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Miley Cyrus Moves into Adulthood Publicly: America Freaks Out

miley cyrus robin thicke upsetting

Miley Cyrus gave quite a performance at the VMAs last night. In case you’re unaware (Mom, this is for you), Miley Cyrus has a famous father who has managed her career which began sometime around age 11. She is 20 and her resume is longer than most adults in the neighborhood.

Last night’s performance featured a lot of tongue, dancing that once upon a time was reserved for strip clubs and flirtation with both genders. Much like Emily Ratajkowski (age 22) Miley appeared to be next to naked. The question I have for us all is why do we see Emily Ratajkowski as a sexy lady who stars in a video but look at Cyrus as a child who is melting down in public?

Emily Ratajkowski sexy photo 2 copy

Celebrity is a strange thing and the only thing we like to do more than create a celebrity is to tear one down. Child stars are a whole new animal. With the advent of Nickelodeon and Disney came the ability to create characters, market and distribute them all through one giant funnel. There’s a massive machine behind Hannah Montana that makes Judy Garland and Shirley Temple’s days in the limelight look like 2nd grade class plays.

There is nothing odd or unusual about a sexy 20 year old. There’s nothing bad about near nudity at 20, in fact I’d heartily encourage it. There’s nothing about your body that’s likely to get better at 30. A brain yes, a body no.

I’m not the target audience for MTV so I’m sure they won’t care a bit when I tell you that I don’t think Cyrus’ performance was particularly good. The tongue and the crotch grabbing were decidedly unsexy and some say lewd but we embraced it when Gene Simmons and Michael Jackson did both of those things. Is Miley Cyrus going to make us evaluate what is ladylike and what skanky girls do? Why are boys just being boys and why is Miley being bad?

Miley Cyrus was wearing her shirt and performing live to an audience of millions. She was singing and dancing and interacting with both people and cameras. If you didn’t like the performance that’s fair but picking on her body? Unfair.

miley cyrus nsfw

There’s the obvious explanation here that she’s busy being athletic while wearing something that appears to be like vinyl and of course there will be movement. There’s the fact that most of the free world wouldn’t look as good as Cyrus before dancing. There’s something bigger happening here and if we’re talking about the “imperfection” of a very perfect ass we’re having the wrong discussion. Everyone loves to talk about how we’re not supposed to care about how people look, it’s supposed to be what’s inside that matters. We’re supposed to be all about fat acceptance (for the record I am not) and enough with the slut shaming.

Can we just talk about the fact that a 20 year old has grown up in front of us and we are all extremely uncomfortable with seeing a child mature into a woman. We hate that our Disney kid is a young woman and that not every moment of her life will be lady-like. We hate that she’s a sexual being and lose our minds that an intensely misogynistic song that celebrates rape culture is turned on it’s ear with a performance that has a 20 year old girl taking charge of the 36 year old man who shares a stage with her.

This freaks us out and let’s not pretend like it’s about her.

The women of the video are sexy because we didn’t know them as kids. Maybe we are Miley’s problem. 

 

9 thoughts on “Miley Cyrus Moves into Adulthood Publicly: America Freaks Out”

  1. My biggest reason for finding it disturbing was the fact that it just didn’t at all come across as natural and seemed entirely choreographed. I’m all for artistic expression and exuding sexuality but at least look comfortable doing it.

    Other than those issues, however, she did exactly what was planned for this performance…. grabbing headlines. So kudos on that.

  2. I agree with a whole lot of this. Not all of it, but much of it. What she was doing was done on MTV, where you are supposed to do that shit (be pathetic and ungraceful and tragically common) – and 20 isn’t a child, she is just still a child TO US.

    Still, she didn’t need this. She isn’t Britney – she has talent and a strong family and a viable career above b-rate MTV kiddie p*%n. Someone with a shred of common sense ought to have stopped this before it happened, for HER. Maybe her father didn’t know, and of course MTV isn’t going to ask her to not drive their ratings through the roof, so right now I am looking with very bitter eyes at this Robin guy, old enough to be her father and therefore old enough to not be shamelessly sexualizing her.

