Madonna's use of the n-word is more of the same

M.Tariq January 22, 2014

Then-husband Guy Ritchie and Madonna attend the launch party for "The 72 Names of God," a book by Rabbi Yehuda Berg, the co-director of The Kabbalah Center, at the New Museum for Contemporary Art in New York on April 24, 2003. Madonna's interest in Kabbalah, a mystic branch of Judaism, was widely discussed at this time.

On Friday, Madonna posted a photo to her Instagram account of her teenage son, Rocco, throwing a punch in a boxing ring with the caption: "Nobody messes with Dirty Soap! Mama said knock you out!" she wrote below the picture, adding the hashtag "#disni—a."

Yes, of course.

When the inevitable public outcry began of her use of the n-word, the photo was deleted and reposted, its caption replaced with, in true Madonna fashion, "#get off my d—k haters!"

None of this furor is accidental.

The pop icon is no stranger to controversy, but now it may be time to examine the consequences of her latest cultural tourism in the name of reinvention.In each of her many visual incarnations and cultural flings, Madonna has been predictably parasitic. She shamelessly moves on to the next character, having usurped all the cool or controversial parts of the previous one.

Now, there is her use of the n-word.