Duke It Out: Bad Influences

November 20, 2009 9:00 am     Posted in Entertainment, Reality  Lauren H - The New School g+ page


By Lauren H

A couple of weeks ago, Miley was voted the worst celeb influence. And while we’ve definitely said some harsh (but true) things about her in the past, I can’t help but have mixed feelings about the tweeny-bopper’s new title. The “influence on young girls” has been tossed around at celebs for decades and I have to wonder if Miley and her various competitions really deserve the rap they’re getting, or if it’s all just hype.

Ok, no argument here; Miley and  does a lot of things that I def wouldn’t want any little sister of mine emulating. Between dating the (much) older guys to the way she dresses, the various and well documented poor decisions with pics and online – the girls just has a knack for acting, well, like a skanky ditz. And if nothing else, Hannah Montana’s literal mountain of merchandise proves that young girls are definitely susceptible to wanting to be like her. Disney has held a reign on her so far (just imagine what she’d do if left to her own devices) but eventually that will end and who knows where that will take her.

But on the other hand, I have to wonder how bad Miley really is, at least in relation to the rest of our culture. Take another former-Disney teen queen for example – Britney. She scandalized with “Baby, One More Time” (I dare you not to get it stuck in your head now!) by wearing a sexy schoolgirl outfit and pigtails. It was an outfit right out of softcore porn and she was immediately labeled as a “bad influence”. Now regardless of how terribly awry Britney’s life went in the subsequent years, the truth is, her in that outfit was the most salacious in the pop world since Maddona rolled around in a wedding dress on the VMAs. And while that schoolgirl outfit might seem tame compared with some of the things Miley has done, take into account that Britney debuted in a world without reality TV, Perez Hilton or, for that matter, the flaming ball of tabloid that was post-”Oops… I Did It Again” Britney. It was easier to get noticed back then, so for tween queens like Miley and her ilk to compete nowadays, it’s not enough just to get up and sing and look sexy – if you want the publicity, you gotta go all the way.

So what do you think? Is Miley really any worse (for the era she lives in) than any of the girls who came before her? Or is it all the same product with slutty new packaging?

17 Comments on "Duke It Out: Bad Influences"

  1. Erich says:
    Fri, 20th Nov 20096:51 am 

    Everyone has a bad influence friend.

    But role models really should be parents, police officers, soldiers, nurses, teachers, etc.

    Not some rich bitch acting like a whore.

  2. Erin says:
    Fri, 20th Nov 200910:51 am 

    Same old product in some slutty new leopard print packaging. She’s nothing new, it’s how they have to publicize her, like the article said you don’t get anywhere being a wallflower and no publicity is bad publicity. No matter what you want to say about her being a bad influence, which I think they all are form a business perspective it’s all about making money. All girls want to emulate a “role model” sadly these girls are it. Really it’s up to the parents not the product, Miley and girls like her, to be better, it’s for the parents to make sure their children understand this is not suitable behavior and it’s an act, you can’t do that in real life. It’s fake.

  3. Lindy says:
    Fri, 20th Nov 200912:58 pm 

    Slutty packaging is a reflection of the consumers. She’s packaged like that by large music corporations because that’s what people want; that’s what people pay for.

  4. Erin says:
    Fri, 20th Nov 20092:03 pm 

    Lindy your so right, but as a parent, I don’t have kids I’m just saying, you hold the purse strings and make the choices what they can and cannot have. Plain and simple. They don’t pay for it no matter how much Slutty MCslut Jr. wants it Miley and the like go out of business.

  5. grace b says:
    Fri, 20th Nov 20093:10 pm 

    I think that it is much better for parents to steer their daughters to more positive role models. An example of this can be found in the documentary Girls Rock about a female led camp that teaches girls how to form a band and play their own instruments. The women who run this camp are so inspiring and driven I was really impressed.

    And as Erin mentioned, the media isn’t going to encourage more positive role models until the public decides to pay for it.

  6. Maxine says:
    Sun, 22nd Nov 20094:24 pm 

    Miley Cyrus is retarded.

  7. Amelia says:
    Sun, 22nd Nov 200910:55 pm 

    The girl in the background sure looks thrilled to see Miley.

  8. luisana geille says:
    Mon, 21st Dec 200911:55 pm 

    miley really sucks!! i h8 her

  9. Selena says:
    Sun, 10th Jan 20105:49 pm 

    Is a Bitch

    Disney plz Firing that Whore

  10. CKH says:
    Mon, 25th Jan 20108:24 pm 

    honestly… everything about this is overhyped and exacerbated thanks to the media… here we are with a 16 year old girl; yes she's attractive enough and being famous she's popular. The way she tends to dress, her taking sexyish pics to put on myspace, those are all typical harmless behaviors practiced by virtually every pretty and popular girl in existence. The media of course, particularly in backwards religio-nazi america, is all too happy to seek out scandal, and glean through her life to find every not pre-teen innocent baby girl moment she might happen to indulge in. The fact is, she is a young teenager, behaving as a young teenager will tend to do. When the media sensationalizes every racy moment she has, as she will inevitably have, she will be portrayed as a "poor role-model." Which raises the biggest issue of all; 14/14/16 year olds are supposed to HAVE rolemodels, not BE them. How can she be expected to MAKE mature decisions when she's a child herself?

  11. Tamara says:
    Tue, 26th Jan 20108:18 am 

    Maybe I got stucked in time, but doesn't Miley wear a purity ring or something? While that is not the role model I want for my kids (hen I have them), since I believe in having sex when you feel comfortable with it and not neccesaryly after marriage, I wouldn't call her slutty. Maybe her outfits are, but if she's a virgin, or at least showcases herself as one, then I don't know what the fuss is about.

  12. Anon says:
    Tue, 6th Apr 20107:19 pm 

    If Miley was male and she was doing the same thing, everyone would have been praising her. It'si the age-old sexism-the guy gets all the glory the more he can score and the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore. Just like back in the day, a man could have as many wives as he wanted but if the woman wasn't perfectly faithful and submissive she'd be KILLED. Male celebrities use their looks and sexuality to attract female audiences (when was the last time Usher wore a shirt), and yet girls like Miley are the ones that get all the backlash. People still think we should be property and that female sexuality is something to be controlled by men who think they own us. Signs of a girl embracing her sexuality/being comfortable with her body intimidate male chauvinists.

    She's no longer a child. Let the girl explore her sexuality (a natural thing) without everyone casting stones, just like they do to women in the Middle East for showing hair. Should we all wear burquas?

  13. Doralin says:
    Mon, 24th May 20108:19 pm 

    It's no big deal!! As if w/o Miley's dressing, dancing, pictures, dating much older guys influence, those young gals will not behave and act that way. If it wasn't Miley, another celebrity will be taking the blame anyway! So wats the big fuss!

  14. Justin Armand G. Del says:
    Thu, 27th May 20108:01 pm 

    I THINK THAT MILEY'S PRETTY AND CUTE FUNNY AND I LOVE HER SO STOP DOING THING LIKE THIS SO PEOPLE WONT HATE NET WORKING SO STOP IT BEFORE I PUT SOME THING TO THIS SITE.

  15. haseeb says:
    Mon, 23rd Aug 20109:46 pm 

    hi haseeb

  16. raju sadhnani says:
    Thu, 12th Jan 20128:07 am 

    visited the site about the celebrities .was delighted to knpw lot about the celebrities

Tell us what you're thinking...