Too far?
What do you think? Is this art or too suggestive for a 15-year-old?
One thing I don’t buy is that her management didn’t know how Vanity Fair was going to present her. When I worked in the business, most of the higher-end artists’ managers had control over how their artist was portrayed. Magazine editors knew that if they didn’t work with them, the management’s other artists would never work with that magazine again.
I don’t know. I think it’s time for Miley — well, those controlling her career — to step back and re-evaluate what they are doing here. She is still a minor, after all.
Some comments I have read say that she looks a) like she just had a romp in the bed, b) like she’s been on a heroin binge for a week, and c) artful & tasteful.
My 7-year-old daughter’s statement is: “She’s too young to be having pictures done like that. I don’t think that Billy Ray would let the people who took that photo do that, because she’s too young. She said in that interview (with Barbara Walters) that she didn’t want to be like Britney Spears, and now she’s doing it right there. Did she lie? I still think she’s too nice to be doing that stuff!”
What say you?
Edited to add: This post by Jamie Lee Curtis is worth the read.
Filed under: Current Events, Parenting, Pictures, Sex & Sexuality, TeeVee | Tagged: artist management, Billy Ray Cyrus, exploitation, Miley Cyrus, Vanity Fair
I say we care too much about things that don’t matter. It would be nice if things that actually mattered got as much coverage as this non story.
Thanks for your comment, Jon, but for a parent, this is hardly a non-story. You have young girls looking up to her who are easily impressionable. That’s how it is…
Wait, is this the Jon Henshaw blog or the Ginger Snaps blog? Just checking.
It’s not exactly a non-story because this is Britney Spears deja vu. Why our society insists on sexualizing young girls and ruining their lives through that is beyond me.
This CHILD (yes as a mother and now new grandmother, I consider her a child still) had parents/handlers/managers all on scene at that photoshoot with her. In this digital age, the photos were immediately viewable and I’m sure Miley’s ‘people’ had final approval prior to press. I think this is a case of them getting negative feedback they never expected and they’re now scrambling for damage control. Annie Leibovitz is famous for her provocative photos, so I don’t think that the Miley camp can call ‘foul’ on this one. I agree that she looks like she’s just had a romp in the sack in the photo, definitely inappropriate for a 15-year-old. My co-worker is concerned about the impression this is going to make on her 11-year-old daughter and is preparing to have a talk with her about it this evening. It’s sad.
Looks like Billy Ray’s pimping out his daughter much like Joe Simpson does with Jessica and Ashley. Shame on him, shame on her management, shame on Annie Lebowitz and shame on the editors of Vanity Fair.
They all know what they’re doing.
Is this art or too suggestive for a 15-year-old?
I vote for both.
Anyone who lets Annie Liebovitz take his/her picture ought to know what’s going on; she’s only been doing it for 40 years or so. She’s a revelatory photographer in all senses of the word. She’s got a real Jacques-Louis David thing going in this picture — the white tones, the draperies, the flowing hair — wow. But that red lipstick? Changes it all, makes a comment that I’m sure the young woman wishes hasn’t been made in public.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Death_of_Marat_by_David.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Napoleon4.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Madame_R%C3%A9camier_painted_by_Jacques-Louis_David_in_1800.jpg
15 years old is a legal child. The photos show nothing to be shocked about. Is it suggestive? Sure. I wouldn’t get too worked up though. Also, why is it news?
And I still don’t know who she is.
I think they know what they are doing as well.
It’s a business to so many people,these girl teen stars, but the reality is that the parents would have to be there because of her age.
She’s doing what they are telling her to do. She’s like every other 15-year-old.
It probably seemed like a good idea at the time to them but her admonishment of the pictures this morning seems like a marketing nightmare.
Going to listen some Dylan (as I’m showing my age today.)
My two cents.
In an age of “no publicity is bad publicity, I agree with Lisa and Frank S.
I saw a tape of The View from this morning where the ladies were discussing it - I think I saw it on Perez. Anyway, Whoopi Goldberg, one of the ladies, has been photographed by Leibovitz (very iconic image, actually) and set the record straight.
She said that AL lets everyone in on what’s going on and that she shoots digital and the photographs are viewed then and there. The shots being used by Vanity Fair were approved by the people on set, otherwise they would have not been released.
