotely like her.
Speaking to British Vogue for a new cover story, the Queen of Pop explains, “There are no living role models for me. Because nobody does what I do. And that’s kind of scary.”
“I can look back at women who I think were great and amazing – freedom fighters, like Simone de Beauvoir or Angela Davis – but they didn’t have kids,” she continues. “Being a single parent of six children, I continue to be creative and be an artist and be politically active, to have a voice, to do all the things that I do. So I mean, there isn’t anybody in my position.”
And speaking of those children, Madonna says when it comes to her younger ones, she’s saying no to cellphones for the moment.
“I’m going to stick that one out for as long as possible, because I made a mistake when I gave my older children phones when they were 13,” she shares. “It ended my relationship with them, really. Not completely, but it became a very, very big part of their lives.”
She complains, “They became too inundated with imagery and started to compare themselves to other people, and that’s really bad for self-growth.”
Interestingly, of her six children — Lourdes, Rocco, David, Mercy and twins Stella and Esther — Madonna thinks 13-year-old David is the one who’s most like her.
“What he has more than anything is focus and determination,” she tells Vogue. “I’m pretty sure he got it from me. He’s the one I have the most in common with.”
The new issue of British Vogue hits newsstands May 10.
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