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Miley Cyrus vs. Vanity Fair: The British Edition.
When Annie Leibovitz’s picture of child star Miley Cyrus — aka Hannah Montana — appeared in Vanity Fair her tween fans - and their parents - went ballistic. The naked back, the satin sheet, the damp hair … how dare the innocent heroine of the hit series look so provocative?
Just like American girls, British girls also love all things Hannah Montana. In today’s London Guardian newspaper, Britain-based writer and feminist Germaine Greer took a look at the teenage star and the hoopla surrounding the photo.
She said the society has forever been training young girls to be manipulative and to exploit their sex. “From the time she is tiny, a girl in our society is taught to flirt. She is usually dressed like a mini-whore in pink and tinsel, short skirt, matching knickers, baby-doll pajamas, long hair falling over her face,” she said.
“She learns to court attention and, when successful, to hide her face.” She said that British model Kate Moss has been able to earn millions only as long as she could continue to project the body image of a 13-year-old.
Greer also said that sexually knowing 15-year-olds are normal. “No matter how much energy Disney - which makes the TV show Hannah Montana, in which Cyrus stars - might put into denying the obvious, 15-year-olds are sexually aware,” she said. “Any schoolteacher coping with a heaving mass of 15-year-old women knows that whatever their tribal culture or their religious affiliation, they are fascinated by sex. Girls’ magazines pay lip service to health and friendship issues: their real subject is boys.”
One mother quoted in the article claims that British children are less consumerist than American kids. But that the pressure is on for parents of children all around the world to keep them from commercial TV and from becoming obsessed with clothes and cosmetics.
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