As for the question as to whether it’s appropriate, hell no it’s not appropriate. She looks like she should be on the cover of “Lolita” - and Whoopi also made the point of “What is she doing in Vanity Fair ANYWAY?” - her fanbase is more Tiger Beat than VF.
I blame the parents and the handlers as she is below the age of consent.
Mr. Mack, ask SuperMousey who she is…she can ‘asplain.
Tits or GTFO, Billy Ray Jr.
Seriously, she’s 15, but in another few months when she turns 16 she’s legal in England to do topless photo shoots. If her handlers/father/guardian was there to supervise it, there’s nothing wrong with a little skin. The nude scenes from American Beauty both featured 17-year-olds. It’s Vanity Fair, not Shaved Beavers.
Bad for her image? Meh, we’ll see. She won’t be able to live off Disney forever.
Ron, just wait until you have a little girl. You’ll be singing a different tune.
Ick, Ron, that’s a sickening comment.
My young nieces look to Miley as someone they like to emulate…and this certainly doesn’t fit the Hannah Montana image that they believe in.
It appears that she (or someone) has decided that it is time to change her image. If that is indeed the case, it is time to say farewell to her younger audience and parents who prefer not to send mixed messages to their children.
I hate all marketing of children and thanks for making this an issue.
she’s too young for that picture. come back when you’re an adult
I’m so behind the times and out of the loop I didn’t even know who it was. Once I saw the name, I do know who she is (but not true of most kid stars these days).
I dunno, I lean towards the “too suggestive” but - while I don’t agree with all he says - Ron does have a point. In Europe, the UK, etc. - few would be batting an eyelid over this photo, and as it is, Americans are constantly made fun of about how uptight we are when it comes to sex and other adult issues (alcohol, etc.), and 16 is considered adulthood in most of those countries.
I’m not saying anything’s right or wrong but just pointing out that part of what Ron said is correct. Most Americans would be offended and appalled by commercials on prime time TV in most of the rest of the world’s English speaking countries and others.
I do see both sides tho and do see it from the standpoint of her being a role model for young American girls and all that, certainly.
She’s too young.—Period.
Innocent enough. Resembles a museum piece, I’m sure that’s what they were going for.
Society isn’t to blame. Parents know for themselves when to pull in the reigns.
I’d probably say, “Uh, no, try another pose, dear” but I’m not Mr Cyrus. My daughter is not paying my cell phone bill (ha, see hip hop writers watch CMAs too). Nor is she born yet.
At first glance I typed “oh bloody hell who cares.” Then I reconsidered. lol
Oh, Come On People! This is a very staged media event, with built in “controversy” - just as proscribed in the formula used over and over by people in the Entertainment industry.
Really, just think about it. Did you see the picture and get outraged? Or did they apologize first, so to get you to go look at the picture?
It’s a beautiful picture. She is beautiful. 15 year olds do a lot worse than this, and no one makes a fuss.
ha, see hip hop writers watch CMAs too
You read it here first, folks! And yet, you’re still cool enough not to know that it was the CMT awards, not the CMAs. Excellent! lol
I’m with Kein on this. This is just brilliant marketing as far as I’m concerned.
Also, I have a 4-year-old daughter who unfortunately knows all about Hannah Montana. My daughter doesn’t read Vanity Fair – a magazine for adults – so she probably won’t see the image. Oh wait, unless it’s unavoidable shown via every media outlet possible…
Not to mention every grocery check-out that your 4-year-old happens to be at for the next month.
It is a beautiful photograph and would be a lot more palatable if it was a WOMAN and you didn’t KNOW that it’s a 15-year-old kid.
I understand that my daughter is not a ’star’, but if she had taken a photo like that at age 15, I would have made enough ‘fuss’ for a hundred moms. And I don’t think the ‘average’ parent would consider that an appropriate photograph of their 15-year-old daughter, but, hey, maybe I’m a prude.
Yeah, she could do a lot worse, but she could do a lot better too, particularly since her target audience (it seems) tends to be even younger than she is. I don’t hear the 15, 16, 17 year olds talking about Miley Cyrus, generally it’s the 6-14 crowd from what I can tell (my 8-year old stepson watches Hannah Montana). It’s a very provocative pose and I just don’t think it’s age appropriate for Miley’s audience.
