Expect huge ratings for the Teen Choice Awards tonight:
In what could be perceived as an attempt to be edgy or an homage to ice cream distributors (they probably don’t get enough credit), Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus pole danced on top of an ice cream cart at the Teen Choice Awards Sunday afternoon (the show airs on Fox tonight at 8 p.m.). Personally, I never dropped it like’s it hot when the ice cream truck came ’round the neighborhood; I usually just went straight for a Good Humor Chocolate Eclair bar. Call me old-fashioned. But the stripper-esque choreography, coupled with Cyrus’ questionable red-carpet attire, came off completely inappropriate and ill-advised.
We see this same kind of fauxrage whenever a female teen star grows up in the spotlight. Miley Cyrus became famous portraying Hannah Montana for Disney. Now she is transforming into a underage sex symbol. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera are two other former Disney vestal virgins who shed that image quickly after they left the mouse house.
But don’t kid yourself, their sexualization started years earlier.
Once upon a time these young women were expected to project a public image of innocence and virginity well into adulthood, even if in reality they were far from innocent. But that image is just one of the two sexual images allowed for females in our sexist culture.
How come nobody worries about the sexualization of boys? Because boys are expected to become sexual as a sign of reaching manhood. After they have sown their wild oats with a few bad girls they are supposed to settle on a good girl to marry.
I guess I’m jaded but I can’t work up any outrage here. YMMV. It’s not that I approve, but Miley Cyrus isn’t my daughter and her image and behavior are none of my business. I already know too much about her personal life as it is. First it was her Vanity Fair pictures and last month it was her appearance in Elle wearing a push-up leather top and “hooker boots.”
This whole thing is so predictable – millions will tune in to watch the show, and many of them will stare avidly at this young woman while tut-tutting the sexual imagery. I’ll be watching the Giants and the Dodgers.
BTW – You don’t really think Miley came up with this transformation all by herself do you?
Don’t forget that when Britney and Christina went “bad” they also got very rich.
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Filed under: General, sexism and misogyny | Tagged: Miley Cyrus, sexist gender roles
That picture with her Dad just isn’t right.
I had that same thought. There’s just something not right and I feel better knowing I’m not the only one seeing it.
Pretty obvious that Billy Ray is hoping beyond all hope that he gets tagged a sex symbol…his gig on DWTS didn’t do it for him….he was a lousy dancer and a whiner.
So, not only is he allowing his daughter to be used by Hollywood, he is jumping in on the act and using her to promote his own career, as well.
It is a creepy photo IMO.
I agree sam. It really puts me off to learn that he is her father!
Makes me think of the far too intimate father-daughter pictures from Purity Balls – like this 11 year old with her dad:
http://tinyurl.com/pv3owa
I couldn’t care less about Hannah Montana, so
can I just say big FU to the media? Because they totally screwed up what was a “teachable moment” with that question to the Congo student because of their own misogyny and CDS.
They bitch and bitch and bitch in so many subtle and unsubtle ways: “Don’t worry about Hillary. Worry about REAL misogyny like rape, domestic violence, and honor killings”
and then when Hillary is actually responding in a setting where she is there, in large part, to address the rape crisis there, they make this some bogus story about “Hillary’s insecurities”
Screw you you stupid ass women-hating media–the next time you lecture about “real misogyny” you can take your faux concern for women and shove it between your Cialis and Extenze ads.
A look at how women are objectified in music across different genres. A project for WGS 220: Gender and Popular Culture
I know someone in Women’s Studies who has watched hours of music videos and compared them to pornography. She said that if you watch these music videos long enough you start to notice the similarities they have with pornography. Most parents wouldn’t allow their children to watch porn yet these videos are shown on MTV, VH1, Disney, and youtube for our children to watch 24/7. I’m not saying that children need to be hidden from all the sexual references in our culture – it’s impossible – but I think parents should have discussions with their children about the subliminal messages and the objectification of women in these videos that we should all find unacceptable in our daily lives.
