Sinead O’Connor Was Right: It’s Time to Revisit Some of Pop Culture’s Most Maligned Women

An excerpt from Allison T. Butler's The Judgment of Gender: How Women Are Centered and Silenced in Pop Culture , published March 8, 2026: While Sinead O’Connor was roundly criticized for ripping up the picture of the pope, the passage of time has revealed: She was right.

Sinead O’Connor Was Right: It’s Time to Revisit Some of Pop Culture’s Most Maligned Women

An excerpt from Allison T. Butler's The Judgment of Gender: How Women Are Centered and Silenced in Pop Culture, published March 8, 2026:

While Sinead O’Connor was roundly criticized for ripping up the picture of the pope, the passage of time has revealed: She was right.

O’Connor was labeled a pop star, but she never saw herself that way. From Rememberings: “Everyone wants a pop star, see? But I’m a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.”

The post Sinead O’Connor Was Right: It’s Time to Revisit Some of Pop Culture’s Most Maligned Women appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

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