Sinead O'Connor's open letter to Miley Cyrus, she wrote: "Yes, I'm suggesting you don't care for yourself. That has to change. You ought be protected as a precious young lady by anyone in your employ and anyone around you, including you. This is a dangerous world. We don't encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the music industry and its associated media."
And lots of people seemed to agree: AdWeek called it "the best tough love letter of all time." Gawker said it was "powerful." And Salon deemed it "refreshingly frank."
But they're wrong. O'Connor's letter was little more than garden-variety ****-shaming, and her attitudes do much more to hurt women than all the skimpy outfits and provocative dances in Miley's oeuvre.
Take O'Connor's directive that Miley "say no when you are asked to prostitute yourself. Your body is for you and your boyfriend. It isn't for every spunk-spewing dirtbag on the net." But what's wrong with expressing sexuality? As Jill Filopovic tweeted this morning: "Why are we telling girls that their sexuality isn't theirs? That if they're publicly sexual, they've somehow given it away? People publicly display other aspects of themselves -- intelligence, humor -- all the time. But publicly being a sexual creature = cheap?"
No, this seems to be about the context of that sex and nakedness. After all, Sinead O'Connor didn't write an open letter to Justin Bieber — who surely made even more money for "greedy record company executives" by selling his sexuality than Miley has.
So why the concern now? Because, as O'Connor reveals in another part of the letter, this is, at its core, about Cyrus' young femaleness. O'Connor's letter aligns perfectly with the way the post-VMAs coverage focused entirely on Cyrus' performance and glossing over Robin Thicke's participation. It's part of institutional misogyny: worried about how the our society treats young women's bodies as objects? Blame the young women for having bodies in the first place.
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In the letter, O'Connor writes that her public admonishments to the 20-year-old are in the spirit of "motherliness and with love." She follows that up with warnings that Cyrus is being "pimped," and that she will "end up in rehab." All of this seemed to come as news to Miley, who declared on her recent MTV special that she is crafting a "strategic hot mess" image, and seems to feel supremely confident and in charge of the image she's wearing these days. As she put it bluntly in her recent Rolling Stone profile: "I know what I'm doing. I know I'm shocking you."
Sinead has a lot of experience, and she is right about one thing that Miley already figured out: Sex sells, and a large part of the reason everyone is talking about Miley Cyrus right now is because people always talk about famous, beautiful 20-year-old women who show off their bodies. Miley's image is a little different from Britney's or Madonna's was — she's borrowing more from hip-hop culture and absurd comedy, and she seems to be appealing more directly to other young, rebellious women than she is to men. Still, we've been looking at young pop star's bodies for the last 30 years, and Miley's not all that different. It's not actually shocking; it's even a little boring.
And there's no indication that Miley doesn't know exactly what she's doing, which is what makes Sinead's public mothering so condescending. Miley has enjoyed an incredible level of success, already charting more songs in her two decades than Sinead has in almost five. And as my friend Larissa Swindle wrote on Facebook, "maybe [Miley] isn't so blinded by her youth that she can't see the motives of people trying to profit off of her youth and beauty. Maybe she wants to make some damn greenbacks off her youth and beauty too, and good for her. Those things, along with her talent, are hers to profit from if she chooses to."
Miley Ray Cyrus@MileyCyrus Follow
Sinead. I don't have time to write you an open letter cause Im hosting & performing on SNL this week.
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After the first open letter went viral, Miley — having been publicly admonished by someone she admired — made a joke in poor taste, tweeting a screenshot from Sinead's public Twitter breakdown two years ago and comparing her to Amanda Bynes. Miley's defensive reaction was offensive and hurtful, especially for mental health advocates. But those same advocates should also be disturbed by the implication, in Sinead's first letter and then again in her two follow-ups, that she thinks mental illness is a result of decisions that a person makes when they're young. In her second letter, she promises "you will yourself one day suffer such illness, that is without doubt. The course you have set yourself upon can only end in that, trust me."
