I'm sure that by this point, you have all seen/heard of what Miley did at the VMA's this past Sunday. Everyone and their neighbor knows all about it, and has some sort of opinion. I hate to speak up about something that is clearly a desperate grab for publicity, but I think it is a good time to talk about something that is really important to me.
Feminism.
Yup, I just came out and said I'm a feminist. You shouldn't be surprised, I'm clearly pro-female here. I'm all about equality and empowerment.
But here's the thing. I think the word empowerment has been misused and abused so many times by women in pop culture that it has become an oxymoron.
Take Miley and her very sad and desperate attempts to stay in the spotlight. Sure, she used to be portrayed as a sweet girl on the Disney Channel and now she feels the need to express herself as a woman.
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Since when does self-expression/empowerment mean demeaning yourself, and women in general, on stage in front of millions of viewers?
We live in a society where 1 in 4 women are still being raped. Did you know that many of these rapes are committed by a man the woman trusts? How is this possible?
Blurred lines, that's how.
Yep, I'm referencing Robin Thicke and his trashy song that strongly suggests that no means yes. I'm sorry, but there is nothing catchy about that. In fact, it is rather dis-empowering.
So on the one hand, we have a grown man suggesting that all women "want it" and on the other hand, a not-quite-grown woman (come on, she has a lot of growing up to do, clearly) prancing around in flesh-colored plastic underwear, sticking out her tongue between every lyric, gyrating, and rubbing her crotch on stage for the world to see. And of course, this was all on a channel whose programming is entirely aimed at teenagers, the (god help us) future of our society.
Let me break it down for you: the message these performers are sending to young people is that women are sexual objects.
I am not down with that. Hell to the no.
The message that we need to send is that a grown woman is more that her sexuality. A grown woman is intelligent and gets ahead by using her intellect and her talent. Anyone can gyrate half-naked on stage. But it takes real work to deliver a motivating speech, to save a life, or to build something useful.
So what I would like to say to Miley is this: listen to Ashton Kutcher's speech. You might learn from it.
For another interesting take on this whole fiasco, see this article.
I think it's time we start thinking about the media we consume instead of mindlessly swallowing whatever the Hollywood factory churns out.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Should I step off my soapbox now? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
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