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Hypocrites
Posted under Rants, Women's Issues by Recovering Straight GirlSo Miley Cyrus did a photo shoot with Annie Liebovitz. So what?
I remember in the early 1980’s when the controversial Brooke Shield’s Calvin Klein ad came out. You remember the one? I remember my mother having a complete fit–not for moral reasons–but because she felt that is was exploitive to women. Since then advertisers have pushed the envelope as far as they can and every magazine displays hundreds of photographs of scantily clad young, young, young models in sexually explicit poses to sell their clothes.
Celebrities sell themselves and obviously it pays off for them. Miley Cyrus is worth over a billion dollars. A Billion Dollars. With a B. She’s 15 and has more money than most of us could ever imagine having in a lifetime–all for singing some songs and starring in a Disney tv show. I think less than her doing a photo shoot with Annie Liebovitz–the level of wealth that she has is more of an issue. Consumers are fine with handing their money over to her for their cable subscription, concerts, cd’s, and everything Miley that you can buy including clothing, purses, backpacks, books, magazines, and bandaids. Yes, bandaids. But, God forbid she pose for some photographs with a world renowned photographer that may be a little edgy. Teeny-bop-be-bop is valued. Being paid a billion dollars for it is valued. Art is not. Hypocrites. She’s selling–the American consumer is buying but she’s being criticized for selling. All hypocrites.
With all of that said. I need to admit my own issue.
This photo does not bother me as much-
She looks like she just got out of the shower. I don’t care for the lighting but I’m not Annie Liebovitz so what the hell do I know?
THIS photo–however–bothers me-
If it had been done with a 17 year old boy–it probably wouldn’t have bothered me. A fifteen year old girl with a 17 year old boy in a seductive pose is all over billboards and buses everywhere. Let’s face it, fifteen year old girls are sexual young women and they are used to sell products every day–no one seems to mind so much because we (we, collectively) continue to shop at the stores that advertise in this way. The fact that this photo is being done with her FATHER is what is bothersome. It’s provocative, it’s sexually charged and it’s with her father.
Amazingly, the only controversy that I have seen is people having a fit about the first photo and not the second.
Am I the only one who finds this odd? And a bit hypocritical.
This is a problem people. Annie Liebovitz taking some pictures of 15 year old Miley Cyrus kind of pales in comparison. But let’s all throw a fit about it, shall we?
Let’s be hypocrites because obviously it is what we in America seem to do best.
Short Update: I wanted to add to some of the commenters that I was not comparing the Brooke Shields ad to this–I was simply showing how as far as advertisers go–they’ve pushed that medium as far as possible. This is a type of advertising–it’s advertising Miley Cyrus–and is no different than the ads we thumb through every day.
I would also like to agree that it’s infuriating that Miley and her parents are “outraged” by these photographs. Hello? They were there–they were posing for them–I don’t think that Annie Liebovitz doctored them in Photoshop to reveal more skin.
The hypocrisy continues.
Well said.
I felt the same way about the picture with her dad, that’s just wrong.
Glad I wasn’t the only one feeling that the photo with her father was way off. Explotation of his child in the worst way.
I, too, had no problem with the bare back one but am completely appalled by the one with her father. It actually turned my stomach and really has me concerned.
The picture would be fine if her fans where teenagers, but most of the fans are under the age of 10. As for the photo of Brooke Sheild’s she was not a Disney star and the movies she was in should have been rated R.
Well, I agree on the father picture, maybe they didn’t realize how provocative she looked in that, but, actually, I think the bare back photo is not as risque. she does not look sexual in that one, more like a turn of the century Rembrandt subject. However, I see everyone’s outrage on this. You market yourself (on purpose) to five year old girls on band-aids and toddler bed sheets then act like your not a children’s role model. She is trying to have it both ways, profit from the youngest fans and appeal to the older ones. (guess she hasn’t made enough money yet) Now granted, it’s her choice to do whatever she wants, if that includes offending her main audience by posing in provocative ways… so be it. The people who are criticizing her should stop buying their daughters her merchandise. Personally, I think the fame has gotten to her and her parent’s heads… what magazine cover was that for? and posing for Annie L is a sure sign of fame. If she wants to transition to a more adult star, then go away for a period, then come back all sex’d up. Or maybe do what Harry Potter did and do a play with a nude scene.
L
Good, I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought the pic with her dad was a little off-putting.
My bigger concern was what the HELL is this Disney child star doing in Vanity Fair?
In my book and value system, Disney is almost as evil as the Texas cult and I don’t for a moment believe they (Disney) weren’t in on it and are the ones truly wanting to have it both ways.
I agree with the hypocrites analysis. We Americans love to be distracted by any sort of non-news to try to block out the bad news from home and abroad.
The dad shot doesn’t bother me because it simply looks like two narcissistic people who don’t really register one another–each is self–absorbed by just how good he/she will look.
