"Instead Of Being A Doormat, I Decided To Emphasize My Differences"

"In high school, "I wasn't a hippie or a stoner," Madonna tells the May issue of Vanity Fair, on newsstands April 8, "so I ended up being the weirdo. I was interested in classical ballet and music, so the kids were quite mean if you were different. I was one of those people that people were mean to. When that happened, instead of being a doormat, I decided to emphasize my differences."

It's a philosophy the superstar has kept all these years. After all, she says, "if your joy is derived from what society thinks of you, you're always going to be disappointed."

In VF, Madonna shares that when she started on her album Hard Candy (out April 29), she didn't know what sound she wanted. "I just knew I wanted to collaborate with Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake." It took time to get comfortable: "It's not like we hit it off right away. Writing is very intimate. You have to be vulnerable and it's hard to do that with strangers."

Madonna seems to have evolved into a woman who embraces giving. Her 90-minute documentary, I Am Because We Are, is screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. The movie focuses on Malawi and its orphans. In it, she explains how she learned about the African nation and why it has meant so much to her.