It’s wrong.. There is no gray area for “art.” She’s a minor and it’s wrong to take sexual pictures of them, even more wrong for the parents to allow it.
There’s another photo which is equally disturbing that has her laying across her father at an angle that looks like a lover, not a daughter.
Like someone else said, Billy Ray is pimping out his daughter.
The phenomenal and peerless Annie Lebovitz should be ashamed of herself for taking these photos.
Just wrong. To be clear, right now there are pedophiles jacking off to that photo.
Wrong wrong wrong.
It’s a very provocative pose and I just don’t think it’s age appropriate for Miley’s audience.
Excellent point, Lisa…Miley Cyrus’ target audience is supposed to be the pre-teen age group. So, first of all why is Vanity Fair even interested in covering her?
It is indeed a beautiful photograph…if it were of a woman.
It worked, though.
We’re all talking about it.
Indeed!
We’re all talking about it.
I’m glad, because I think it’s important that we are discussing things that affect our kids.
Ginger you are absolutely correct. Miley is a role model to many young girls. This is not the image parents want their preteen daughters to want to emulate.
Yeah, she could do a lot worse, but she could do a lot better too, particularly since her target audience (it seems) tends to be even younger than she is.
Think of it this way: at least she’s not a Vanessa Hudgins.
Also, Ginger, because of Babysnap’s age, and her seeing those pictures, you should explain to her that Miley is fifteen years old, and was taking a picture. It wasn’t supposed to be splattered all over the media; it was just for a pretty picture.
I really like the picture, honestly. Very pretty.
Of course, I hate the “safe” pictures she takes.
I thought she had no idea how to model, but I was proved wrong. That is a very pretty picture, and despite my disliking for her music, I feel that Miley should be given another chance.
SuperMousey, I’m so glad you chimed in!
Yeah, I explained to BabySnaps that this was for a magazine. She has her opinions, though…I remember her telling me when she was 5 that what Britney Spears was wearing once was “inappropriate.”
As for Miley knowing how to model, I think that Annie Lebovitz could make me look like a model. She’s an amazing photographer.
I just…I dunno…as a mom, I really wish these girls who are child and teen stars would wait a little longer to start trying to be all sexy. It’s a heavy burden for them to have to be role models, I know, but on the other hand, it’s what they signed up for, and Miley herself has said that.
What kind of TV shows and bands are you interested in now at your age?
Considering the magazine and photographer I am not really surprised. I’m sure they thought that this would be fabulous exposure, no pun intended.
Now my 5 1/2 year old daughter loves Miley/Hannah Montana. But she’s not sitting around the house flipping through the latest Vanity Fair.
It could be much worse. It’s actually a beautiful photograph BUT she is only 15. I think they could have waited until she was 18 for the Vanity Fair spread. But who am I to judge. As far as “Hollywood” families to, they seem much more stable than the Spears. Let’s hope that is still the case.
Good photographers can do that, I guess, Ginger.
You once told me that hormonal changes occur at that age, and Miley might have some of that. Girls MY AGE are already doing that.
I watch MTV shows, and Panic!at the disco, Green Day, Avril Lavigne, and Red Hot Chili Peppers are my fav. bands.
Yes this was a little to much. My question is how do you not know what your doing when taking a pic like this? Was she drugged or something to not notice she is half naked?
Okay, here’s another thing. Role model, get over it, she was a cute Disney character as a young actor, now she is a teenager seeking to broaden her career in the acting profession, still an actor. Not a role model. What are you raising sheep to model themselves after actors? It is the parents who need to grow up. The kids probably already know this. Mommmmm!
I think all of this happened because her dad is a washed up country star and she’s his meal ticket. Nothing sells better than a controversy and they’ve certainly succeeded in this one. This will probably be one of the biggest selling issues of Vanity Fair. I think Billy Ray sees this as a way to push her in the direction of an adult star so that her career doesn’t fizzle like his did and lose his cash cow.
“The phenomenal and peerless Annie Lebovitz should be ashamed of herself for taking these photos.”
Personally, I think there should be a law against such a thing (if there isn’t one already).
