Professor Teaching Miley Cyrus Course Answers Questions On Jezebel

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Remember that Miley sociology course that went viral? Well Professor Carolyn Chernoff, Ph.D. is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at Skidmore College is the very smart lady who developed and is teaching the course. She joined Jezebel for a Q&A where she discussed the course and Miley. Here are a few things we learned. See the rest of the conversation here.
On How Miley Can Borrow From Black Culture Without Consequence 
“Miley’s whiteness really seems to shield her from some of the racist and racialized criticism her pop peers of color seem to get. “White” is a race, and one that needs serious interrogation, especially in the music industry literally built on the voices and talent of people of color (largely black and African American) but disproportionately benefitting white people.”
On Female Purity In America 
“Well, I’d start by saying this is another manifestation of the virgin/whore dichotomy: “purity” is a way to ostensibly “value” and “respect” but ultimately control and silence girls and women, especially their sexuality. Some perspectives here focus on history, race, and class—the ways in which “white women’s virtue” was a rallying cry for racist violence during times of increasing opportunity for African Americans.”
On Shifting The Focus From Sex To Race

“I’m less interested in parsing “worst” and more interested in exploring what we learn about race, racism, and racial and cultural appropriation through the example of Miley. Much of the mainstream media criticism of this phase of Miley’s career focuses on her “out of control” sexuality, while the most interesting and useful critique (largely from women of color on the Internet) looks at the role race plays in “the trouble with Miley.”
On White Privilege

“It’s part of how white privilege works in America (as well as the pop psychology of the perpetual teenager)—choosing to perform a marginalized and “risky” identity without being subject to any of the very real consequences people of color in the US face in what Michelle Alexander calls the racial caste system (see the New Jim Crow, readers). It’s an interesting idea, the continuum of white musicians/pop stars profiting off of black culture and black artists, but honestly, the continuum would be so long/large/deep as to be impossible to create. I’m less interested in figuring out who’s “worse” or “less worse,” too; as a sociologist, I am concerned with what Miley represents and how she can be useful for looking at intersectional theory, particularly the way whiteness silences particular critiques even as Miley’s gender and naughty ladyparts are held up as prime example in the coming Apocalypse.”

 
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