Saturday

The World from YA Eyes

The World from YA Eyes in a new feature of mine that I've decided to write after I decided I wanted to bring back a type of 'Opinion' post I used to do. Being a book blogger does limit you to what type of posts you can write but, I'm hoping this will be a feature you will enjoy reading!
 
The World from YA Eyes will be posted fortnightly and will discuss the latest world-issues threatening to change our world into one we would find in a Dystopia novel.
 
Miley Cyrus' performance at the Video Music Awards shocked us all. Not only was it the fact that she was aloud to give such an inappropriate performance, or wear such little clothing, it was when it hits you that you're watching the once innocent Hannah Montana star who you grew up admiring and wanting to be like. I'm not going to begin this post by telling you a big fat lie and dismiss ever being a fan of hers because, I remember going to see the movie for my ninth birthday. I remember wanting to be her, wanting to live the double-life she had and memorising the dance routines to the hoe-down throw down. Most of all, I can still recite the words to her songs now.
 
The biggest problem with her performance for me, if not the provocative dance routines, was the reaction. Why was it not Katy Perry's performance, or Lady Gaga's that hit the headlines? And this got me thinking, is this the only way women have of getting any attention? I hope not. But, hope isn't really strong enough in the world that we live in today. If Miley Cyrus knew she would get as much attention if she were, in fact, wearing more than her underwear, it could be true to say she would have done that. But, after thinking for a while about this I realised, women are still seen as some type of display. And women think the only way they can get any attention is to wear as little as possible. And, maybe, that is true. At the point of history we are at, women still feel they must wear low-cut tops and short skirts to get the fame they need. It's the way a women is perceived, and something that needs to be changed.
 
If I move away from the celebrity world and more into today's society and our generation of teenagers, you will see a resemblance to the media. Girls: young girls, see this and think the only way they're going to get noticed by boys is if they wear the shortest skirts and tightest tops. And I'm disgusted by this image the media is setting out. I scroll through my Facebook wall and can see it for myself and am also horrified to see that the girls who are wearing so little, get the most comments. That they get the most 'Likes'. And I'm not one that pays much attention to 'Likes' but, what I do pay attention to is how this fuels the idea that 'I'm going to get more attention with the less I wear'.
 
This is basically a ladder: one that leads right to today's generation of young girls who have to, once again, live up to the media's expectations. People say females and equal to males but why is it that a decently dressed women doesn't get any attention while Miley Cyrus is the topic for weeks? Why is it that people aren't commenting on how harmful this can be to a young girls' perspective and criticising her, rather than hiring her for more performances? I just wish women could be seen, and think more of themselves than low-cut dresses. I mean, just take a look at some of the inspiring women that we know so well as bloggers and young people: Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Shailene Woodley, J.K Rowling, Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and the list goes on. These are really people I hear about a lot!
 
I hope you enjoyed this post, even if it was a little bit different from what I usually schedule. I used to write posts and pieces like this all the time and had a moment where I really wanted to voice my opinion once again. Just to comment though, in no way was any of this meant to be offensive in any way. If you feel this has offended you, or that I've over stepped the line, please contact me and I will remove it.
 
What do you think of this new feature? Any issues you would like to see me tackle next?

11 comments:

  1. You are so right!!! Katy Perry and Lady GaGa never get questions and I think it's just because that's how they've always performed. I think it's all just the fact that Miley Cyrus has such a young fanbase and her doing such inappropriate things is just outrageous. But I guess we have to see from the music artists perspective as well. It's hard breaking the children to adult bubble. There is going to be a time when they grow up. Maybe she doesn't want to have a fanbase of children any more as she's grown up as well. Although I still think it was highly inappropriate. Great post!

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    1. Thank you! I completely agree with you although I hope she no longer has a young fanbase - I can't imagine the effect it could have on pre-teens! I wish people didn't feel like they have to get out of the typical goody-goody image by doing something completely inappropriate. All I can think is "How can somehow change so much."