Imagine, carting people like Lebovitz off to jail would put an end to such marketing gemics pretty quickly.
her father is getting just what his has been ego needs attention
She’s got to break out of the teen pop mold because if she waits a month too long, her career matches her father’s career. In that she makes a big splash and fades away. Even though she’s relatively young, before we know it she’ll be 18 and have to compete with real singers again. Disney won’t own her forever and the first step to being taken seriously is to start trying to be an adult. Her current audience WILL move on in 6 months, and I guarantee you her father and her handlers know that.
If you hadn’t told me she was Child of the Mullet and 15, I never would’ve guessed either of those things, and that’s the point. She’ll have to stop being Hannah Montana and start making her way as herself, not as her own Chris Gaines sooner, rather than later. She’s got to do it NOW while people give a damn. Otherwise she’s Pokemon.
She’s not naked; there’s nothing exposed. She’s not showing us her butt or making a slutty video or walking around with no underwear on in a short skirt. She’s showing a shoulder and looking suggestive, which is a far cry from looking explicit. She didn’t make a lesbian vampire movie or marry a back-up dancer. There’s a lot worse things that she could’ve done aside from letting one of the best photographers in the world take her picture for the cover of an upscale magazine that does this all the time.
You could argue that the photo is passe, considering Katie Holmes did basically the exact same photo shoot but color and in the daylight, but that’s a digression.
If she waited another 3 years to do this, until she was 18 as people have suggested, she’d be a lot more naked to get this level of attention. Think less Vanity Fair, more Playboy. Will this move her into the adult market? No, not yet, but it’s a good start. Vanity Fair isn’t exactly Mother’s Day. If she can follow it up with an album for teenagers (if not an album for grown-ups), that’d help.
That’s basically as much coverage as you get on a prom dress, so the big furor is that it LOOKS like she’s just wrapped in a sheet (she’s not, she’s dressed and outside) and that she’s got lipstick on and windblown hair.
Well there is no law against taking photos of someone at any age. Is the picture suggestive? I mean she’s 15….so no I don’t think so. I don’t look at a picture of a 15 year old, especially Hanna Montana, and get fired up. It’s a free country, she and her father know the consequences of their actions…then them do what they want. It’s not any of us that are affected by the outcome.
Her publicity managers are setting her up to become the next Lindsay Lohan or Brittany Spears. She will now be consumed by the paparazzi and slaughtered on the altar of success. Her Dad should intervene now before it’s too late.
Or maybe she’s going to become a legitimate actress like Mandy Moore. Don’t lump her in with Lohan and Spears until she gets a breast enlargement and a coke problem.
I’ve already posted on this, but I truly think that it’s a nice picture and is not overtly sexual to me. She shows her back and that’s it. Those of us who look at the sheet and think she looks like she’s doing something else are the ones with the dirty minds.
As for the role model thing, the real role model for the little kids is Hannah Montana. Miley has stated plainly that she’s trying to separate herself as a person from that persona. I’m sure that’s why she’s been going for the interviews in adult mags. Unfortunately, this whole controversy has driven it into everyone’s heads that she’s 15 and is a kid and should be forced to be like all other kids until she’s 18 and is then legally permitted to shave her head, flash her cooch and act like half of everyone in LA.
Hopefully she’ll shave more than her head if she’s going to flash her cooch.
Shes 15, not 8.
man, most of these comments have me worried. How Puritan can you get? Her back is exposed and that’s all. We have daughters wearing dresses that expose as much. We have our kids wearing swim wear that exposes much more.
A lot, if not most people, lose their virginity at her age anyway.
Time to let go of the child and say hello to the woman.
A beautiful girl. A very good photograph. I have seen girls of this age in a swimming costume exposing this amount of back. And seen girls of this age from the local school, once out of the school gates arrange or change their clothing to display cleavage. It’s both art and sexy. Until she becomes of age, look but don’t touch.
[...] To Add: Ginger’s got a good conversation (and a copy of the image) over at her place. The only thing I see people ignoring is the Disney [...]
Here’s the thing that I’ve been mulling over in my head this morning:
I think what is different in the case of Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana is that from what I can remember, I don’t think that before her, there was ever a real-life younger teenage girl who was marketed directly to the 6-14 age group. When I was a kid, we had cartoon characters.
Britney Spears was always marketed to adults once she made records and her career exploded.
