Two words: Miley Cyrus

Quick! Name a celebrity whose name you have heard so many times the past couple days it’s probably branded on your brain…. if you thought Miley Cyrus than you are 110% on the same page as I am. Miley Cyrus, a Disney Channel original who spent her childhood growing up as Hannah Montana has appeared at the VMAs this past weekend as the complete opposite of Hannah Montana; not even close. Comments soon began to fly about how racy, raunchy, gross, unclassy… etc that the performance was.

Was it over the top? Yes.

Should she have made sure the latex outfit she was wearing should have at least flattered her body? Yes.

Was it provocative and scandalous? Yes

Ever since Hannah Montana we have watched Miley Cyrus grow and mold herself, expressing herself in whatever way that she wanted. She went from the innocent songs and music videos of Miss Montana to videos such as “Who owns my Heart” and “I can’t be tamed”. In the video for “Who owns my heart” she is wearing low cut shirts, high waisted shorts, heels, sometimes just underwear and is talking about not being able to tell the difference between an actual spark of having chemistry with someone or if it is just the rhythm and the movement of their bodies to the music. In “I can’t be tamed” she basically tells you no one is going to tame her [foreshadowing maybe what was to come in our present day… hmmm?] In both videos she shows the subtle signs in the music and the videos of getting sexual and not being a “child star” anymore. It’s present in her lyrics and portrayed.

So what makes twerking, grinding, and misusing a foam finger so much to talk about? Perhaps it’s her appearance? Compared to the other two videos Miley has changed her look quite a bit. Her hair is no longer long, golden honey coloured but short, shaved and platinum blonde. She didn’t have tattoos and now she is covered with little touches of permanent expression all over her body. She wears a “grill” on her teeth that she can change depending on mood/outfit/surroundings. As Miley grew up so did her videos and her music.

She isn’t wearing underwear in a bathroom with heels anymore, shes throwing a party at a house with giant teddy bears and hot dog filled pinatas such as in “We can’t stop”. Her dancing has grown from moving of the hips swaying to twerking and grinding. There isn’t any difference in anything she does in growing up that any teenager hasn’t done… only main factor – she’s famous. BIG WHOOP!

I’m twenty three years old, I’m considered a young adult by society. I am expected to look business casual/professional at my job. I do not have my natural hair colour, I have tattoos, and I wear a small hoop in my nose. My style sometimes pushes the border but I still look presentable for my job. Growing up and going through my teenage years parts of my hair were purple, blue, green. It was long, short, layered, straight bangs, side bangs. I got dressed up, went to the club, and I danced.

I got to grow up the way that I wanted to while still keeping an eye on my dream. Miley is a young adult who is at the age in her life where if she wasn’t famous everyone wouldn’t be criticizing her… she’d be blending in. She didn’t want long golden brown hair, so she cut and dyed it. She prefers wearing crop tops… rock it girl you’ve got the body for it! She shouldn’t be bashed for a performance that was rehearsed and everyone involved knew the direction it was going. Was she grinding on a married man? Yes, she was. Did he know it was going to happen? Yes, he did. Did his wife know it was going to happen and give Miley permission? Yes, she did. The song in which they twerked and caused commotion is sung by a male with the lyrics talking about sexual dominating a female and the “blurred lines” between consensual sex and rape… not cool.

Society thinks that Miley Cyrus should be a role model for the younger generation and that her recent displays of action are unsuitable. Dear parents of children in the younger generation, Be role models for your children. Don’t get pissed because some young adult trying to live her life and express herself isn’t a good enough role model for YOUR children. When I am a parent, I would want my children to look at me as their role model, not someone who is famous. It’s not fair to the young 20 something year old to pretend to be someone she isn’t so you’re satisfied with who your children watch. What’s that teaching your children? To not express yourself the way they want because they’ll get torn down if society isn’t alright with it?? I think Miley Cyrus is proving that you need to express yourself in anyway that you want… someone is always going to hate you.

Miley, be you. Don’t ever changed because of what people say about you. You’re doing great and clearly still succeeding in your entertainment career. Someone out there will always hate you, even if you didn’t change your hair, style, dance, and music. Sincerely, A fan of you since the beginning and through all the craziness.