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  2. Well first of all, let me say how wonderful it is to see an opinion post! I love reading these kind of posts.
    You are completely right, I mean, why does such inappropriate behaviour get so much attention? It's like praising instead of disapproving. Not the best thing you want an 8 year old to see or be influenced by.
    But then again, it's hard not to talk and gossip about such abnormal activity. I guess that's what Miley set out to do, to make it clear she's not Hannah Montanna and to get her back in the spot light.
    Marian ^_^ x

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    1. Thank you, Marian! I used to write them A LOT and it just hit me that I really wanted to write about something gritty and hard-hitting. So glad it paid off to do something different.

      It's really shocking to think I was once one of those eight year olds that thought she was an inspiration; I wish Miley could be proud of being Hannah Montana instead of doing everything and anything to get rid of her.

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  3. I totally agree that the public reaction to Miley's performance was a bit extreme. Pop stars these days do inappropriate things all the time; yet when the former Hannah Montana does something provocative, she's in the spotlight for weeks. Interesting post!

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    1. Thank you! Really like your point of view! :D

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  4. Ugh honestly women are basically viewed as the weaker sex and that it's okay for us to pick on them. Okay, honestly, why are you picking on Miley for twerking on Robin Thicke, who is a married man, when really you should be picking on Robin Thicke for LETTING Miley twerk on him because he wouldn't have let it happen if he didn't want it. Honestly, people let guys get away with way more than girls do and then they say girls can't have their own opinion because it's not valid, which is so stupid. And then they shoot down feminism, which is wrong because the feminism stereotype is that we're all crazed people who want women to rule the world when all we really want is to be treated with respect and equality. But honestly, I think that it's really sad that girls think that the only way to get a guy's attention is to be pretty instead of smart or funny or talented. >.<

    Fantastic post! I agree with you 100% :)

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    1. Hello, Eileen! Thank you so much for commenting! YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD HERE! Robin Thicke should have had much more criticism than he did; and clearly, it showed that males are aloud to do this sort of thing and get away with it. Which they're not. I've started to really support feminism lately, and don't see why we can't all be equal. And the fact that being smart, loving and funny is lower down on the ladder than good-looks makes me wonder what society has turned into!

      Haha, I agree with you too! :)

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  5. This is a great post Sophie, and I really love your new feature (I've been think about how to get discussions not look out of place on my blog...). I wasn't really into Hannah Montana as a teen, so I didn't have that nostalgia attached to her. Mostly, I'm disappointed in Miley. I liked how she originally did a makeover, it seemed like a normal thing for a 19-year-old to do, this link sums up why: http://rookiemag.com/2013/05/just-being-miley/. But the VMA's took it too far for the reasons you said. Also I found the whole thing to be borderline racist, as she was using black women as props, taking references out of black culture, and as Southern white woman...

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/26/miley-cyrus-twerking-not-working and http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/27/miley-cyrus-twerking-cultural-appropriation .

    Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. Great article!

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  6. Hi Sophie, What a great post! I used to be the biggest Hannah Montana fan you could get and I was very disappointed with her performance which personally I was REVOLTED at. As much as I loved Hannah Montana (I went to see Miley live and all), I can totally get why she'd want to break out of that shell because she's growing up and that's to be expected. But she crossed the line and I don't have any respect for her left. But where is Robin's criticism he's a married man and he was as big a part of it as Miley was.

    I hate that Woman are viewed as the weaker sex, I'm never passed the ball in PE. We don't want to be top at everything we just want to be respected and appreciated. As you can tell I'm a big feminism supporter because I'm all for girl power. Some of the photos posted from the female classmates on Instagram are just.. it kinda makes you question the respect they have for themselves. But anyway..

    Sorry for the rant, I love a good discussion post and I can't wait to see more of these!

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  7. I love opinion posts, keep them coming!

    Miley is trying to distance herself from her Hannah Montana past. I can understand where she's coming from. She's getting older and doesn't always want to be seen as Hannah Montana because that's not who she is anymore. But she has to do more to shake off that clean image because it's a strong image in all of our heads. And you're right, Lady Gaga could have done that performance and it wouldn't have caused the sort of uproar that it did. And that's sad. Also, from her reaction after her performance, it seems cler that she wanted to be what everyone was talking about. And that worked. I just hope next time she gets that sort of attention and coverage for something that doesn't involve a foam finger.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read - and comment on - this blog post! I read and reply to every comment, so feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer!

See you soon!

Sophie Louise