Miley’s father has come to his daughter’s defense regarding the great stripper pole dance.
“I always tell her to love what you’re doing and stay focused for the love of the art and not worry so much about opinion,” he says.
I agree with what his beliefs in staying true to one's art.
I do think it’s important for a young girl to not glamorize being a stripper, too, but I stick to my guns in believing that Miley’s routine wasn’t meant to cause that connection.
And if people are so sure that’s what they see in that ice-cream cart pole and they are so upset and outraged by it, my real concern then becomes, what? The pole bothers you but the short shorts and the other innuendos don’t?
If we’re going to get all huffed up, shouldn’t we be more concerned by the overall message sent by sixteen-year-olds singing and dancing like this?
Shouldn’t we wonder what this tells us about the American youth culture?
What does this tell us about ourselves? About the importance we place on looks and sex and youth?
Isn’t Miley just providing the audience with what it wants and expects?
And aren’t we as adults in this society responsible for the culture we create?
Exactly - why is it okay for us to see young girls - heck, any girls or women - in short shorts, but it's not okay that we see them with alleged stripper poles?
ReplyDeleteI think the outrage that people have comes from the sad truth that kids don't stay kids for very long. And who's at fault for that? The media for jamming scantily clad women in front of us? Or is it the parents that let their kids dress like tarts in training?
The unfortunate truth is that human beings DO judge others based on appearance. And perhaps we have all come to associate short shorts and stripper poles with something more illicit than it really is.
Or perhaps we all yearn for more simpler times when kids stayed kids for far longer than they do today.
Good post! Let's revisit this one in a year and see how much further the mainstream media has pushed kids to dress, act, and behave.