Miley completely strayed away from her tween fanbase, which no doubt was a safety net. She then began to defy traditional beauty standards when she first cut her hair.
Flash forward to now. Not only did she opt out of releasing a commercial album with the backing of any major label she wanted, she went completely left field and released something inaccessible because she liked it. The goal was not to sell. The goal was not to get a hit. The goal was to release what she wanted because it sounded good to her. With things like this recent photoshoot, she's not doing it to be "sexy". She's not doing it to be "pretty". She's simply destigmatizing the human body. The point isn't sex appeal and it's not shock value. It's the human body with parts everyone has. Her album is terrible and I will refrain from calling myself a fan, but she's more "edgy" than ATRL's faves could ever dream of being.
Misogyny is so rampant. By far the most important social issue of today.
at this point