BY BECKY SHEASBY
I am sick and tired. Sick and tired of Miley Cyrus, sick and tired of the media’s over sexualisation of women, and I’m sick and tired of us as a society just soaking it in.
Today’s media culture has become increasingly saturated with women and girls being put into sexualized positions. The perfect and most readily recognized example is this entire Miley Cyrus situation. I know she has been the apple of the media’s eye lately, and thus, the apple of ours.
In her most recent music videos, Wrecking Ball and Can’t Stop, Cyrus is drenched in provocative themes, sexual dancing and just straight up nakedness. Most people were surprised at this sudden transformation from cute little Disney star to hammer-licking crazy person.
But is she a crazy person? I’ve heard every theory in the book. “She’s just trying to find herself,” “She just wants attention,” blah blah blah. Let’s be real for a moment though. Cyrus is a fully grown, mature woman. She has been raised in this industry and is surrounded by both female and male business people. All of them are conducting this charade right down to the strange money sandwich. Each erotic and erratic move she has made, has been intentional and for profit. And she’s undoubtedly making a lot of it.
Cyrus’s behaviour is unacceptable for a plethora of reasons, but a serious one is she is telling girls and women that the way to get attention and fame is to be selfish, strange and sexy. It is true that people can do what they want, but someone who is jabbing their personal image into the public eye needs to be aware of the impact they are having on society.
Cyrus’s actions are impacting the way young women seek attention and what they deem to be the “good life.” The simple fact that we eat this up and give into her business strategy is a sad reality.
By letting her crazy be the centre of our conversations and by giving her the publicity she wants, we are showing just how shallow we are. I would like to remind everyone that Miley Cyrus being completely inappropriate doesn’t matter. Her life is her life, not something that should rule our social standards.
So let the news be about the news. Let the media be about important matters and encourage moral standards. I’m sick and tired of soaking in everything else.
What is Journalism?