Flap About Vanity Fair!

Like most people, I had heard about a controversial photo shoot involving teen music idol Miley Cyrus and Vanity Fair magazine. According to the flap, Miley posed in some rather risque photos for the spread. She now says she's embarrassed about the pictures and her parents say Vanity Fair took advantage of her.

I say....BALONEY. I checked out both the Vanity Fair article and the photos. I then watched the video Vanity Fair posted on its website of the shoot to prove they didn't coerce her. Both Miley's parents were there. Her father posed in one of the pictures with her. The photo causing the huge stir shows Miley sitting in bed, topless and her breasts covered only by a sheet. She's 15 years old! Her parents WERE there as she posed for this picture. They APPROVED of their FIFTEEN year old child posing semi-nude.

In the end, this comes down to the parents. They allowed it to happen. Obviously, the parents are far more concerned with their daughter's career than with protecting her from bad decisions. Then, when the photos came out and everyone was shocked, rather than admit to their own bad judgment, they blame the magazine. They even go so far as to say it's not fair for people to judge Miley as a role model.

Miley is a role model. Her success began as Hannah Montanna, a Disney creation. She was marketed to pre-teens and tweens. Fair or not, that put her in the spotlight and made her a role model to the youth of today. Many of them model their own lives after their heroes, and Miley Cyrus became their hero. Her being 15 doesn't matter when it comes to being in the spotlight. Every aspect of her life, regardless of her age is now open for public scrutiny based on her choice of becoming a public icon. Blaming others for what comes out because of it is foolish.

And blaming Vanity Fair for the photos is totally wrong. Miley and her parents recently said in another interview that Miley is trying to change her Hannah Montanna image because she has, at age 15, outgrown it. And, I again emphasize, Miley's parents were there for the entire shoot. They watched her pose for the racy pictures and did nothing to stop it. It's a little late now to blame the magazine because they chose to act as Miley's business managers rather than as her parents.