A big fat Wevs from me.
Not only was that the tamest pole dancing I’ve ever seen, but according to the Guttmacher institute, 17 is the average age that American teens lose their virginity anyway. I remember a few years ago the stats were 16 for American kids and 15 for Canadians. What a teenager is acting as though she is aware of the concept of sex? *GASP*
Seriously, who gives a shit. Eminem raps about murdering his ex, there is murmuring about being a bad influence, in bad taste. Miley Cyrus wears a sexy costume and dances in a way that is apparently provacative? OUTRAGE!
I agree that it is faux outrage because this is what most of us have come to expect from young Hollywood. A number of other young starlets in the audience have already had sex tapes and nude photos released onto the internet. Parents do have a reason to be worried and think about what their children should watch on television and in movies. But it is nothing to be surprised about. We’ve already seen it with Britney and Christina. I don’t know why people are shocked to see that Miley is following in their footsteps. She’s obviously smart enough to know that sex sells and that it is good for the next step in her career as an adult female pop star.
On the contrary, I think that parents are TOO concerned with the sexual content of what their kids watch on TV. There is NO good evidence that children being exposed to sexy images on TV is in any way harmful to kids. What it is is awkward for parents. That’s it.
Sandra, I said in a post below that it is impossible to shelter children from the sexual images that the corporate media puts on display in our homes and on magazine shelves. But parents should talk to their children or else they will believe in what the media tries to sell us – that women are only good for one thing and that’s to be put on display half naked for the world to see, that if our boys and girls don’t look as good as the photoshopped models in their magazines that they are somehow inferior, that it’s okay to dress provocatively in a world that isn’t safe from pedophiles and f-ed up people in general who prey on children and teens, or that there aren’t any repercussions from underage or unprotected sex. I’m not saying that we can stop any of these things regardless of whether or not one’s child is prevented from watching sexual content on TV. But wouldn’t you want to be the one to give them accurate information about sex and its consequences rather than giving the job to Disney or MTV?
Oh no. I definitely think that kids need to be educated consumers of pop culture and that includes a lot of age-appropriate discussion of sexuality and gender and so on. I just hate these parents groups that think that if we just take the sex out of all public media and discourse we’ll somehow protect kids. On the contrary, it leaves kids MORE vulnerable. Besides which, these people aren’t concerned at all about the sexual development and safety of kids, they’re concerned with their idea of what children’s sexual development and awareness SHOULD be- i.e.: nothing. These people want to pretend that you get handed an erect penis or functioning vagina on your wedding night, and we all know that isn’t the case. My point is that we shouldn’t pretend that Miley Cyrus shaking it is in any way more harmful to kids than parents who fear a sex discussion above all else.
sure if you do not mind your 14 year old looking and acting like a teen age hooker.
That’s JUST the kind of respectful discourse around sexuality that I like to hear. Thank you.
Is it significant that they start the act with Miley emerging from a trailer?
That’s easy, “everybody knows” that a sexually active boy is a STUD but a sexually active girl is a SLUT.
BTW, go Dodgers!
Myiq, the problem is that these are role models for our children. Do we want ten yr old girls pole dancing on the playground because they think it’s all the rage? One in four girls are sexually abused before the age if 14 and sexualizing our children long before their time certainly doesn’t help.
Do we want young girls to grow up thinking this is what’s expected of them, to be constantly on display in order to appeal to male sexuality? That’s what we already do. We have girls with terrible eating disorders, who dress seductively, who’s entire life focus is about being pleasing to men. Not running for public office, not finding a career they enjoy, not becoming a real person in their own right. They are taught from day one that they simply exist for male consumption.
Children’s role models should NEVER be actors on tv ACTING a part. I fault the parents of the child actors for exploiting them for gain and I fault the parents who don’t or aren’t teaching their children that those shows are just people acting – which means that they are pretending to be someone else.