Dana, I have to disagree with you that it has only been “Hannah Montana” marketed to the kids. I think that if the show was off the air already, I’d be all up for this kind of marketing of Miley. However, the show is garnering higher ratings than ever, and it is her concerts — the “Best of Both Worlds Tour” — that is still being marketed to the pre-teen crowd.
So, see…regardless of what she’s trying to do now, she’s made her bed so-to-speak…until Hannah Montana is no longer in production, I think it is fair to expect her to continue to be considerate of her young audience.
I have little to no opinion on the photo itself or the way this situation came to be. I can’t even say, “If it were my daughter that wouldn’t have happened!” because honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what the reason or rational or thinking that went into having those pictures done. No, I don’t really care much about the photo. I’m more concerned about the whole “role model” thing. And Ginger and I disagree a bit about this but I’ll say it anyway and hope that I don’t rub anyone the wrong way! (This is a comment I left at another blog about the same topic):
“Why does she or any of the others have to be role models? We’re the parents! We have the say on what they watch and read and listen to, at least for now. Take advantage of that!
I’m not a perfect parent and I’ll never claim to be but I’m glad to say the we have nothing “Hannah” in our home. Instead, my daughter thinks her sixteen year old cousin who loves to read, plays the trumpet and wants to be a marine archaeologist, hung the moon! That’s a real role model.
Yes, my daughter knows who Cyrus is, as well as the HSM cast but when she talks about what she wants to be or what she wants to do it bears little resemblance to what she sees on television.
I don’t mean to sound preachy or like I’ve got it all together as a parent because I don’t. It’s just that stuff like this drives me crazy. And I know that all this could change for us. Right now, she’s going on 8 years old and many things are still in “our control”. I know that will change. That’s why I really want to lay the groundwork now for when the time comes that I can’t make even small decisions for her like what she watches on television and who she comes into contact with.”
I know that Cyrus is considered a role model for her fans and that millions of kids (girls AND boys) look up to her. I think that if parents are concerned about this recent development, then maybe it’s time to find a new role model, hopefully one whose image isn’t “handled” by anyone. And I would venture to guess, I could be wrong in some cases, that if you asked this demographic who their role models are, Cyrus would not be tops on the list. She might make the list but my gut feeling is that teachers and coaches and parents would come to mind first. They know what’s real and what isn’t.
I think a lot of 15 year olds have provocative poses of themselves on cell phones, myspace and the like. If their parents saw those shots - they’d be just as outraged as Miley’s parents are touted to be. I think most teen girls - famous or not - love to see a photo of themselves looking beautiful. They are starting to discover the power they have, their sexuality, etc.
I’ll be the first to admit - I’m not a parent. But a lot of parents out there don’t give their children the values and ideals that previous generations of parents have. Maybe some of them should be telling their children what they expect rather than having them idolize/emulate a girl, who despite her corporate grooming, is only fifteen, and like most teenagers, makes mistakes.
As far as the magazine is concerned - whoever booked the gig has some accountability here. Vanity Fair and Annie Liebovitz are both known for their work. Did someone in Miley’s camp not think this through?
It’s frightening that Mack, Kevin, and I are all on the same side of this issue. Very frightening. Everyone be on the lookout for plagues and locusts.
Kate, they thought it through. This is EXACTLY their goal. Adults are talking about Miley Cyrus in a serious way, even adults who otherwise wouldn’t care about her in the slightest otherwise (for example, me and you, who don’t have children). This is the first step to her moving into the world of serious (or at least more grown-up) pop music.
The hand-wringing from the Cyrus camp is all for show; it’s an attempt to continue to draw off the tween audience until they’re able to make the leap out of that pool entirely as those tweens grow up. Her audience won’t stay 8-13 forever, but they’re such a big spending block that it’s impossible to just outright abandon them. She’s merely moving up in age range as her fans grow up and the younger kids latch on to whoever Disney promotes next.
Both her parents were present at the photo shoot and (along with her) approved each photo taken. Whether or not anyone thinks the photos are age-appropriate, good for her career, a proper model for younger girls, or whatever, at least get the facts straight.
Actually nm, the parents were not there for the “final shot”…but there were caretakers there:
(From People Online)
“Britney Spears was always marketed to adults once she made records and her career exploded.