O'Connor is essentially a Bible-thumper, promising Cyrus eternal damnation — in the form of mental illness — for the sin of wanting to make some money on her assets. An attractive young woman's sexuality is bankable, it's true. But in the end, Miley is making money off of what the people want: pop jams, youthful rebellion, and sex. The woman who figured out how to strategically cash in on the controversy isn't a victim or a bad example — she's just a business, man.
No, this seems to be about the context of that sex and nakedness. After all, Sinead O'Connor didn't write an open letter to Justin Bieber — who surely made even more money for "greedy record company executives" by selling his sexuality than Miley has.
The tea! If Bieber or 1D were ugly, they would have no career. Sex sells, Miley just does it in a more in-the-face way.
But still, I don't think it's the main cause of Miley phenomenal tho. It's more like a shock factor.
You can post as many pro-Miley articles as you please, but that doesn't change the fact that Sinead is right. But I don't agree with Sinead, as a grown woman, getting so worked up about a petty 20 year old.
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No, this seems to be about the context of that sex and nakedness. After all, Sinead O'Connor didn't write an open letter to Justin Bieber — who surely made even more money for "greedy record company executives" by selling his sexuality than Miley has.
This is like comparing apples to oranges.
Young males in the industry like Bieber and OneDirection don't strip down and act as raunchy as Miley does. They don't need to, young tween girls fall in love with them either way. Miley on the other hand, makes a spectacle of herself. People aren't really interested in what she has to say, they just turn their heads in her direction because she's trying to push boundaries. She successfully shed the Disney image, but she did it in a way that lacked self-respect, which is why people aren't respecting her. In a few years she'll be forgotten and the next teen spectacle will take her place because she doesn't have any artistic integrity to back up her gaudiness. She's just an entertainer that lacks substance.
Young males in the industry like Bieber and OneDirection don't strip down and act as raunchy as Miley does.
Except Bieber strips down to his underwear on stage every single night and One Direction kiss, fondle, strip, grind on each other on stage sometimes too?
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Originally posted by OprahIsBlack
It's not about the fact that Miley is being sexual or provocative.
It's the ****ING TASTELESS AND CLASSLESS way she's doing it.
If she was getting naked in an artistic, meaningful way then NOT A SINGLE **** WOULD BE GIVEN and Sinead would probably not have said ****.
You're one to talk about being tasteless and classles with your location and telling people to "kill themselves" in your signature.
The only thing Sinead did wrong was write "open letters" they should have been private and the wording was needed because Miley is arrogant and her ego gets in the way of her actually listening to other people.
There is NO justification whatsoever for how Miley responded, and anyone siding with her is just as pathetic. Eeen as stans of Miley you should be able to accept when and if she is wrong.
Except Bieber strips down to his underwear on stage every single night and One Direction kiss, fondle, strip, grind on each other on stage sometimes too?
You're one to talk about being tasteless and classles with your location and telling people to "kill themselves" in your signature.
why didn't Sinead write a letter to Katy, Rihanna, Gaga and all these other pop girls when they went naked. It's really not a big deal what Miley's doing when tons of people before her have done it & gotten away with it.
The people who are reducing this to "#TeamMiley" or "#TeamSinead" are so damn annoying. Neither of them are in the right in this situation. Both are making harmful statements in one way or another.
Sinead had a mental disorder, it's kind of her fault for not controlling her own thoughts and actions. Why is she getting worked up about Miley's post? Is she ashamed of her own mental disorder, which is the result of her own body and mind? She needs to just leave Miley alone.
You can post as many pro-Miley articles as you please, but that doesn't change the fact that Sinead is right. But I don't agree with Sinead, as a grown woman, getting so worked up about a petty 20 year old.
This is like comparing apples to oranges.
