Photo: Singer Miley Cyrus in July 18 taping of MTV’s “Total Request Live” show, scheduled to air tonight.
Survey: What’s the youngest age that’s appropriate for a nude scene? (The survey was closed early Aug. 31 after being hacked by a small number of people who cast tens of thousands of spurious votes. Before that happened, the votes in this unscientific survey were fairly evenly divided among people favoring age 18, age 12, age 16 and age 21.)
Bizarre tale of the Miley Cyrus-related survey: “Adventures in Nude Miley Land”
“Lolita Effect” author Gigi Durham knows what she’s talking about.
The temptation to push sexuality on young girls is strong, in part because corporations know that it encourages women to spend money on Botox and other wrinkle-fighting products in pursuit of an unattainably youthful appearance.
The American culture of ever-younger sexuality is so pervasive that this week’s unconfirmed MSNBC report about singer Miley Cyrus, age 15, is only disappointing, not surprising. MSNBC’s Scoop says that, despite her clean-cut Disney image, Cyrus is hoping to land a lead role in the upcoming film “Undiscovered Gyrl,” with nude scenes.
That rumor feels like merely the next disappointing step beyond Cyrus’s semi-nude Vanity Fair photo shoot, which raised an uproar in April.
It also fits with Cyrus’s recent declaration that Madonna is her role model, although Cyrus referred to Madonna’s chameleon-like knack for reinvention, not her explicit sexuality.
Youngsters and adults are both losers as corporations seek to encourage and enhance even-younger girls’ sexuality, says Durham, who is a journalism professor at the University of Iowa.
In her book “The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls And What We Can Do About It,” Durham says the promotion of sexuality at younger ages began in the mid-1990s, aiming a a target “tween market” of children age 8 to 12.
That focus was motivated both because the “tweens” spend an estimated $170 billion a year, but also because it would encourage adults to spend more to try to look that young, she said.
She told an interviewer for the Toronto Star:
“It takes a lot of money in anti-wrinkle cream, Botox, diet and fitness product to look like a 12-year-old. There’s huge profit in holding up young girls as the beauty ideal.”
“It’s ridiculous,” she adds:
A girl has to have the anatomy of a sex goddess. The Barbie-doll-type body is, sadly, still presented as the ultimate, a body not found in nature, says Durham. The result: borderline starvation, plastic surgery and perennially dissatisfied girls and women.
What’s to be done about it? The seemingly endless stream of older actresses praising the looks of old age doesn’t hurt, but doesn’t seem to help much.
Durham urges parents to talk to their children about the images presented to them in commercials and cartoons. She also recommends the Web sites adiosbarbie.com (”A Body Image Site for Every Body”) and shapingyouth.org, an online forum focused on the media’s and marketers’ influence on children.
Toward the other end of the age spectrum, perhaps baby boomers will eventually get over their obsession with youth. But don’t hold your breath for that to happen.
- Margaret Cho tells how to learn to like your body
- Penelope Cruz wants to be a wrinkled 80-year-old (in 46 years)
- Lindsay Lohan and breast implants
For more on celebrities and cosmetic medicine, see the links on the right side of this blog.
I am so sick of the Miley Cyrus hype. When she turns into a Brittney Spears and makes a disaster out of her life I hope her dad will be satisfied. I think she needs to take a break and get a grip on reality. I don’t know maybe she should cash in now before the 12 year olds forget about her . ..and that will happen..
And another thing, watching her and her dad together makes me gag !
Wow, I think you have no idea what you’re talking about. Miley is a sweet girl with tremendous talent who made a small mistake that any teenage girl could do. The only thing that differentiates her from the rest is that it was so highly publicized and her “sweetheart” image was brought into question.
What she REALLY needs is to get out from under Disneys thumb.
And you’re right, hopefully the 12 year olds WILL forget her, the older she gets, the more she should be geared for an older audience.
I think that children SHOULD have good relationships with their parents, don’t you?
Wow and you think you know what you’re talking about?
Sweet Girl? yeah right all she does is appear nude everywhere or half dressed
Talent? In her dreams she has talent and her concert was…
but no i hope people forget about her she deserves it if she want to act like this
and she should have thought about her behavior when she became famous because do people really want their children to look up to her when she acts like that??
and yes kids should have good relationship with their parents
just because she wants to be in a serious movie with some nudity?
your saying you hope she ends up like britney spears!
wow the hype is annoying but i would never wish bad things upon someone i dont know or someone thats only 16!
the human body is beautiful and shes growing up who cares i dont know to many kids now days that dont do stuff like this!
shes just being a normal teen!
I certainly wish young Miley no harm but she does seem to be following the singing starlet pattern. The desire to stay in the spotlight pushes them to expose more of their bodies, get tattooed and implanted. When that doesn’t work I only hope Ms. Cyrus will keep her knickers on. Just look at Madonna at 50 years old and Cher at 65. They need to be half naked to get people to watch them.
Some of you are prudes. Get over yourselves. She hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s unfortunate that those pictures of her got out for the public to see, however she hasn’t done anything that any other normal teenager hasn’t done. Get off your soapboxes.
miley = girlpower he has a delicious body and she knows it
NEED MORE REAL 12 YEAR OLDS NUDE ON TV. QUIT TYPE CASTING 18+ TO PLAY THOSE PARTS.
i dont see whats so wrong. miley has talent, and can do srs business. not all of her acting has too be kid friendly. just let her do what she wants, and if thats a nude scene, fine!
Why is it that some people can’t appreciate the budding beauty of young actresses?
12 year olds are hot.
12 years old, seems kinda old doesn’t it?
Has anyone noticed that all of the votes say for the poll say 12…….
thats so messed up.
the thing that worries me the most is the poll
good to know i’m not the only one on this green earth that dislikes miley cyrus. her live performances are god awful
i’ll say what I have said for years and years…
Celebrities should do a final cashing-in on their popularity and get out of the business, ASAP.
famous people are known to die earlier and get caught up in drugs and such.
lindsay lohan should have stopped while everyone still loved her.
12 years, kind of old isn’t it?