Sorry, Ging, have to disagree with you there. Britney Spears remained on the covers, thru the era of her first two albums, of countless issues of Tiger Beat/16 Magazine/etc (all geared basically to the 14 and under set - I stopped reading them around age 12), not to mention Young Miss, ‘Teen, and all those mags that young girls and boys generally stop reading before high school or even junior high sometimes. Then when she started dating Justin Timberlake, she re-upped her popularity with the elementary school & junior high set and remained in the press & ads geared towards the younger set probably a little longer than she otherwise would have.
The tide didn’t really turn with her towards more adult marketing from marketing to teens/tweens/younger until about album #3. Her first album was on the wish list of two of the elementary school age kids on my list that year.
Sorry but had to disagree on that statement.
hmmm…I see what you’re saying, Lynn, but I still do not believe Britney’s first album’s marketing plan was *originally* geared to kids & pre-teens.
I really think that this is being taken as too much of a deal. Thousands of teenage girls take these types of pictures. Seriously, think on this: If Miley weren’t famous, and she got that same picture taken by the same person in the same magazine, would it be all over the news and internet? No. Do you see the girls portrayed in Playboy magazines all over the news? Nope. So, if Miley were a normal fifteen year old, would people REALLY care? I mean, it would be like me taking a picture like that, and having it put in a magazine.
Nobody would plaster MY face all over the news.
See my point?
Good point, Mousey. You get it. Not a lot of people on this thread do.
Britney’s first “band” was a Disney girl group — Innosense — that had a couple of other female Mousekateers in it. This falls into the category of “stuff I wish I could forget so I could use that memory space for something valuable, but noooooo.”
Not to bash anybody else, but that’s the nail on the head right there.
I’m coming to this party from my own lunatic fringe, and a bit too late for my opinion to matter at all. I hadn’t heard about this until 8 minutes ago scanning B.’s blog.
What strikes me, having just now seen this picture for the first time, is how much more childlike Cyrus looks in that picture than in half the Disney-sponsored “Hannah Montana” things.
In “HM” stuff, Cyrus looks like a tarted up kid most of the time, in that way people seem to think is cool.
In this photo Liebowitz did an excellent job of capturing her awakening sexuality and emphasising the youth and innocence of it all. It was actually sort of jarring to me.
I hadn’t heard about this until 8 minutes ago scanning B.’s blog.
ha, that makes me chuckle, Kat, because I posted this yesterday afternoon, while B’s is from this morning. I appreciated B’s link, though.
What strikes me, having just now seen this picture for the first time, is how much more childlike Cyrus looks in that picture than in half the Disney-sponsored “Hannah Montana” things.
You are the first person that I have read to have that “take” on the picture. Very, very interesting…and very thought-provoking, for sure.
I’m happy that you came by and hope you’re doing well!
“stuff I wish I could forget so I could use that memory space for something valuable, but noooooo.”
LOL! Truthfully, I hope that this very magazine photo will soon fall in that same category…(well, strike the “noooooo” part)
ha, that makes me chuckle, Kat, because I posted this yesterday afternoon, while B’s is from this morning. I appreciated B’s link, though.
I haven’t been reading ANYBODY’s blog for the most part…but in my folder the way the few I do read is organised, “b” is before “G”, and I have them tagged with first names of authors…not blog titles. So I usually hit B’s before anybody’s except the two Amys.
ah, mine are organized chronologically…
Regardless…I’m glad to see you back!
[...] Leibowitz Picture, however, presents an entirely different image. It makes Cyrus look like what she is. Not a hooker [...]
I was expecting worse. This is brilliant marketing! I expecting cocaine around the nose or some pervet paparazzi claiming nip slip. All you crying mothers out there, don’t let you 7 year olds watch E! or TMZ and they wont ever know their beloved icon is growing up unless you can’t handle not gossiping about it to them or around them. Whos immature here? Not Miley, just you soccer moms. Cheers! Go Cirus marketing!
Edit: I have seen worse whoring exploitation of girls on her show then here in this pic!
I agree with Katherine in her 9:15pm comment that Leibovitz “…did an excellent job of capturing her [Miley Cyrus's] awakening sexuality and emphasising the youth and innocence of it all.” Although some people see kiddie porn in the photo, I see just the opposite: The Leibovitz photo makes Miley a person in her own right, an individual, rather than reduces her to no more than a sex object.