Teenagers: first love

First love is a little foolishness and a lot of curiousity

–George Bernard Shaw

It’s high school and aside from all the classes, homework, extra curriculars, and athletics, you can’t control the hormones of adolesence buzzing through the crowded halls. You have a boyfriend/girlfriend for maybe a week, break up, bounce back and forth in this game of limbo. There may be another teenager thrown in the mix but it’s all the same – an endless cycle  of on again/off again boyfriends.

Who knows how it starts, it’s different for everyone, you see them whether it’s across the hall, at a football game, or passing each other in the cafeteria; maybe you have a class with them. All you know is that they have your attention and for some reason you are drawn to them. You start talking, hanging out and getting to know each other. Feelings develop; you whisper to your friends that you’re crushing on the special someone in your second period class. One thing leads to another and suddenly you’re boyfriend/girlfriend.

You spend most of the time in your classes writing notes to each other for when your apart and when you leave school you spend countless hours texting them. Those countless hours turn into “No, you hang up the phone first” arguements. You’re friends get jealous they see how happy you are, they want that. Time is going by quickly you barely even realize. One day you are just meeting each other at the  lockers and not trying to hold hands [because you still get sweaty nervous palms around him] and now you’re holding hands and strutting for the world to see. It’s been a MONTH! Longest relationship ever, and you’re starting to think this could be the one for you, that you’re actually starting to more than just LIKE THEM LIKE THEM, but you don’t want to say anything. They’re your first kiss, the romantic kind that you see in the movie and everytime you kiss them after that you get these butterflies you can’t explain. They’re in your head when you’re hearing the sappy Taylor Swift love songs on the radio. They soon become you’re everything and you’re beginning to be able to picture a life with them. They’re the first person you’re going to say “I LOVE YOU” to and mean it. You’re actually going to know the feeling too, not just think you know what the feeling is, you’re actually going to feel it.

They’re your first love.. scary huh? It’s the first person, other than your family, that you’re scared to not have around you anymore. You get scared that they will leave you. You see your future with them and can’t picture it without. This is first love, in my opinion, it’s one of the scariest things to ever experience as a teenager. Like the quote stated above “First love is a little bit of foolishness and a lot of curiousity” is exactly right. It’s foolish to think that at such a young age that you have found the person that you are destined to spend the rest of your life with. It’s foolish to think that you actually know what you’re life is going to look like outside of high school. It’s foolish to think that being someone’s first love, means that you are going to be their last as well. It’s a whole lot of curiousity because you’ve never experienced it before. You’ve never felt the emotions before, never felt the electricity before. It’s curiousity because you have these hormones gearing you, fueling you, and you want to explore. You’re curious to know about the other, mentally and physically. You’re foolish to think that you are old enough to know that these curiousities can’t get you into trouble. You’re foolish to think that these curiousities won’t lead to something foolish and unplanned.

First love: that first person that took your breath away, stole your heart and you didn’t want it back. The first person you thought was going to be the one you were going to spend the rest of your life with. The one person with the means to destroy you just by simply leaving. First love is that whirlwind of emotion as if you are falling into wonderland and can’t/don’t want to stop.

First love ends. I hate to break it to you, but more times than not; it ends. It crushes you and that’s when you realize it’s first love. You don’t want to eat, you cry yourself to sleep, and you try to avoid everyone that seems happier than you are. You play “My Happy Ending” by Avril Lavigne on repeat for two weeks while avoiding eye contact with said first love in the hallway. Honestly, you think you are never going to be happy. You never think you will find that one person to spend the rest of your life with, because in your eyes, they just left.

I’ll tell you something; the next few boyfriend/girlfriend you have after this first love, you will compare them to that person. You will, but eventually… in time you won’t. The sad songs won’t seem as sad, the sun won’t seem so bright, and you’ll have moved on. You won’t be angry, you won’t be sad, you won’t feel the twinge when someone mentions their name… you’ll be free. And in being free, you’re able to search for your last love….

And can I tell you a secret? Being somebody’s first love it great, but being someone’s last love… that’s an amazing feeling completely indescribable.