And, umm, Lori? It was Danielle Radcliffe who appeared in the play Equus, not Harry Potter.
Would the pictures be less controversial if they had been taken next year when Miley is 16? Or in three years when she’s 18?
This is the first I’ve seen of the pic with her dad and you are right — it is really creepy.
I’ve only been peripherally following this story, but something just rubs me the wrong way about this. Could it possibly be that this isn’t the first time provocative pictures of her have come out, and back then she said it was no big deal?
Sorry, I’m not making much sense, but something here is just off.
We’ve got a thread going about it at my blog too. Both pictures bother me.
The first picture would not bother me, except for the fact she is a role model for 8 year olds. The one with the father…no comment.
As I look at that picture of Miley with her father, I imagine myself in a picture like that with MY father. NO FREAKING WAY! That thought is what made the picture creepy to me.
I believe that American’s don’t want to look at the real problems we are facing as a nation and this stuff is exactly what you and several others have said it is…distraction, pure and simple.
I agree with you (as I usually do) RSG. I find nothing offensive about the first photo but the ones (that is not the only one IIRC) with her father I find creepy.
when I first read about the controversy and looked at the pictures I thought wft?? I really did not understand what this is all about. In a way America is so prude, on the other hand the all the tabloids publish pictures of the starlets not wearing underwear ect. I guess we have a different attitude in europe, but I don’t think that picture is wrong. I think that her main audience doesn’t read vanity fair, so I don’t see that as a problem.
I agree with you that the picture with her dad is kinda creepy. the pose is strange, I saw it and felt uncomftable, but I can’t say exactly why.
what I do think is interesting is that Miley is “embarassed” by the pictures - she was there, she saw them, she could have said no. but now, all of a sudden, she doesn’t like them any more. I think that she should stand up for her decisions and not change her mind about something just because she gets criticised for it - you can’t always please everybody, but she should be honored to have taken her pictures by Annie Liebovitz. And I highly doubt that Annie Liebovitz took the pictures with her “naked” on purpose, because Annie has better things to do with her time than to “force” young girls to get “naked”. This is the same thing as with the other pictures of miley that leaked online with her in a “sexual pose” with a female friend. she’s a teen, so she should be allowed to experiment and she shouldn’t have to apologize for everything she does. at least she’s wearing panties!
Well said. I totally agree!
( I actually can’t add anything….that’s how much I agree! )
This is the first I’ve seen the pic with her dad, that’s just very creepy.
Her parents should be protecting her from this crap, not participating in it with her.
I’m with Corgimom on the dad photo — two narcissists who are there to promote themselves at the alter of the other.
As for the other photo, I have to say that what’s creepy about it to me is her skin color, the lighting, as you say, her expression, her weight. She looks like a corpse. Since when did looking like death become such a beautiful thing. She’s a teenager, she can still have a back, but she’s got to have some skin color. She looks livid and I mean that in the literal definition, as in the color of bruises. It’s just so ugly.
And believe me, I’m not saying that everything needs to be pretty all the time. I’m saying even the ugliest people have something beautiful. Why make pretty people ugly, you know?
I think what would have been interesting would have been a truly naked photo of a celebrity — a bare face, no makeup or photo retouching.
You nailed ALL that with a big ‘ol hammer! I can’t add anything to it, except an ‘ol fashioned “amen”!
hello did her family not do any research into the photographer??? They would have to live under a rock not to know who anne is. It think all the blame goes right back on them.
*nods head*
Sing it, Sister!
Very well-said.
Very well-said, indeed.
What I find really odd is that she published a photo of her and another girl sharing a twizzler on her MySpace page. This begat a whole slew of “lesbian photo scandal” rumors. She said that she published it, was ashamed of the behavior of the press (shock, right?), but even if they had kissed, she was not ashamed of it.
Yet, under Disney pressure, suddenly the photos she posed for are not okay? At what point were they not okay? When she stripped and strategically draped whatever it is over her body, or when it was taken?
And agreed. There are so many more things to be focusing on in our world than a tasteful photo.
I wonder what will happen to her in the future. I remember seeing Britney on Rolling Stone when she was, I think, 16 years old. I think it’s all a bit too much for a teenager, to be treated like an adult so early - the money, the fame, the press, the controversies. If Miley was a regular teenager she would be a freshman in high school. I think of my freshmen, who are mostly so immature, (I’m a teacher) and I just shake my head…
This is what we want our young women to grow up into, ‘things that look pretty?’
I am a high school teacher, and every opportunity I get I encourage girls to be what they want to be and to think for themselves. This objectification of women is insidious.
The photo with her Dad freaks me the hell out! The other one? Oh who cares, but why wern’t her folks with her when it was shot? They are acting all surprized by it.
