by Susan Keeping

Created on: May 18, 2008

I just bought the June Vanity Fair issue that features the "controversial" photographs of Miley Cyrus. I didn't buy it for that reason, I bought the magazine because of the cover and the article about Robert F. Kennedy. The fact that he is the cover story has been largely overshadowed by this latest "scandal".

I saw the photographs of Miley Cyrus in the magazine. Actually, I was surprised that there are only the two; two that I have seen published everywhere else. They are not that shocking to me. I don't feel that they portend the end of civilization as we know it. They are quite attractive photographs; Annie Leibovitz is an amazing photographer. It might not have been the best decision for her and her parents to make but it has been made.

This whole controversy reminds me of when I was a teenager in the 1970s and David Cassidy posed nude for Rolling Stone magazine; coincidentally, those photographs were also taken by Annie Leibovitz. The two nude photographs were tastefully cropped. There were the same cries from concerned parents and the media back then. Cassidy was in his 20's at the time and an adult, but many of his fans were as young as eight-years-old. In the long run, I don't think it damaged his career. I don't think it corrupted me beyond repair after I saw the photographs and read the article.

Is Miley Cyrus giving the right image to the youth of today in this photo spread? Maybe not.
Are the photographs too "adult"? Maybe. But, as a reporter said in a column I read in my local newspaper, at least she doesn't dress like a "skank" who is putting it all out there for all to see, like so many other young girls and 'tweens and those they look up to do.

What bothers me about this whole controversy is that people are willing to bypass their own parental responsibilities onto the teenage star of a television show. It is up to the parents to make sure their child is influenced in a positive way by them. Parents must teach their children that what you see on television is not real. Miley Cyrus is playing a character named Hannah Montana. If a child is raised with love and is taught to be confident in their own skin, they should not have to look towards a celebrity to learn how to act or how to feel. It is also up to parents to try and make sure that their children are not overly influenced by peer pressure. Saying they can't do anything about it is a cop-out, in my opinion.

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