She didn’t take the naked crotch shot herself, the paparazzi did. There were some earlier shots of her that suggested that she was wearing underwear that day (very thin white dress), so there was a lot of speculation that the crotch shot was photoshopped. Which is gross for many reasons, not the least of which is that she’s underage. But yeah, her album sucks.

hellcat on July 1, 2010 at 1:59 pm

1. She has No Talent.

2. She makes my skin crawl.

3. I hate seeing Celebs pimping out their children and that includes Will Smith;

4. She’s a HO, and a bad HO at that.

As goes Israel - so goes the World on July 1, 2010 at 2:02 pm

Note to Debbie Schlussel: This is the exact same sort of crap that has made (in recent years) people like Stephen Baldwin and Kirk Cameron laughing stocks, and in the past, Cal Thomas and virtually every televagelist of the 1980s. Yammering on about trivial social issues makes you look more like a comical angry schoolmarm than a serious reporter.

I would wager that not a single person who frequents this website has ever watched the Hannah Montana program (I sure haven’t) or is particularly interested in the career choices of former tween entertainers. Unless Mylie Cyrus is involved in some sort of Islamic terrorist plot, or at least has said something idiotic and anti-American, this subject matter is absolutely superfluous. I am completely indifferent on what type of music she records, or how she chooses to present herself to the public. As long as nobody is forcing me (or anybody else) to watch or listen to her, this person is totally off of my radar screen, and I suspect, everyone else’s.

For the record, I also don’t give a rat’s ass about Britney Spears, Christina Aguilara, Lindsey Lohan, or any OTHER former Disney child stars. They only briefly enter my consciousness when I’m waiting in line at the supermarket, and happen to catch a glimpse of one or more of their faces on the cover of some tabloid.

In order to get to this website, I always type “Debbie Does Politics” into the URL window. I’m not exactly sure how this falls under the category of “Politics.”

DH: My site is about politics AND pop culture (and anything else I feel like writing about). We are fighting a culture war in America, and we are losing it and our country. Cyrus is an American pop culture icon and a tremendous influence on American girls. Thus, she’s relevant for my commentary. Wake up. Islam attacking us isn’t our only threat. Our threats also come from within. DS

Daniel H on July 1, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Daniel H: My lack of interest matches yours. However, her story serves as a cautionary tale in many ways, and is thus, in fact, valuable. It reminds people, and hopefully the younger ones who peruse this site, that “doing whatever it takes” to become rich and famous is a sure path to disillusionment and disaster, insofar as becoming a healthy human is concerned. Buying into the uberprogrammed agendas of a sick society is not a prescriptioin for real “success” in life.

drakke1 on July 1, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Question: Is she a victim or a villain here? Hear me out – seventeen year old girls have been struggling to understand their own sexuality for ages. Now, at one point that was a relatively innocent and private process (I’m assuming – I wasn’t alive in the fifties). But at some point, with the commercialization of young women and girls’ sexuality, the process became super-public. Some of that is good – increased understanding of diseases, etc. But a lot of it is bad – specifically, stuff like this, where an underage girl is on a platter as a sex object.

So my question is: is this her fault, for pushing these images on us? Or is it society’s fault, because there’s a market for it in the first place? I’m just wondering if it’s appropriate to set up a 17 year old girl as scapegoat for a cultural phenomena that existed way before she came on the scene. I do recognize her part in it; after all, she IS on stage, and I assume she’s making at least some of the decisions herself. But I am 100% sure that she’s not the only player – I know you mentioned her father, but I would add her mother to that, as well as managers and higher ups, and also the people that watch and/or are titillated by this stuff. Lots of blame to go around, she’s just the public face of it.

hellcat on July 1, 2010 at 3:17 pm

Miley is a minor, so therefore, her untalented father Billy Ray and her mother are legally responsible for her behaviour until she reaches the age of 18.

