You can imagine that the sexed up photos Vanity Fair published of Miley Cyrus have been a topic of discussion at New Moon, just as on this blog. Thanks for all the thoughtful comments so far on the topic – they’re well worth reading.

Kathleen Kvern and I were talking about how the prevalence of sexualized images of girls in our public culture creates an atmosphere of impersonal, silent, constant harassment for girls.

Like an iron grip in a velvet glove, the hypersexualization of girls in the media holds actual girls hostage under the pretense of entertaining and informing them. And, like in the Stockholm Syndrome, it’s not surprising when girls start to identify with the all-powerful culture that’s holding them hostage.

It feels more subtle than verbal or physical harassment, but that’s part of its stealthy effect. It’s like a neverending buzz in the background that you try to ignore but can’t. Gradually, sub-consciously, more and more of your energy and attention is spent on trying to ignore the buzz.

Girls are barraged by sexualized images all around them and everyone they come into contact with in daily life is also surrounded by those images. The images viscerally teach “the importance of being sexy” if you are female. The images teach all of us that acting sexy is how girls/women can have power without being rejected as domineering or bitchy (see media coverage of Hillary Clinton for the way “non-sexy” female power is conveyed).

Now imagine the extreme confusion girls feel when they are surrounded by images promoting the power of female sexiness and at the same time are told that it’s bad for girls to be interested in sex, to act sexy themselves, to dress sexy, etc. The real message being conveyed, of course, is that girls shouldn’t want to be powerful.

The conflicting messages about personal power create an epic inner struggle for girls that stays with us into adulthood, sapping creative energy and focus that would be better used in changing the culture and making our world a better place for everyone.

I believe media oppression of girls and women via hypersexualiztion is one of the most serious barriers standing between us and full equality. We need to break that barrier down and release the power it’s holding back. That’s why I work with girls’ media and bringing girls’ voices to the world at New Moon.

How would you do it?

Sunday evening and I’m feeling refreshed from a swim at the YW.

Which is a good thing, because I just checked the HuffPost and what did I find but a distressing and depressing story about another teen girl star being “sex-potted” by the media. Apparently, semi-nude photos (by Annie Liebovitz) of 15 year old Miley Cyrus are in this week’s Vanity Fair.

Sigh.

You no doubt know that Miley plays Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel’s most-watched show. She and her character are beloved and idolized by millions of tween girls (on the Hannah Montana website emails from fans give ages from 8 to 12). Many parents have been relieved there’s a teen star who didn’t follow in the hyper-sexualized footsteps of Lindsay, Britney, Paris and countless others. Guess it’s time to re-think that relief.

I don’t blame Miley – she’s a media star in our oh-so-tired popular culture that still values women (and increasingly younger girls) for sex appeal and little else (no matter what it says, the images tell the truth). And she’s at an age when exploration of her sexuality is appropriate and important.

But her exploration shouldn’t be fodder for Annie Leibovitz, Vanity Fair or anyone else. That’s called voyeurism and it’s creepy. Which is exactly the feeling I got looking at the photo. Not only does it look like she’s been surprised in bed, her posture and expression make her look even younger than 15, giving the photo a very disturbing whiff of child porn.

Cyrus has already issued a statement saying she’s “embarrassed” about the photo and the story.
For my part, I wonder why her parents didn’t issue that statement – in Vanity’s Fair’s “behind the scenes” slide show of the photo shoot, they were there when the pictures were being taken. A great deal has been made of her “common sense” parents in previous coverage of Miley. And what about Annie Leibovitz? Is she embarrassed? What about Vanity Fair?

Seems like there’s more than enough embarrassment to go around and yet only the 15 year old is expressing it. Something’s wrong with that! Who are the adults in this scenario anyway?