Madonna slams gender inequality in fiery speech at Billboard Women In Music awards

The Vogue singer - who extended her record as the highest-grossing female touring artist of all time this year - has been honoured as Woman of the Year at Billboard's annual Women In Music event and took the opportunity to "speak her mind" and deliver one of the best rallying cries of the year.

After opening with a classic Madonna-esque joke - "I always feel better with something hard between my legs" - and straddling the microphone stand, she sucker-punched the patriarchy while wearing a custom-made Gucci suit with the saying 'The Goddess of music who brings joy' written in Greek across her shoulders.

"I stand before you as a doormat. Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer," she said.

"Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse."

In the speech, that at times rambled like a Rod Culleton media appearance, she canvassed her early years that were plagued with struggles prior to the release of her first single, Everybody, in 1982.

"People were dying of AIDS everywhere. It wasn't safe to be gay, it wasn't cool to be associated with the gay community," Madonna said.

"It was 1979 and New York was a very scary place. In the first year I was held at gunpoint, raped on a rooftop with a knife digging into my throat and I had my apartment broken into and robbed so many times I stopped locking the door. In the years that followed, I lost almost every friend I had to AIDS or drugs or gunshots."

She also imparted her wisdom to the Women In Music guests that included embattled pop star Kesha and up-and-coming singer Halsey: "In life there is no real safety except for self-belief," she said.

Her marriage and subsequent divorce from actor Sean Penn was when she realised the vast differences between men and women, especially those making a living by being in the public eye.

She became emotional when recalling her experiences after separating from Penn, releasing her Erotica album and her Sex book. A time when she felt like "the most hated person on the planet".

"I remember being the headline of every newspaper and magazine. Everything I read about myself was damning. I was called a whore and a witch. One headline compared me to Satan. I said, 'Wait a minute, isn't Prince running around with fishnets and high heels and lipstick with his butt hanging out?' Yes, he was. But he was a man," she said.

Madonna thanked her predecessors including Deborah Harry and David Bowie.

About Bowie, she said: "He embodied male and female spirit and that suited me just fine. He made me think there were no rules. But I was wrong. There are no rules - if you're a boy. There are rules if you're a girl.".

Those rules, ones Madge subsequently broke, included: "If you're a girl, you have to play the game. You're allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don't act too smart. Don't have an opinion that's out of line with the status quo. You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don't own your sluttiness. And do not, I repeat do not, share your own sexual fantasies with the world. Be what men want you to be, but more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men."