Professional 'entertainer' Miley Cyrus has created quite a stir this week (and not just in mens' underpants!!!). The former wholesome child star of Hannah Fantana has graduated to being a fully-fledged woman, with tits and what have you. Capitalising on her minx-like persona, she wore tiny kecks and a bra to cavort, bump and/or grind her way through some atrocious piece of music during the MTV Music Awards. Instead of brushing it off as a typical piece of PR to drum up music sales (akin to Madonna and Britney having a snog, or that lad Gaga wearing a dress made of beef), some parts of the popular press have gone into meltdown, citing the end of the world and questioning the mental state of a 20-year-old with a butt that won't quit.
Such displays of fleshmongering are not new. Recall that 'Dirty' caper by Christina Aguilera back in the early Noughties. A few eyebrows were raised (amongst other things!!!) but nobody seemed to go batshit about it, seemingly because she was an attractive woman making the most of what God gave her (and ultimately took away, if recent photos are to be believed). It seems young Miley has captured the imagination of some of the more conservative members of society because she used to be a child star, and therefore any development into anything remotely sexual is the work of Satan himself, and the only explanation is she must be mentally ill or have daddy issues (the latter of which is perfectly understandable, given who her old man is).
Isn't it even slightly possible that she is just being a young woman doing what some young women do? Does dressing up in skimpy attire instantly mean she has some kind of issue or torment? I've commented before about certain well-put-together young ladies, and how if I were similarly stacked I would in all likelihood strut around in all manner of revealing get-up. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm bereft of confidence or struggling with crippling emotional concerns; I could just be an epic cock-tease.
Miley hasn't so far commented on the uproar which has surrounded her 'performance' the other day, and I very much doubt she will. I won't pretend I've scoured the media particularly closely for reactions from all quarters, but I'm yet to see any response from young girls suggesting she is some kind of role model and they will live their life like her from now on. Quite honestly, if your teenage daughter is looking up to a 20-year-old in a bra as a bastion of moral fortitude, it's you who needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror, not her. I recommend wearing a bra and pants while you do.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Friday, 2 August 2013
She said what?!?!? Get her!
You know those occasions where you see something in the popular press or on that Internet, and the content of the prose makes you so cross that your only response is to threaten to rape the author?
No, me neither.
I'm a pretty liberal cat, but even I think rape is bad; wrong even. Whilst I can't argue about its ability to get the point across, it's not the most subtle of argumentative tools. What's wrong with opening a debate, putting your collective points across and agreeing that ultimately it's a futile argument; Chelsee Healey is fit and THAT'S THE BLOODY END OF IT, OK?
I need not tell you this whole rape kerboodle started when a female MP had the temerity, the brass neck, the sheer bloody-mindedness, to campaign to have the image of a female on the back of a new bank note. Now, as far as feminist ideals go, this is towards the bottom of the scale in my mind. It's not as if they're women-only bank notes, usable only by the fairer sex. Nor does it represent the final emasculation of the male species, as the last image of a man is finally scrubbed from our currency as those bra-sporting period-havers finally wrestle control from men and bring in their terrifying regime.
The reaction to this woman's ultimately successful campaign was misguided at best; concerning at worst. Numerous threats of rape were made against this woman within minutes of the news breaking. Not belittling her cause, not slagging her off for her choice of woman to appear on the bank note, not even congratulation. No, "I'm gon' rape you, dog" was the gist of a myriad misogynists' responses.
Thankfully, the Feds haven't hung about, and a couple of arrests have already been made. What perhaps surprises me most about this is that tweets or Facebook posts are widely available and pretty damning in their content. If you were to threaten to rape someone in the street, you could at least play the 'he said, she said' card. If you go and write it down and broadcast it on that Internet, your defence is at best shaky.
I'm not naive enough to think these people didn't already exist, although I imagine the majority of the posters in this story are probably cowards, just trying to fuel their knackered confidence by threatening to forcefully deflower some poor, unsuspecting politician. That said, I think the time has come for some organisation, be it the police, the Government or the coastguard, to step into this online abuse debate and start kicking some ass and imprisoning people, if only to make the next berk thinking of making such a threat to think again.
It's either that or people growing up and accepting other people's points of view. Zing!
No, me neither.
I'm a pretty liberal cat, but even I think rape is bad; wrong even. Whilst I can't argue about its ability to get the point across, it's not the most subtle of argumentative tools. What's wrong with opening a debate, putting your collective points across and agreeing that ultimately it's a futile argument; Chelsee Healey is fit and THAT'S THE BLOODY END OF IT, OK?
I need not tell you this whole rape kerboodle started when a female MP had the temerity, the brass neck, the sheer bloody-mindedness, to campaign to have the image of a female on the back of a new bank note. Now, as far as feminist ideals go, this is towards the bottom of the scale in my mind. It's not as if they're women-only bank notes, usable only by the fairer sex. Nor does it represent the final emasculation of the male species, as the last image of a man is finally scrubbed from our currency as those bra-sporting period-havers finally wrestle control from men and bring in their terrifying regime.
The reaction to this woman's ultimately successful campaign was misguided at best; concerning at worst. Numerous threats of rape were made against this woman within minutes of the news breaking. Not belittling her cause, not slagging her off for her choice of woman to appear on the bank note, not even congratulation. No, "I'm gon' rape you, dog" was the gist of a myriad misogynists' responses.
Thankfully, the Feds haven't hung about, and a couple of arrests have already been made. What perhaps surprises me most about this is that tweets or Facebook posts are widely available and pretty damning in their content. If you were to threaten to rape someone in the street, you could at least play the 'he said, she said' card. If you go and write it down and broadcast it on that Internet, your defence is at best shaky.
I'm not naive enough to think these people didn't already exist, although I imagine the majority of the posters in this story are probably cowards, just trying to fuel their knackered confidence by threatening to forcefully deflower some poor, unsuspecting politician. That said, I think the time has come for some organisation, be it the police, the Government or the coastguard, to step into this online abuse debate and start kicking some ass and imprisoning people, if only to make the next berk thinking of making such a threat to think again.
It's either that or people growing up and accepting other people's points of view. Zing!
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