CAN WE GET OVER MILEY CYRUS NOW?
BY: Christopher Mobley
Miley Cyrus. The sweet homegrown southern girl that your daughters ( and little sisters for younger generations) grew up watching on Disney Channel. Billy Ray Cyrus‘ little princess that was originally named Destiny Hope Cyrus because her parents knew she would be grow up to do great things. What happened? She decided to get a little sexy. Years later, she took it to the next level and became a little bit ratchet. Now after the VMA’s, it is official that she has taken it a step further. The question is whether this deserves more attention or if we should just stop caring.
Now we all remember when Miley Cyrus first started to become the wild child. Remember when she first started dressing sexy for her performances and magazine covers? Remember the penis shaped birthday cake? Remember the weed smoking? Yes, we all know that Miley Cyrus is a wild child. So why has she been getting a lot more attention lately than for her past acts of discretion? Because she has been getting hype from the Hip Hop community, especially after she started twerking. Some have even said that she has started “acting black” or becoming “ratchet. Remember other female celebrities, such as Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears, that grew up to become wild and/or sexual in the public eye? They weren’t considered to be “acting black” when they became sexual or started acting out with drugs. So why is it that Miley gets the label of someone who “acts black” or “ratchet”? Because she twerks, and twerking is something that only black women do? Is this why she is getting props? You know what, that does sound about right (no, not really).
A few years ago, Jamie Foxx joked that Miley Cyrus would “end up on the stripper pole” and had to apologize for it. It is very ironic how recent events played out and some people have even said that Jamie Foxx deserves an apology. But do you want to know who really deserves an apology from people? Rihanna, Beyonce and other female performers, especially black female performers who were judged for being too sexual in their performances. I really don’t think that Beyonce dancing in a sexual manner is anywhere near as bad as Miley’s on stage exploits with the foam finger during her performance.
It is understood that she is no longer a child and that she has the right to grow into herself whatever way she wants to. But why has she gotten more attention for her recent behavior and her twerking than her past acts? Is the reason that she has gotten more negative attention from one group and praise from another because she seems to be acting black and doing a “black dance”? So the real question is if we should keep on paying attention to Miley, or if we should just ignore this and stop viewing her negative behavior as a “black thing”.
