BBC: When did middle finger become offensive?

Whether or not M.I.A. was aware, the gesture originally referred to a phallus

An American television network has apologised after pop star M.I.A. extended her middle finger during Sunday night’s Super Bowl halftime show. What does the gesture mean, and when did it become offensive?

A public intellectual, expressing his contempt for a gas bag politician, reaches for a familiar gesture. He extends his middle finger and declares: “This is the [...]

ATTITUDE MALFUNCTION: MADONNA SINGER FLIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than a second stood between British singer M.I.A. giving the finger to 114 million people watching the Super Bowl halftime show and no one noticing at all.

That’s how close NBC censors came to preventing the gesture from being seen Sunday night, but the Super Bowl instead wound up with another entertainment oops moment. The gesture swept across social media, showing up in screen grabs and [...]

Guest singer flips middle finger to audience during Madonna show

 

Madonna positioned herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars at the Super Bowl halftime show – complete with throne – but didn’t have complete control of her show.

Guest singer M.I.A. flipped the middle finger to the audience after uttering a barely disguised expletive during a performance of Madonna’s new single. M.I.A. was one of two guests who contributed vocals to the bubblegum pop song, “Give Me [...]