To his credit, Bill O’Reilly has mentioned Miley’s moral decline in recent years. If you are looking for Sean Hannity to bring this up, keep dreaming. Miley can go into porn and Hannity will never say anything.

Antoinette on July 1, 2010 at 3:41 pm

I guess you can’t be slutty enough if you are too famous.

American Sabrah on July 1, 2010 at 3:43 pm

I’m glad to see her fail because I’m tired of yet another Britney Spears polluting the air waves.

It’s not just the trashy image I don’t like, it’s I’m hoping against hope one day I can actually hear people sing again and not hear studio magic and lip synched performances.

One caveat, hate to admit it, but I really like her “Party in the USA” song. So sue me.

Jeff_W on July 1, 2010 at 3:52 pm

I read this blog just about every day, and yes – I have watched the Hannah Montana with my daughter, and 2 sons, for that matter. A mildly amusing, entertaining show. My daughter is disgusted with Miley, and would never consider any sort of role model now. I just keep shaking my head, wondering how a father could promote his daughter in such an exploitative fashion.

I find it sad that Disney girls, who initially are role models to many kids, are almost guaranteed to grow up to be morally bankrupt.

HoustonSelgin on July 1, 2010 at 4:39 pm

Miley Cyrus is just another product of the Disney machine. Disney has been turning teen and preteen girls into sex objects for years. The girls put on skin-tight, revealing clothes with adult hair and makeup and do the hip-gyrating dances, stuff that was considered risque when ADULTS like Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson did the same just a few years ago. And all of the Disney TV shows basically revolve around one thing: dating.

People who ever considered Cyrus as a good role model or her show as good family viewing just ignore how often she wore outfits so tight that she could barely walk, the street-walker hair and makeup, or how the plot line was always some “love triangle” she and her friends were involved in. I allow my kids to watch the Disney networks for the cartoons and movies (their theatrical releases, NOT their made-for-Disney movies that have titles like “The Cheetah Girls”) but whenever one of their tramp parade shows come on, it’s time to turn the channel.

The irony is the only person who has called Disney out for the way that they exploit underage girls while hypocritically maintaining their family-friendly image is the creepy Megan Fox.

Gerald on July 1, 2010 at 4:40 pm

That was when she was a tween. Why is it when girls grow up, they become worse than the boys? In the old days, young women were more mature than young men. In our era, things appear to have taken a turn for the worse. And no – I would not raise a daughter of mine to be a slut.

NormanF on July 1, 2010 at 4:58 pm

And while the public has said “No” to Miley Cyrus, regrettably it has said “Yes” to Beyonce (who was barely a teenager when her Destiny’s Child group made its debut), Rihanna, Jessica and Ashley Simpson, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and many others who have been as bad or worse. If Cyrus isn’t selling, it is likely simply because the music is bad (even by contemporary pop standards) and she doesn’t have the looks or the figure needed to pull being a sex symbol off.

Gerald on July 1, 2010 at 5:07 pm

Feminism has resulted in the abandonment of femininity. We see tarts where we used to see ladies. And men want to admire women and be proud of them because they like to look up to them and be worthy of them. Its hard to do when women can no longer civilize the base impulses of men and show them how society benefits when every one behaves with class and grace. Which by the way shouldn’t be a gender issue but its about etiquette and manners, which is an art we have all sight of these days.

NormanF on July 1, 2010 at 5:29 pm

It is unfortunate that the state of the music industry is so bad today. So many people are thrust into the limelight and given playing time on the radio when they have so little talent.

The sad fact is there are many artists including many in rock and roll who have great talent but can’t get arrested as far as getting TV time or airtime on the radio.

These untalented girls have their songs remixed to make them sound good. Meanwhile they can’t sing all that well or write their own songs. most can’t even play an instrument.

spaceship22 on July 1, 2010 at 5:50 pm

NormanF:

“We see tarts where we used to see ladies.”

