Monday, April 28, 2008

Teenagers and sex, part... well, whatever part it is

In the comments from yesterdays post, Little Mary Sunshine discusses that she feels that the media holds much more responsibility in how sex is perceived by teenagers and she points to the fact that in this weeks Vanity Fair, Miley Cyrus does a very risque photo shoot and interview. I remembered reading this article about this today in which Cyrus claims that she is embarrassed by the photos and interview. She claims to not really have been aware of the photos and thought that it was an artistic shoot and now is embarrassed by the outcome and the interview. Now there are several issues with this innocence that Cyrus is trying to claim. First, the photographer that did the shoot was Annie Leibovitz, this is not some amateur or even just a staff photographer. Leibovitz is a world renown professional photographer, Leibovitz say that Cyrus was fully aware of the entire shoot and how all of the shots looked. Leibovitz says that all of the photos were taken using a digital camera and Cyrus saw all of the shots right there on the set. Second, when Cyrus says things like, "It’s my favorite show! I love it!” when talking about Sex in the City. And about her Disney show Hannah Montana, in which she plays a schoolgirl with a secret life as a rock star, is patterned after Sex in the City “Obviously not the scenarios,” she explains quickly. “But if you watch Sex and the City, like the way the friends are..." to an interviewer in Vanity Fair. You cannot then say that you are shocked and embarrassed by the interview, you supplied the answers and the quotes, hence you are responsible for your own words. And finally, does this look the photograph of a 15-year old and her dad?



This is a very adult picture that probably never should have been taken, but even if it was taken and you really wanted to make sure your reputation would stay in tact than you should not have Ok'd the publication of this photo. Also, most magazines do not want to get sued so they cover their asses pretty well and the layout and article was probably sent to either Cyrus, her father or some representative of Miley Cyrus to peruse, so now saying that they were unaware of what was in the article and that they regret it. It is now too little, too late.

There is obviously a problem with society when the type of questions that could be asked and the photographs that could be taken were asked and were taken. We need to stop hyper-sexualizing our celebrities especially our teen celebrities, but I guess this is just a pipe dream for me at this point.

6 comments:

Little Merry Sunshine said...

Thank you Boxer for discussing this Vanity Fair article. You did it in a much better way than I could have today.

Little Merry Sunshine said...

One other thing . . . coincidently, tonight on Chicago's ABC affiliate www.abc7chicago.com, they are doing a whole special on kids and sex ed. Ask Heather to record/Tivo it for you. Or it will probably be on their website later tonight or in the morning.

Anonymous said...

I showed Cupcake the picture and asked her what she thought. Her answer? "Inappropriate."

Fran said...

I asked my stepdaughter (11 and a big Miley fan) what she thought and here are her words (of wisdom):

"Um, like we are all people and kids try hard but make mistakes. Celebrities make the most mistakes and doing kinda dumb things for attention. They make really stupid mistakes."

This is from the kid who said this when I asked her about Jamie Lynn Spears "like sister, like sister! Ugh"

Our culture is so fucked. Kids are sexualized and we wonder why we have so many problems.

Brave Sir Robin said...

To me, that photo of the two of them was the creepiest of the bunch.

The other photo was artistic, and beautifully done. . . . BUT NOT IF SHE'S 15!!!!!!

FSM!!! I'm sorry, but how ironic that on the same day that Roger Clemens is vilified (rightfully so) for an "alleged" affair with a 15 year old girl we get America's arguably most famous 15 year old splashed all over the tubes in what can only be described as a "come hither" pose. No, I don't blame Miley, or the magazine, I blame her gravy-training parents who are using her as a meal ticket. Disney may or may not be sincere in their public displeasure of her photos, but you can't bet no one in the Cyrus household is upset about the publicity.

Congratulation Billie-Ray, not only did you give us the most noxious song in recent memory, you have given every pedophile in America a new fantasy girl to drool over. Are the Miley countdown to 18 websites up and running yet? I'll bet they are.

Yes, teens are going to have sex, I get it, but I can't imagine why any parent would want to see their 15 year old daughter in a photo that looks like she just scent the last hour being thoroughly romped.

btw - as I re-read this it occured to me that my Roger Clemens comment might be mistrued.
I think he did it.
He was 28, she was 15, she went to his room and they were involved in a long term relationship, but waited until she was 18 to have sex?
Please.
He is a piece of crap.

Brave Sir Robin said...

OK still not getting all the typos, that should be
"looks like she just spent the last hour being thoroughly romped."