Never mind that child actors don’t seem to ever develop the necessary disconnect between the part they play or played and reality or real life.
We can also try to blame the fact that these kids/girls make globs more money when they sexualize (?word) themselves. That is the public / media / “us” paying them more attention and buying more of whatever they are selling.
Yes – girls need better role models, but many parents aren’t too bright either. Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and Jerry’s ex-security guard get tons of “contestants” every day.
One good role model I can think of in movies is Emma Watson. She plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. I love the character Hermione for girls because she’s smart and a good student. The actress is apparently very much like her character because she’s gotten A’s and A+’s in school in England and she’s attending Brown University in the fall. She seems extremely grounded and I think it’s because her family kept her in school in between shooting films and she didn’t grow up in that Hollywood culture. And she’s admitted to being a feminist. But young actresses like Emma seems to be quite rare these days. Most seem more interested in burning through their millions shopping and partying as quickly as possible.
yttik,
You are right to be concerned. Just finished reading an excellent book, ‘The Triple Bind’ by Steven Hinshaw, about the mixed messages being received by girls about who they are supposed to be. Hinshaw is the Dept. Chair in Psychology at UC Berkeley.
I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who has or works with pre-teen and teen girls.
yttik,
There is a video on youtube showing girls that look to be under ten doing exactly that on a stage with two poles. Most distressing, and makes me wonder where the adults left their minds, to allow them to be filmed and partake in such a thing as if it was tap dancing.
Children who make it in Hollywood usually come from families who are ready to pimp their entire family for fame and fortune. We’ve seen it with Lindsay Lohan (and her sister Ali), Britney Spears (and her sister Jamie Lynn), Jessica Simpson (and her sister Ashlee), and now it’s Miley (and her sister Noah).
If you thought Miley dancing around a pole on top of an ice cream cart is bad, check out her 9-year-old sister Noah dancing around a pole at a party in Hollywood:
These children don’t know any better but their parents should. And if our society is looking for good role models for their daughters and sons, the last place to look is Hollywood. There is a reason why so many child stars end up as drug addicts or commit suicide. They lose their innocence at a young age with their family’s permission. It’s the expense they have to pay for fame and stardom.
This is absolutely correct. Hollywood seems like a badly written movie with no redeeming social value.
You got that right.
For all the many, many children who act for TV and movies, there is the pimp element, for sure. But, there is also a very responsible group of parents who allow the acting, but not the pimping. I’m pretty sure we can all name more actors who didn’t get the tabloid frenzy routine than we can those who did. Heck, if there were more of them being pimped, we wouldn’t be non-stop Lohan, Hilton, Spears and now Cyrus.
Note that the “children” you mentioned in your example are all girls. Girls are sexualized from the minute they are big enough to wear fluffy dresses. Their primary purpose is to look beautiful for the male of the species, don’tcha know?
I didn’t see it down here, and was hesitant to link it, but there it is…truly sad for these little girls, it really is. The adults know, but they have no idea.
Myiq2xu, my comment disappeared into moderation, I think.
got it
Thanks dakinkat
I saw that picture and thought (ugh) “skank”.
Guess I’m not in their demographic, huh?
outraged no, there are more important immediate issues at hand. But as a woman who was molested as a girl by a man who was a big fan of the book “lolita”, I know how powerful media in all forms can be.
I remember disliking so much being hassled by men trying to pick me up. They seemed to think it was their God given right to accost you and make clumsy conversation.
I would walk with my head bowed and my eyes down on the ground, avoiding catching anyone’s eyes-but it still happened-every 15 minutes.
I would dream of reaching the age of 40-simply to become anonymous.
That is why I disliked that 2pac video of guys cruising on the look out for a lone girl.
I have a great deal of sympathy for the victims of sexual violence and molestation, but I feel like someone should be making the point that pedophiles exist independently of provocative or titillating media.