What It Feels Like for a Girl "Rock DJ", in which the singer strips his skin off in graphic detail. Miller relegated the banning due to Madonna being a woman "and the idea of a woman taking her aggression out on men is something the network can just not have. That's what is so disturbing. And that really is what it feels like for a girl". Writing for the "San Francisco Chronicle", Neva Chonin accused the video for being a marketing ploy; "Madonna knew [the video] would spark controversy and that MTV would probably ban it. Much fanfare and publicity, more record sales". Nonetheless, she praised it
What It Feels Like for a Girl atmosphere and ambiguous air". Also from "The Guardian", Maddy Costa thought that the track was "exquisite", adding "on 'What It Feels Like for a Girl' you feel is the Madonna of old, talking about being a pop bitch and making you tingle even with its hackneyed lyrics". Writing for "Billboard", Larry Flick hailed it "a hook-laden midtempo jam [...] that should give the Britney/Christina generation of teenage female listeners a little food for thought", highlighting its "motherly, nurturing perspective". Also from "Billboard", Chuck Taylor named it "one of the more substantive – and mature – musical ventures of [Madonna's] career",