And before we saw adult tarts. Where Madonna was 26 when she had her first hit song, we are now seeing teen (Britney Spears 16 when she debuted as a sex symbol singer) and preteen (Miley Cyrus was 11 when she auditioned for “Hannah Montana”) tarts.

You mentioned the base impulses of men … it appears that these base impulses are being directed towards females that are younger and younger. It wasn’t that long ago when a grown man wouldn’t publicly admit an attraction to an underaged female. These days, the very cultural context why the movie “Lolita” was considered to be so shocking no longer exists, because men publicly openly declare their desires for underaged females, and because media companies – including “family friendly” Disney – markets these underaged girls to them.

National Review in the past claimed that this “teen girl sex symbol” thing is the result of delaying marriage and childbearing until mid-to-late 20s. What was promoted as a way to make sure that women and men were mature enough for marriage has had the reverse effect. Back when males and females aspired to get married at 18 if they didn’t go to college or at 21 if they did, then it caused teenagers to behave like people who would be holding jobs and maintaining a marriage and household and raising children within a few years.

But if you aren’t going to become a spouse or an (in-wedlock!) parent until you are 28 or 30, what is the incentive to act like a grownup? Answer: there is none. So, you have grown men sitting around eating pizza and playing video games with no social, cultural or economic pressure to mature. And when they do get married, because they have delayed normal development for so long, they can’t just change overnight and start behaving like an adult after all this time of being a child.

1 Corinthians 13:11’s “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” has no place in our culture. So women (and teen and tween girls) act like tarts because of a generation of man-child males that have no interest in ladies.

Gerald on July 1, 2010 at 6:23 pm

I am going to have one final word about this, and then shut up. In the dangerous world we are living in, one must choose one’s battles carefully. Here is a list of things I hate about our modern society, but you will never hear me complain about:

Tattoos
Pierced anything other than earlobes
Rap music (an oxymoron)
Death metal music (another oxymoron)
Hip-hop culture (oxymoron #3)
Graffiti (usually a result of Hip-hop culture)
Michael Bay movies
Librarians and school principals that speak in Ebonics

The reason you will never hear me complain about any of these blights on modern humanity, is because I recognize futility when I see it. They are all here to stay, and it’s a complete waste of time and energy to bitch about them.

Similarly, whining about underage female celebrities not dressing or behaving in an age-appropriate manner is not merely a losing battle, but a LOST one. Frankly, I don’t even think actors and singers that ARE well behaved should be held up as role models for kids. A child’s role model should be his/her parents, and to hand that job over to the likes of some teen sensation (or even worse, a pro athlete) almost always leads to disappointment (pay attention, I_AM_Me and HoustonSelgin).

And now, two predictions:

1. Sometime within the next year, Abigail Breslin will be photographed in an overly brief swimsuit on a beach somewhere, it will wind up on the web, and Debbie will go into yet another one of her predictable tirades like this one, and the one about Dakota Fanning last week.

2. 20 years from now, the vox populi will be digging back into the Schlussel archives and laughing at said tirade in the same manner that people now laugh at Cal Thomas’ tirades from 20 years ago about how Bart Simpson calling his father “Homer” instead of “Dad” alone is reason enough to not air the show during family viewing hours.

In short, no, I don’t care much for what Miss Cyrus is wearing in that photo, but then, I think that 60s futuristic style get-up would probably look pretty silly on a girl/woman of ANY age. She looks like she’s about to perform a lap-dance for George Jetson.

Daniel H on July 1, 2010 at 8:48 pm

Daniel….I’m 27 years old, so I’m one of the younger (if not youngest) person that posts here.

Now you would expect me to just bash debbie and defend Miley Cyrus cuz I’m apart of the younger generation x or whatever.

But no. Daniel, you’re not getting the big picture here. We’re talking about an UNDERAGE GIRL dancing on a pole like a stripper and trying to sex up her image. And this same girl is marketed to all girls in america, to try and be like her as their role model. That is exactly what it is here. You telling me you don’t find this disturbing, or smells of any kind of pedophilla?

