Opinion And Miley Cyrus: Why We Are Allowed To Have One

With the overdose of controversy surrounding Cyrus' behaviour, it's easy to wonder why we should continue to care. Here's why.

Terry Richarson

If you think that Miley Cyrus’ wild transition from child actress to adult celebrity is something new, you may have been living under a rock. We’ve seen this kind of harsh transition from names we all know. Not all of them have had a smooth journey. Despite her current success, it wasn’t all that long ago that Britney Spears was having a public meltdown. Clearly, Miley is following a pattern that many celebrities before her have followed. So, why all of the hoopla? Is it simply that our media has to grab onto anything vaguely controversial, in order to make money themselves? Or is there something different about Miley’s performance, that we should be talking about? I’d argue that yes, there is, but that is simply my opinion. There are deeper issues at work than just whether her performances have been in bad taste.

Did I enjoy Miley Cyrus’ performance at the VMAs? No, I didn’t. I also didn’t enjoy her ‘We Can’t Stop’ music video, or any of her previous efforts to distance herself from her image as a clean-cut child star. I found her wrecking ball-riding to be unnecessary and the photos that have surfaced from her shoots with Terry Richardson to be inartistic, and frankly, unnerving. So what? Does my opinion, which is shared by many, many others, mean that Miley Cyrus needs to stop her antics? Well, why should she have to listen to public opinion? She is her own woman, and she is allowed to do whatever she wants, no matter how unpleasant the rest of us find it. Being offended grants us no rights over her. While we can argue that a person in the spotlight should behave as best they can, because the world is watching them, that’s only common sense, and she doesn’t have to follow it. A lot of people haven’t.

We always have the option to just wait and see where this course brings her. After all, we’ve enjoyed the public downfalls of many who have done wrong in our eyes, including the aforementioned Britney Spears, but also of political figures such as Anthony Weiner. Should we be complaining about the chance to complain? Or is it greedy of us to demand that she change her behaviour? Perhaps it is wrong of us to reprimand her for not behaving inside the box that we as a society have defined.

I’d like to argue that while nothing new at all, the spectacle Miley has made of herself is not well done. I’d like to argue that she has been appropriating black culture to suit her own needs, without paying any mind to its roots, or why it exists at all. I’d like to argue that while sex sells, it’s not the only thing that does. And you know what? I can. Just as Miley Cyrus has the right to act in ways she sees fit, I have a right to have an opinion, and I have a right to be able to share it. And so do you. So does every feminist and every ‘feminist’, every mother concerned for her children, every person stuck in the fifties who wants us all to cover up our midriffs. We are all allowed to have any opinion on this, and there is nothing wrong with having one, or not having one. And we are allowed to argue against the opinions of others. There are many people on the web who are telling me that I shouldn’t be criticizing Miley’s performance because she is a woman making money in a man’s industry. Well, you know what? I can criticize it all I want. And I’d like to argue that I am not only allowed to criticize it because of free speech, but also because we need to.

There are holes in arguments on both sides of the issue. It seems ridiculous that every young woman should have to cover herself up and not show vast amounts of skin. But is it really anti-feminist to want her to do so? Let’s look at that particular argument. Miley Cyrus is a young woman, who, in an industry controlled by those who are not in her demographic, has found an enormous amount of success. According to many, I shouldn’t be getting angry at the way she is succeeding, simply because she is succeeding. And I’m wondering why this is also suddenly something new. Has no woman ever made money off of her sexual image before? Well, maybe this is different, because Miley has made conscious decisions to use shock for profit. Maybe this is empowerment, because she is taking control of herself and what she can do to the public. It could be, it could not be. Telling her that she needs to stop being so overtly sexual could very well be anti-feminist, but that isn’t the point that I want to make.

Why aren’t we allowed to argue about it? Why are so many of us shot down and called slut-shamers because we have a problem with the way she is conducting her business? Well, many can say that a woman who succeeds is a woman who is empowering our gender, aiding in the fight for female representation in the media, and should be praised. But if we give women a free pass simply because they are living in a man’s world, if we are furthering feminism by allowing whatever could possibly work to pass through without criticism, how are we proving ourselves to be equal? Are we so desperate that any woman is a good woman, as long as she is making her own decisions? Why are we allowed to call men out on their bad art, but not women? This does NOT give enough credit to our gender. This is saying that we need these concessions, that we need extra help, that we need the grace of the public, that as women, we should be allowed to act without criticism simply because we are now free to act. And that, in my view, is anti-feminist. How can we prove, to society and its males, that we are equal and as human as they are, if there is this need to shoot down any criticism to protect our precious crusaders?

So let’s keep the debate going. Let’s keep free speech and argument flowing, because we need to. We need to take a good long look at the environment that produced this behaviour, and why it seems to be the best option for Miley Cyrus. And let’s not say that we can’t criticize the woman herself, because coddling her is not doing anyone any favours, least of all Miley Cyrus.