    But I say that all with a hearty I don’t watch MTV or the VMA’s and neither do my kids (because they are not allowed to) so I really don’t give a shit. :) But thanks for letting me vent that in your comments.

  3. I wrote a longer comment, but deleted it. I will just simply say that I agree with about 95% of what you wrote. And I’m also removing Blurred Lines from my playlist because that song has been ruined for me forever.

  4. As others have alluded to, Madonna was doing this and doing so much more outrageously, decades ago. Britney played the “naughty” school girl years ago. Lady GaGa does it every time she steps out in public. “Innocent” Katy Perry wears breast cones more pronounced than Madonna ever did. People need to wake up to the fact that the entertainment industry lives for and thrives in controversial behavior.

    Anyone who has even an ounce of societal rebellion in them will continue to love, applaud and spend money on the controversial.

    People who call Miley or her act gross, skanky, or deplorable are entitled to their opinions, yet that’s all they are – opinions spat out by people who are uncomfortable with how the latest generation expresses sexuality. Every generation goes though this.

  5. Yeah, I think people need to get over the whole Miley is a skank thing. I actually had someone comment on my post that MILEY Ruined Robin for them. AHem, Robin pushing his junk up on a half Naked Miley is what should have ruined Robin for you. I think it is her business to act however sexual she wants to. We’ve all done it to some degree, albeit not on national tv. My problem is that she is being called a whore and he is not being said boo about. This is such complete misogynistic bullshit that it makes my fucking head want to spin right off my shoulders. The worst part of all is that the people cutting her down the worst are other women. PLEASE, Robin Thicke was there too and he’s a fucking grown ass married man.

  6. People crack me up!

    Blurred lines is ruined for you???? The song is about sex….you hear it, you let your kids listen to it in the car, its even the hook for a Radio Shack commercial before the song made it big…and now that a “legal” performer is on stage, shaking her stuff in a way you do not like (i must admit I too was taken back with the finger) you now dont like Robin Thicke….who might I add is an AMAZING artist and has been writing songs for greats like Brandy since the late 90’s. (way before he was on your blurry radar)

    So its OK to hear and hum the smut….its that the visual was just too much for you?

    Truth is….MTV approved it because they are brilliant….look at all the hits it received. And this is a network that makes money off of shows like “Jackass”, “Jersey Shore” and “16 and pregnant”! Why are you people so flippin surprised!!!!!!!!!!

    I dont see anyone calling Drew Barrymore a crackhead…..seasons of life people…we all have them.

    Blah blah judgmental blah!

    (sorry this is the first post i have ever left…but my vent landed on your blog….lol)

  7. I agree with much of what you said.

    I feel like another child has been exploited in the spotlight so all the greedy bastards who should have been there to protect her were more interested in getting their fair share from her fame.

    It concerns me greatly how we, as a society, use up our children’s light, and then blame them when they turn to look for experiences to regain it.

    Re: Blurred Lines video being sexy? It’s completely about objectification of women. Not sexy. At least Miley had attitude power in her performance and was at least an “equal” with Robin Thicke.

    Jessica — I want to read the blog post about you being opposed to fat acceptance.

  8. I was a sorority girl in the mid 80’s. I remember being 20, 21 years old and doing things at frat parties that I would be horrified to find my own daughter doing. I also had shitty self esteem and probably didn’t think I was worth any more than that…which I don’t think is the same thing as what Miley’s doing. I couldn’t begin to be her armchair psychologist, but I also don’t think that this phase she’s going through is terribly unusual, its just being played out in living rooms all over the world.

    I don’t watch MTV or look at music videos on the web (MTV stopped being interesting when Duran Duran no longer made daily appearances in the lineup and YES I’m that old), nor do I pay much attention to what the kids are listening to these days so I don’t know a damn thing about this Robin Thicke fellow, but looking at him in the video above? GROSS. Miley, if you’re going to rub yourself all over some guy on TV for millions of people to watch, find someone younger and far more attractive. Blech.

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