Oh, look, it's a rant! Miley Cyrus and the VMA's.

If you follow me on various social media, chances are you've seen some comments from me already about the reaction to Miley Cyrus on the VMA's. Usually, when I take a stance on an issue, I can find someone who has fairly well articulated what I think. Tonight, I've found a lot of posts that get distracted. They seem to go along the lines of "We should leave Miley alone. She's an adult. But maybe it's actually because she's a child and doesn't know any better."

Y'all, maybe it seems different when you're 40, but I'm pretty sure 20 is old enough to make your own decisions. You may not like those decisions. You may find that the only way you can deal with those decisions is to say "It's okay, she's only 20." Miley Cyrus may have made the same decision if she was 120 with a lifetime of wisdom behind her. Doesn't change the fact that those are not your decisions. They belong to someone else and really, really don't affect you.

Other bloggers have thrown out the empathy card--"Imagine if you were a sheltered Disney star." I don't really love this approach. Instead, why don't we imagine that you've made a decision that not everyone in the entire world would agree with? Would it be anyone's business? Probably not unless that decision was to commit an act that is harmful to those around you.

So, so many blame it on attention seeking behavior. But honestly, what is pop music if not attention seeking behavior? Robin Thicke's use of mostly naked back up dancers is just as attention seeking. This is the VMA's! Not exactly a Sunday morning sermon. And anyway, what is so inherently wrong with attention seeking behavior? If she wants attention, that's fine! She can totally want attention. Why do we condemn her for that? Is she supposed to be sitting demurely in a corner labeled "Ladylike behavior"? What if it has nothing to do with us, after all? Maybe Miley just wanted to dance that way because expressing herself makes her feel good.

That smile just creeps me out.

Maybe it's because I don't have my panties in a bunch over Miley's dancing, but throughout the performance I was incredibly distracted by how creepy Robin Thicke was. He is almost twice her age and assumes a role of control as soon as he comes out on stage. The attitude of the performance is not that he and Miley are acting as equals in a duet. I get the feeling of a patronizing predator with a young dancer. I did find a few articles that found it similarly distracting--this quote from the Washington Post kind of covered it for me*:

While Cyrus was condemned for grinding on Thicke, very little criticism has been laid on the singer himself for his role in the performance. The nastiest of the comments have implied that Cyrus is somehow diseased because of her preferred dance methods.

The most annoying thing I've seen from the VMA feedback is the allegation that Miley Cyrus may have an eating disorder from MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski. Seriously? Honestly, she looks entirely too healthy to have an eating disorder. We see quite a lot of her in the VMA performance. Enough that you can see that her ribs don't stick out, that her hair, teeth, and skin appear healthy. She may or may not, but if she did, it would be a very private matter. 

Did this performance somehow harm you? Did Miley Cyrus make you a personal promise to behave in a virginal, ladylike manner in public for all eternity? Did you think her name really was Hannah Montana?

My only complaint was that Blurred Lines was even performed. Really hate that song.

*I don't agree with this article's take on the use of black back up dancers. The issue isn't that they're twerking, it is that they're used as props and side kicks, while the other white people in the video are treated as friends and equals. More about that here.