Friday, May 02, 2008

The Miley Cyrus Backlash, Teens Think She's Whore now?

It certainly seems that way to this group of New York teens interviewed by the New York Times.

It stung to hear the word; another version of it came up a moment later. Looking quickly at the image — Ms. Cyrus with her hair damp, her back bare, a sheet draped over her front — another Beacon sophomore looked not so much shocked as disturbed. “Is this who we’re supposed to be growing up to be?” asked the young woman. She wore sunglasses, a tight baby-T and short shorts over black leggings. “I don’t want to be that,” she said. “It’s sending a message that girls are supposed to be whores.”

In the strange world of teen girls it is okay to dress sexy but damp hair, bright red lipstick, a sheet, and a bare back is the implication that she just hooked up. It puts her in the same category as Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Just another "celebrity whore" and not the wholesome girl from Hannah Montana.

I think the idea that what these girls are fighting back against is growing up too fast. There is just too much oversexualization in pop culture today and these girls seem to be sick of it. So when a wholesome girl with good values like Cyrus takes it off for Vanity Fair then no one is safe.

I think Annie Leibovitz has much to answer for in what could be a career destroying mess. She knew full well that a 15 year old girl could be coaxed to do almost anything by a famous photographer like herself. She made Cyrus feel comfortable and did something that a sleazy porno photographer would do. She said to Cyrus "now that your Dad left let's take a few art photos with your top off." I wonder if Leibovitz cued the cheesy saxophone music as well?
I guess the 15 year old girl part totally slipped Leibovitz's mind when she made Cyrus "whore it up" for her famous lens.

What was Leibovitz thinking? She knows that this girl is adored by teens and by subjecting a 15 year old girl to a sexually suggestive photo session could damage her career. In any case I hope Miley Cyrus recovers from this and Leibovitz doesn't get another chance to photograph underage girls with their tops off in the future. After all it isn't like she is Joe Francis or anything.

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