Miley Cyrus Got Me Thinking??

Last night, while making dinner and a glass or two of wine with a friend, we flipped through channels and stumbled across the MTV VMA's.  Laughing about how relevant those were during our childhood, we decided to watch.  This brought me up to speed on what we'll call the "Miley Incident" during this blog post.  I have a pretty open mind--I generally have to considering the number of years now I've worked with kids (specifically teens, often what some call 'deliquent'), but this was one of those things that you can't look away from, even if your eyes are burning.  Which leads me to my split opinion:

At first I thought it was horrible that the same group of kids that would be tuning in for groups like 'One Direction' would be watching this.  I wouldn't find this appropriate for my 10-13 year old.  I found it hard to handle that she gained a giant following from her time on Disney and now those kids were admiring her and see how she's transformed.  It's not to say we don't all have these periods in our life, and I'm in no way saying she isn't allowed skeletons in her closet-- because we all have them.  I'd also note that we all don't perform them to an audience.  It makes me fearful how young stars like Britney, Miley, and Lindsay take these deep plunges.  . . which brings me to point two--very relevant..

Hanna shared something today via Facebook (which she credits to stumbling across on tumblr)-- (you can see her blog here):

How true is that?  I mean, really-- we're provoking this behavior by giving it ratings.  How many times has her video of her 'twerking' in her terrible pop song been viewed on youtube?  And I don't have a valid solution, so am I feeding this too but discussing without offering a resolution?

Which brings me to my third line of thinking-what kind of standards are we holding ourselves, our children, our friends to?   I have read a lot of 'not lady like' comments and lots of people responding that men are the same way and it's acceptable for them to grind on a dancer without an issue.  I'd say that being 'lady-like' is becoming more rare these days, as is being chivalrous.   Maybe it's the equality and liberation women have been feeling as time passes-- the knowing that we can do the same things that men can and that it's becoming more accepted.  Perhaps it's that we're so busy pointing fingers at the other gender "I'm cold because I'm hurt" or the "eye for an eye" mentality.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Happy Monday Loves!