This is pedophilla being exploted here and at some point you gotta put your damn foot down. I gotta ask…are you a parent? Uncle? Big Brother? Older Cousin? How would you feel if you saw your little daughter/sister/whatever looking like that or watching Miley Cyrus do those things on TV?

When you find a good legitimate answer, get back to me then and you’ll see why this is a damn big deal.

Squirrel3D on July 1, 2010 at 9:41 pm

She is one hot young lady and the sooner ya’ll accept that, the better. She is 17 and while you may see her as inappropriate, she really has not done anything illegal and morality is not yours to dictate.

Leave her be.

tallahassee

paul on July 1, 2010 at 10:27 pm

If I tripped over her in the street I wouldn’t know who she was and I only know the name because of the Hannah Montana series that she did or used to do or whatever. By the way my pet name for her is Smiley Myrus. I don’t care for her pathetic attempt at singing and I’m for sure not interested in watching her wrap her 17 year old body around a pole or something. Is it too early for her to just retire? Maybe go back to school and get an education?

kenny komodo on July 2, 2010 at 1:24 am

To Miley Cyrus…YOUR CAREER SHOULD BE HUNG UP AND YOU WITH IT DESTROYER OF AMERICA!

Bob Porrazzo on July 2, 2010 at 7:31 am

I dont know much about Miley Cyrus’ “Music”. I tried to watch the “Cant be tamed” video and had to shut it off about 10 seconds after she started singing. Years ago I was watching a Christina Aguilera “Concert” on TV with my daughter. I wish Christina Aguilera was even half naked because that would at least be a start. My daughter asked me why she was dressed like that and the first thing that popped into my head was “She’s doing it for the money”, but I could not say this to my daughter, so I said “I dont know”. I was watching “Will & Grace” with my daughter when the word “Vagina” came up several times. It seems pretty clear to me now television is not a safe place for children, no matter what time of day. If we do not take the time to raise our children the streets will do it for us, if the streets dont swallow them alive.

Barry on July 2, 2010 at 8:33 am

Lindsay Lohan in training….

Brian Cuban on July 2, 2010 at 11:49 am

I don’t know. Doesn’t it seem to anyone to be kind of weird to say in the same post that she shouldn’t be doing this because she’s just a child and then to say that how dare she do this, she should be a role model? Hard to have it both ways. The reason that there’s an age of consent, and that most people have a moral issue with the sexualization of people under eighteen, is because children under 18 are thought to not fully understand the consequences of sex, sexuality and (as it was put here) “tarting it up.” In short, they’re not intellectually capable of understanding the full ramifications of their actions, where adults are. So if it’s disgusting because she’s just a child, then we can’t really blame this fully on her (i.e, say she’s destroying America single-handedly) – because we’re implying that she’s not capable of understanding what she’s doing.

If, on the other hand, we say that this is all her fault, that she’s destroying America, a bad influence, a ho, etc – well, we’re implying that she knows exactly what she’s doing and is doing it intentionally, with a full awareness of the consequences. If so, that would make her an adult, right? In terms of maturity, if not legally. So, following that logic: as a fully cognizant human being aware of her actions, she can make these choices if she wants to. Do I agree with them? No. Do I want kids watching her? No. But you can’t get all up in arms about “What about the children? What is she doing to them?” without realizing the irony of the situation is that she’s a child, too.

hellcat on July 2, 2010 at 11:51 am

Do we have to use the vile, rap term “ho” as if it was an accepted term (and spelling?

Morality may not be one person’s to dictate, but it sure isn’t beyond the realm of commenting on when it’s defining deviancy down.

jen on July 6, 2010 at 11:43 pm

Re DS’s response t oDaniel H on July 1, 2010 at 2:44 pm: Islam attacking us has BECOME a threat from within!

Dernon Ruton on September 2, 2010 at 10:39 pm