Nothing new can be said about Miley Cyrus’ racy VMA performance, and the world is sick of hearing about it anyway. All six and a half minutes of uncomfortable dancing have been broken down, mocked and raked for deeper meaning.
The issue Cyrus embodied as she sashayed around the stage in latex is this: Girls can’t discern what it means to grow up today.
Cyrus has been grooming herself to step away from the Hannah Montana image Disney carefully constructed during her early career.
She took a flying leap away from that image with this performance, painting the transition to adulthood as one marked by inappropriate foam-finger thrusting.
While that might be true in some outstanding cases, young America has to know it’s not the norm.
The problem with being an artist today is the automatic position of power.
Artists become role models by default, and while they can dance with molly and be ‘bout whatever life they choose, their actions have a significant impact on young people watching with wide eyes.
We’ve all seen young girls dressed in too-small clothes, wearing more makeup than they could ever need. They learn their bodies are their most important tools. It’s media-induced behavior to be leaner, prettier and now sexier by age 20.
If young women can’t distinguish maturity from sexuality, we have a major problem on our hands. Both have their place, but they are not synonymous.
Growing up and becoming an adult shouldn’t entail sexcapading across the stage in minimal clothing, bumping, grinding and motorboating every sentient creature along the way. Outrageous, overt sexuality is not interchangeable with maturity.
Across the concert hall at the VMAs sat Selena Gomez, whose filmed reaction has circulated the Internet and, not surprisingly, mirrors that of the general public.
Instead of dumping on Miley Cyrus, we should turn our attention to Selena Gomez — if only because she is Miley-Cyrus-gone-right.
Both raised on Disney’s airwaves, both are known actresses and songstresses. The difference lies in presentation.
Gomez’s single “Come and Get It” is undeniably sensual, but at least it tries to be low-key. She wore plenty of clothing in the video, and the dancing isn’t all racy. She’s clearly not a little girl anymore, but she puts out the confident young adult vibe the world wants from Cyrus.
Perhaps a Disney starlet focus group would be beneficial, so delinquent peers could take notes from the valedictorians.
After all, it was Gomez who left with a Moonman — and her dignity.
Miley Cyrus is — and we may need to see the paperwork on this — an adult. Any girl navigating the years between child and adult needs a role model, but stars publicizing their own journey in terms of twerking and “ratchet” culture only serve to make it a hazier trip.
This is just one event, the culmination of a larger ideology being preached to young women. Growing up does not look like Amanda Bynes. It is not friends with Lindsay Lohan. It has nothing to do with Miley Cyrus.
On the backside of the VMAs, we know two things with clarity: The only blurred line that was executed successfully on that stage was the one between pornography and a duet, and Selena Gomez hired the better manager.
Katie McPherson is an English junior. Her column runs on Tuesdays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 9/3/2013 under the headline "More Miley: It can stop, and it must stop"