Couldn’t figure out exactly what bothered me about the solo photo until I read Melissa Lion’s comment - eureka - it’s the coloring. Yuck. It reminds me of the “heroin chic” photos of 15 years or so back.
Aside from that, I would not allow a photo like that to be taken of my 15 year old daughter. To me, the minute a piece of clothing comes off, it is exploitive and yes, her age makes a difference. There’s a lot of maturation that happens between 15 and 18.
Isn’t it odd that Disney is acting like the parent here?
Thanks RSG for weighing in on this one.
The dad one is gross! This is my first time seeing the pics…ICK!
i’m SO glad i wasnt the only one squicked out by the photo with her dad… i was listening to the news the other night and they were discussing this, and i thought “ohh lordy, i wonder what kind of pics people are all in a huff over” and the showed the bare-back one first and i thought ~ “hmmmph. annie L does shots like this all the time.” and it wasnt upsetting or anything… and then they switched to the picture with her dad and i thought *ewwww* and it was all creepy.
The entire controversy seems pretty manufactured to me, really. Everyone is familiar with the old saw that there’s no such thing as “bad” publicity in Hollywood.
Should have thrown up a link or a pic of the famous Brooke Shields CK ad, though.
And are we all supposed to pretend that humans don’t have sex before they turn 18? OK, so I was 19 when I lost my virginity, but I think I was an exception. Let’s not forget that during the Dark Ages, humans only lived into their 30s. A childless woman in her 20s was probably considered an Old Maid.
How famous would Traci Lords be today if she hadn’t started her acting career before turning 18? Just wondering.
I don’t know..the dad one doesn’t really bother me. To me-it’s just that they appear comfortable with each other. There are some dads who are very close to their daughter’s (daddy’s girls) and they think nothing of being huggy/close etc. I didn’t ever have a close relationship with my own dad..but looking at that picture doesn’t really effect me. Sure we wouldn’t see Mr. Brady in a pose like that with his daughter Marcia..but these are celebrities–both dad and daughter..so i’m not really surprised -it seems like a typical celebrity shot.
I agree with the first one being no big deal, how ever the one with her father made me uneasy. Is he trying to be sexy? Also her arm is dangerously close to his crotch, they look like lovers not family… its creepy I agree.
I had not seen the picture of Miley with her dad before, but I wonder if the picture is “creeping everyone out” because we have all been sensitized to assume that ANY kind of “touchy” stuff between a father and daughter is subject to “suspicion”. Think what it means that we IMMEDIATELY think that when we see that photo. I think it’s really sad that we automatically “go there”.
I have not seen a lot of interviews, etc with Billy Ray and/or Miley, but the in ones that I have, his fatherly love and pride for her is obvious, and hers for him. I was very close to my own father, and while there were never any photos posed like THAT, we often snuggled on the couch, hugged a lot, touched a lot etc. all in love with NO “overtones” and today, that probably would have been frowned on at best.
Perhaps it was not the wisest choice to allow Miley to pose for the “bare back” photo, but it’s far from pornographic or even “risque”. She seems to have a decent head on her shoulders even at her young age, and at least her father is IN her life, which has probably helped her stay off drugs/alcohol, not pregant, and so many other things that other “stars” such as Britney Spears and Linsay Lohan have not been able to avoid for some reason.
I think it’s all a tempest in a tea pot. And, yes, I do remember the Brooke Shields ad, as well as all the ads by Kate Moss when she was in her teens, which to me REALLY looked like something out of a pedophile’s dream.
GG
AGREE x 10!
And….
1. Calvin Klein ads freak me out just as much.
2. Why are Amer’cans SO upset by nudity? (The Leibowitz variety, not the offender/victim variety).
3. What fantasy planet to we live on that we think Disney stable residents are “pure”? Wasn’t Lindsay Lohan a Mousketeer?
4. Makes me wonder if society has used entrapment and seduction and contributed to the creation of pedophiles…
5. Remember the words of POGO: We have met the enemy and they are us.
6. Or, alternatively: It’s not a problem that we have a problem. It’s a problem if we don’t deal with the problem.–Mary Kay Utech
Thought you might be interested in this: http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/04/30/miley_and_mindy/index.html
I thougth I had posted a comment yesterday…don’t know where it went.
I was agreeing with you. Then I pointed out that there’s a pic floating around of Hulk Hogan putting suntan lotion on his daughter’s ass. Talk about creepy.
I am SO glad you wrote about that picture of her with her dad. I saw both of them posted at the same time, and I immediately was “creeped out” by the one of her and her dad. Her alone? Whatever. But the two of them together? No thanks!
I agree with you. The second picture to me of Miley and her dad are the picture that I thought the controversy needed to be about not the cover. What did they think when posing for Vanity Fair, it is almost always very sexual. And not having clothes on what did she think it was going to be???
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