No doubt by now we’ve all seen/heard/read something online about the Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke performance at the MTV VMAs this past Sunday. If you have no idea what I’m talking about and have been living under a rock, you can see the performance here.
To a degree, I’m tired of seeing social media posts about this event…but not just because it’s been over played and is now old news since it was almost a week ago, but because the “talk” is very one-sided. People are up in arms about how inappropriate the performance was, how Miley has hit bottom, how obscene and offensive her “twerking” was. All of those points may be valid, but it’s only a very small piece of the conversation. There is a much bigger issue to be conversing about.
I call bullshit on the general conversation taking place about Miley’s behavior on stage. There were music industry powers at be that gladly let this performance happen for ratings, etc. While Miley’s lack of clothing and strip performance did happen, the bigger conversation here should be about the misogynistic attitudes and acts of violence that are somehow considered acceptable by so many in our culture.
How is this whole “performance” and the discussions and outrage surrounding it simply about a girl’s sexuality and her behavior on stage? Oh, right…it’s not. As I recall, Miley wasn’t on stage by herself. However, she was on stage “twerking” with a man who is basically old enough to be her father (they are 16 years apart…he totally could have a kid her age). You’re going to try to tell me that no one at MTV knew what that performance might look like before it happened live?
The jam is catchy, and I like the musical composition of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” but have you actually listened to the lyrics? I can’t play the song with my kids in the car because it is beyond inappropriate. Yet somehow the fact that Thicke felt the need to thrust his pelvis while Cyrus twerked isn’t problematic for the majority of people talking about the VMA performance online. T.I. rapped about things even more graphic and misogynistic than Thicke dreamed of and no one seems to care about that, either.
Until men and women both take a stand to change our culture, misogynistic attitudes toward women will not go away or be changed. Girls have sex, they’re dirty. Men have sex, they’re just being men. There’s nothing equal about that. Until we change our behavior and attitudes toward objectifying women, our culture will continue to reinforce misogyny as acceptable behavior.
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I agree and said as much on my Facebook status. Yes, like you I am sick of seeing it but still posted about it myself. ha.
I waited until today to post, but I still posted. 🙂
Of course MTV knew about it – this stuff is ratings/PR gold! Somebody probably got a promotion because of the whole thing.
As for Robin Thicke not taking as much heat, I think it comes down to a few things.
1) His video has him dancing with naked women. So where is the surprise when his performance does too?
2) He’s an adult. A grown up type person behaving in a sexual manner is far less “shocking” than somebody who isn’t old enough to buy her own beer.
3) He’s a far more passive participant – he’s basically standing there. If anything it looks like Miley is doing something TO him.
Personally I have no issue with women owning their sexuality or incorporating it into their performance – Madonna has been doing this for years and I’m a big fan. The issue here was the hint of desperation and over-the-top lewdness that made the whole thing sort of sad and uncomfortable (honestly I thought Robin looked uncomfortable too?).
And I think the real story is – what about the racist tones in the performance? You have a skinny white girl surrounded by curvy black dancers – at one point she smacks one dancer’s ass. Clearly the dancers were all hired for a consistent “look” – no white dancers, no thin dancers, just curvy black dancers. Then Miley goes and tosses one dancers salad (implied). Ugh. That whole thing bothered me more than the ridiculous tongue and foam finger shenanigans.
Sorry for the long comment – I wanted to jump on this too but it’s not appropriate for my blog so I’m co-opting yours a little 😉