What do you think of this Vanity Fair Miley Cyrus controversy? Apr 30th | filed in: News

Mention "Annie Leibovitz" and "Miley Cyrus" and you'll get my attention.
Of course, the name of one the most famous photographers EVER would pique my interest.
And, since my kids love watching "Hannah Montana," I took notice of the news lately.

Annie Leibovitz did a photo session for Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter, Miley,
for an article in the June issue of Vanity Fair.


Miley is 15.
Included in the article is a photo of her with tossled hair,
holding a sheet to her chest, with no shirt on.
This is nothing new. Famous teenagers have been flirty and provocative since I was a kid.
(Brook Shields was 15 when she did her "nothing gets between me & my Calvins" ad.)
Most teenage girls are desperate to grow up, loving anything sexy.
A parent's struggle to keep kids as kids is constant.

But this article in Vanity Fair reawakens the debate I have with myself regularly:
Am I prude?
Am I way too conservative, letting things like this bug me so much?
Am I just getting old?
Is my aversion to the over-sexualisation of kids a losing battle?

Sometimes I'll see something, and my first impression is strong, but my opinion changes
after some thought and consideration. That was not the case with this issue.

When I first saw the Vanity Fair image of Miley Cyrus, my first reaction was negative.
She's 15, she's not wearing a shirt, she's had a squeaky-clean image up till now,
and I didn't like this image of her.

Some people think it's beautiful, artistic, and a wonderful image of a girl
on the verge of adulthood. I agree it's a nice, artistic image, but she's still a child.

She and her family have the right to do it, Vanity Fair has the right to publish it,
and I have the right not to like it.

Now that I've really thought about it, and read the Vanity Fair article,
my opinion hasn't changed. I still don't like it. In fact, I'm even more convinced
that society in general is letting our kids grow up too fast.
HERE's a link to the article. I'm not posting the shirtless photo here on my blog

The article begins with Miley talking about how "Sex and the City" is her favorite show.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!! She's FIFTEEN! Sometimes I catch a rerun of that show,
and some of the scenes make me blush!

Maybe I'm a prude.
Maybe I'm too conservative.
But I don't want my daughter watching a show like Sex and the City at 15.

This has to do with photography and being a parent.
All of this made me stop and wonder what others are thinking.

What do you think?
To vote, you're going to have to make up your mind:
Is this Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair issue overall GOOD, or overall BAD?
If you have something to add, feel free to post a comment on the blog.
I'd love to know what you think, and I'm a big girl with a backbone,
so if you disagree, type away!!



~Carey