Miley Cyrus stirs worry about sexuality, self-image

November 26th, 2008, 12:47 pm · 14 Comments · posted by Colin Stewart

‘MILEY CYRUS — 16 or 20?’ slide show

SEEKING ‘SWEET SPOT’?

Though superstar singer Miley Cyrus has turned 16, she remains a poster child for worries about girls’ sexuality and women’s quest for perpetual youth.

The latest example comes in a Chicago Tribune essay, where Anne K. Ream, co-founder of an empowerment project for “tween” girls, writes:

Disney star Miley Cyrus captured the muddled-up cultural moment we find ourselves in perfectly when she recently told Vanity Fair that “Sex in the City” is her favorite TV show.

A 15-year-old-going-on-20 follows the TV adventures of a group of 30-something women who look like they are not much over 20. In a crazy way, it makes perfect sense.

The adultification of young girls — and the youthification of older women — points to a troubling cultural fixation on an age and beauty “sweet spot,” that elusive place and space when women are, at last, “just right.”

The American Psychological Association has a name for this — “age compression,” which is defined as “a phenomenon in which girls are adultified and women are youthified.”

It’s an effect that boosts the profits of plastic surgeons and cosmetics makers, who benefit from women’s attempts to change what they look like.

According to the APA, the phenomenon can leave younger and older women unhappy about their bodies, with a higher probability of eating orders and depression, Ream says. She adds:

The realization — or rather, the belief — that at so many points in our lives the world wants us to be different — older and sexier, or younger and fresher — comes at a social cost. Girls and then women become so busy self-modifying or improving that little time is left over for learning or doing. We have the power to change the world, but it’s too often subjugated to the culturally constructed need to change ourselves.

What image does Miley Cyrus present?

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Stephen says:

November 26, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Miley Cyrus is the perfect role model for girls whose parents don’t mind if their daughters become sexually active before high school. Thank You Miley!

Luzy says:

November 26, 2008 at 4:18 pm

She’s playing dress up! You people have no life seriously if a perv looks at a 16 year old girl he’s gonna see her in a perv way no matter what she’s wearing!! She’s not dressed like a hooker, she is an actress/singer!! She has to dress pretty and glittery and cute!! ugh!! you people write informative articles noo crappy articles like this one…pluuzzeee….=P boooo!

kelsie says:

November 26, 2008 at 5:53 pm

I think people should mind their own buisness!!!!

Phil Peterson says:

November 26, 2008 at 7:11 pm

Miley’s parents have been successfully seduced by the money, and as long as she earns, they let her do what she wants. Ca’ Ching! And besides, Miley is just a mirror of most girls her age living in the USA: too sexual, too liberal, too superficial, too stupid, too sarcastic, too arrogant, and too full of themselves.

November 27, 2008 at 3:00 am

Luzy, you are clueless. It’s too easy to blame the men and label them “pervs” because their heads turn when an underage girl dresses like a tramp to look older. It’s about time parents, including that white trash Billy Ray Cyrus, start taking responsibility for their kids. Where was Billy Bob Cyrus when his daughter was releasing scantily clad pictures of herself on the Internet? Was he busy counting his money? Billy Bob Ray Cyrus is worse than a pimp, because at least pimps don’t use their own daughters. If you loser parents out there want to let your daughters dress like the tramps in Hollywood, don’t come crying to us when they get pregnant or hook up with much older men.

Mike says:

November 27, 2008 at 4:46 am

Get a life all you O.C. fake rich parents, have you been to a local Jr high or a high school. All kids dress like her even worse!!! Leave her alone.

Nicole says:

November 27, 2008 at 6:17 pm

Has anyone heard her sing lately? She sang on Dancing with The Stars, American Music Awards, and The Macy’s Day Parade. And she is AWFUL! Has no voice at all!!! She is a horrible performer. As for looking like a 20 year old…doesn’t every teenager try and look like 20? Go to the Spectrum on a weekend night and it’s unbelievable! As for her being 15 and dating a 20 year old….and how well would that go over if that was a regular 15 year old girl and a regular 20 year old guy…not too well! I’m sick and tired of these Hollywood people everyone looks up to! And why is the OC Register wasting their time in this. Add some substance to your stories…let the tabloids do the wasteless fluff….

Demvoter says:

November 27, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Not one of the 52 pictures made me concerned for her. the media, the press are the only things I would be worried about. The media will make a story out of her whether it is real or not. Todays mainstream media (including OCR sadly) has decided to compete with the Star, National Enquirer, etc. If it’s provocative it sells and if you buy it you are a part of the problem. Todays media has lost credibility and abused their freedom of speech. Taking that “freedom” COMPLETELY out of context. it isn’t freedom to lie or freedom to make stuff up or even print information from an “anonymous source”. The entertainment journalists are after Miley like a pack of ravenous dogs.

thefloyd says:

November 27, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Miley & Billy’s biggest concerns are the jealous people that insist on bashing them (i.e. Stephen, Holy c, dude) and the loser reporters that shadow her every step.

November 27, 2008 at 11:26 pm

I think this was deleted by the OCR. Touched a little too close to home guys? The truth can be painful, accountability can be even worse.

November 27, 2008 at 11:31 pm

What? Paris, Lindsey & Brittney aren’t providing enough scandal for you? Have to try and stir up some more yourself?

What? says:

November 28, 2008 at 10:32 am

It’s hard to sexualize a gopher…unless you’re into that kind of thing.

Troy says:

November 28, 2008 at 4:27 pm

I don’t care about the mini-skirts and the makeup and the trampy outfits with this one. What bugs me about Miley Cyrus is her voice. She’s 16 and she sounds like a 29 year old cocktail waitress from Reno just after a smoke break. Seriously, has Miley been smoking since she was 9, or is her voice really that deep and gravelly already?

Regardless of what she’s wearing, she already has the voice of a life-long smoker who has been around the block a few times.

Lakeisha says:

January 21, 2009 at 10:44 am

Miley is 16 she still need to find her style and experiment with different things .and im 17 so I know, although she’s a disney star she still need to experiment ,and as far as you guys saying she’s sexually active, so what most teens are, So Get Off Her Case Haters.

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