Young males in the industry like Bieber and OneDirection don't strip down and act as raunchy as Miley does. They don't need to, young tween girls fall in love with them either way. Miley on the other hand, makes a spectacle of herself. People aren't really interested in what she has to say, they just turn their heads in her direction because she's trying to push boundaries. She successfully shed the Disney image, but she did it in a way that lacked self-respect, which is why people aren't respecting her. In a few years she'll be forgotten and the next teen spectacle will take her place because she doesn't have any artistic integrity to back up her gaudiness. She's just an entertainer that lacks substance.
And OD have posed in minimal clothing tons of times
Sinead had a mental disorder, it's kind of her fault for not controlling her own thoughts and actions. Why is she getting worked up about Miley's post? Is she ashamed of her own mental disorder, which is the result of her own body and mind? She needs to just leave Miley alone.
What the actual ****?!?!
You aren't at fault for suffering mental disorders you simple minded fool! The actions of others can be just as damaging to your mental health.
I mean c'mon you stan for Demi Lovato, a lot of her issues rooted from her father who was a gigantic letdown and the bullying she suffered from. Hands down one of the most ignorant comments I have ever come across. If you don't know what you're talking about go educate yourself first!
why didn't Sinead write a letter to Katy, Rihanna, Gaga and all these other pop girls when they went naked. It's really not a big deal what Miley's doing when tons of people before her have done it & gotten away with it.
Because they didn't start on Disney and don't still have that super young following.
I'm not saying that the other pop girls aren't at fault, they've been at the forefront of the pop scene for a long time and Miley's highly sexualized image more or less exists because they made it acceptable.
It's a slippery slope and if people don't think about stuff like this society is just going to get trashier and that's saying something.
they can try (and will) twist everything in favor of Miley, but there's no excuse for the way she retaliated. There's no excuse to bring up Amanda Bynes to this mess just for some good laughs, while Amanda is reportedly getting treatment for mental illness.
Because they didn't start on Disney and don't still have that super young following.
I'm not saying that the other pop girls aren't at fault, they've been at the forefront of the pop scene for a long time and Miley's highly sexualized image more or less exists because they made it acceptable.
It's a slippery slope and if people don't think about stuff like this society is just going to get trashier and that's saying something.
Miley doesn't have a young following anymore and even if so, it isn't fair to keep her inside some bubble. So just because she was on Disney she has to be a role model for the rest of her life? HM ended 2 years ago, it's time to move on. If you're gonna scrutinize her for using a tactic that many before have used, you have to scrutinize everyone. Otherwise you're just being biased.
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Originally posted by MaoMars
they can try (and will) twist everything in favor of Miley, but there's no excuse for the way she retaliated. There's no excuse to bring up Amanda Bynes to this mess just for some good laughs, while Amanda is reportedly getting treatment for mental illness.
Except the article already said that Miley's retaliation was wrong. You guys fail to see that both Miley and Sinead are in the wrong in this situation.
Miley doesn't have a young following anymore and even if so, it isn't fair to keep her inside some bubble. So just because she was on Disney she has to be a role model for the rest of her life? HM ended 2 years ago, it's time to move on. If you're gonna scrutinize her for using a tactic that many before have used, you have to scrutinize everyone. Otherwise you're just being biased.
Except the article already said that Miley's retaliation was wrong. You guys fail to see that both Miley and Sinead are in the wrong in this situation.
It's not fair but it's not unreasonable for her to actually understand that whether she likes it or not young girls look up to her. Miley's just being selfish and what she wants she gets and thats how its always been she cusses her Hannah Montana days so much but you can bet she loved it back then, now she's acting above it and it's just horrible.
Don't get me wrong Bangerz itself isn't too bad but the whole new look and attitude to match it is the problem.
I wonder if people would care if Miley wasn't dominating the music industry right now.
Nah, more people would agree with Sinead if Miley was flopping.
Sinead's first letter had no form of malice in it, in my honest opinion. Miley just over reacted, not that Sinead's response after that was much better.
You guys fail to see that both Miley and Sinead are in the wrong in this situation.