What It Feels Like for a Girl "turning the tables of violence back on the men for whom such behavior is considered "normal" and putting them on the receiving end of violence, a position usually reserved for women". They noticed that unlike previous Madonna videos which were banned for religious themes or sexuality, MTV found violence as an offence. Even using the remix in the clip changed the song's feminine and bittersweet nature to something faster and harder, adjectives usually reserved for boys. The authors concluded that as always, Madonna inverted the traditional roles and characterization of male and female in the clip. "What It Feels Like
What It Feels Like for a Girl while panning its remix version for "reduc[ing] the song to a mindless trickle of beats without any hints of the verses". Alex Pappademas from "Spin", pointed out that the song "flaunts the sexiest synth shimmer this side of [Aguilera's] 'Genie in a Bottle'". "The Village Voice"s Phil Dellio found the song to be "the perfect answer record to [the novel] "The Virgin Suicides" (where boys indeed stand on the side of the street looking uncomprehendingly towards girls)". While listing "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs", Louis Virtel from "The Backlot" ranked "What It Feels Like for a Girl" at number 45,