# There are currently SIX article on the Huffpo regarding Miley's performance at the VMAs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343 "2013-08-27T23:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/61 "2013-08-29T03:46:54Z")
Further thoughts… Her father absolutely has sheltered her. The last I heard of her before now was a photo shoot at which Daddy was very present and very restrictive. That said, I’m not convinced this was all completely signed off on…at least not by Billy. In fact, I’d be interested to know what he’s thinking right now… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/62 "2013-08-29T06:26:30Z")
> [@nion](#): > > Her father absolutely has sheltered her. The last I heard of her before now was a photo shoot at which Daddy was very present and very restrictive. That photoshoot was with Annie “The Only Living Professional Photographer Anyone Knows By Name” Leibowitz. When Miley and company say they were following her directions to the letter, I believe them. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/63 "2013-08-29T13:32:45Z")
Hey Miley, put your tongue back in your mouth before you put someone’s eye out. Then go put some clothes on. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/64 "2013-08-29T13:52:46Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > No one has worshiped and sacrificed more at the altar of caliphygious womanhood than have I, but I’ve personally never found booty-quaking/twerking especially erotic, and I always thought it’s supposed to be a goof on sexuality, like playing ring toss with an erection. I guess I am old. Certainly, my last “how many beer mugs can I lift off the table at once” contest was long ago. Strippers have been doing that for a long time, too. I don’t think it’s sexy, either. But I assume that the attraction might be the fact that the woman is appears to actually wants (in fact, demands!) for you to look at her ass, when normally that kind of behavior is considered boorish. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/65 "2013-08-29T14:41:47Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Speculation around the iterwebz says that tongue stuff might have been caused by a big dose of MDMA. Which, AFAIC, was the entire song/show/act. All Miley is doing is saying: This right here is _exactly_ what is going on in the clubs right now. Booty popping, twerking, booty clapping, and lots of drugs and trippin’. I think even the teddy bears are an MDMA reference. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/66 "2013-08-29T16:31:57Z")
My wife and I watched a rerun last night. At one point she asked me, “Is this what our parents thought of The Beatles?” and I had to say yes, we’ve become our parents. Took a long time but it finally happened. OTOH, I haven’t seen anyone note that there was no rock at any point in the ceremony, not even in the nominees. (Best rock video was awarded off screen.) They’re holding the event in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, home to 1000 hipster bands, and not one mention of any of those. (Vampire Weekend presented, but they’re from Manhattan.) Why isn’t that the headline? Miley’s performance looked a lot different in context, too. She performs after Lady Gaga struts around in a “bikini” of three seashells held on by strings. And her duo with Robin Thicke was one of four [!] simultaneous performances going on, with lots of dancers gyrating in outfits about as small. The whole thing was pop spectacle, by kids for kids, a cynical blast of noise and movement. I’m not the target audience by miles. Miley’s song has 157 million YouTube hits. Offended, though? Also not by miles. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/67 "2013-08-29T16:52:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > My wife and I watched a rerun last night. At one point she asked me, “Is this what our parents thought of The Beatles?” and I had to say yes, we’ve become our parents. Well, the Beatles were actually good and had a lasting impact on music for decades to come. I doubt anyone will be saying the same for Miss Cyrus in 2063. Be sure to bookmark this thread though, in case I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/68 "2013-08-29T17:08:56Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Well, the Beatles were actually good and had a lasting impact on music for decades to come. I doubt anyone will be saying the same for Miss Cyrus in 2063. > > Be sure to bookmark this thread though, in case I’m wrong. I completely agree with you. But you couldn’t convince any parents of that in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/69 "2013-08-29T17:52:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > How?.. I didn’t see the VMAs, but I did happen to read this article in Slate today on what some see as racism in her performance: [http://www.slate.com/articles/double\_x/doublex/2013/08/miley\_cyrus\_vma\_performance\_white\_appropriation\_of\_black\_bodies.html](http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/miley_cyrus_vma_performance_white_appropriation_of_black_bodies.html) > [@](#): > > …That is how black round female bodies become inferior. That is the inferiority Cyrus is ostensibly rooting against in “We Can’t Stop” when she encourages “homegirls with big butts” to reject the “haters” because “somebody loves [them].” Just who is that somebody is left unanswered, but I suspect it isn’t the white male audience for whom Cyrus performs her faux bisexual performance. That is choreographed for the white male gaze against a backdrop of dark, fat black female bodies and slightly more normative café au lait slim bodies because the juxtaposition of her sexuality with theirs is meant to highlight Cyrus’ supremacy, not challenge it. Consider it the racialized pop culture version of a bride insisting that all of her bridesmaids be hideously clothed on her wedding day… Again, I haven’t seen the performance, so I can’t comment on the article’s merits. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/70 "2013-08-29T18:47:03Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’m embarrassed to say that, as a result of the coverage, I had to google “twerking.” Which shouldn’t be done from your work computer, btw. And get off my lawn! Same here. I had to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/71 "2013-08-29T19:27:49Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Same here. I had to look it up. We were discussing it among the “get off my lawn” crowd at work. I thought it was something along the lines of a selfie. Had to look it up. Miley’s schtick makes me wonder what the future Mileys are going to be like in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/72 "2013-08-29T19:29:38Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > The huge amount of media coverage is because sex sells but is somewhat taboo, so that media want to show the video but have to package it correctly. > > As a consequence of the taboo, it is not societally acceptable for a respectable news outlet to have an item that says “We know you like being mildly sexually aroused so here’s a video of a pretty barely out of teens girl prancing around in a skimpy costume simulating sex”. > > However, as a consequence of that taboo, it is societally acceptable for a respectable news outlet to have an item that says “People are outraged, OUTRAGED about a video of a barely out of teens pretty girl prancing around in a skimpy costume simulating sex which we are showing you in the interests of allowing you to see how OUTRAGEOUS it is”. This. Exactly this. Mainstream media cannot simply ENJOY something sexy, they have to CONDEMN a sexy thing even as they pimp it out to their audience. It’s a fairly creepy phenomenon, makes you respect good, honest porn a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/73 "2013-08-29T19:38:52Z")
I’ve always seen the “twerk” move as a sort of degrading thing done as a sort of sexual objectification of the women doing it. Often times you’ll see the women down low doing that motor-butt shit with the men standing around them pouring alcohol (or whatever) down on their backs and asses while they do it. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/74 "2013-08-29T19:39:09Z")
I can’t remember the last time I even stubbed my digital toe on MTV’s festering corpse and I’m not even going make the effort to download a pirate copy of the VMA’s. If want to rot my brain I’ll get some \*[N. fowleri](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri) \*amoebae to do the job right and proper. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/75 "2013-08-29T19:40:24Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > This. Exactly this. Mainstream media cannot simply ENJOY something sexy, they have to CONDEMN a sexy thing even as they pimp it out to their audience. It’s a fairly creepy phenomenon, makes you respect good, honest porn a lot more. “Sex sells” is generally about having attractive looking people in ads. That applies to the vast majority of advertising. What Miley was doing a bit more on the side of “sexual”. There is a distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/76 "2013-08-29T20:42:05Z")
The whole performance didn’t come off as shocking so much as stupid and embarrassing. I honestly had a difficult time watching this girl make such a damn fool of herself in front of everyone, starting with the fact that she sounded dreadful, especially when she started shrieking out the opening verse of Blurred Lines. The outfit was ridiculous too, and not because it was “shocking” or “slutty”. Honestly, she’d have looked more dignified performing naked than in a leotard with a picture of a stoned Chuck E Cheeze about to vomit a case of Bud Light. Whoever mentioned that it seemed like a goof on sex was spot on. I’m not saying the girl can’t be sexy, I’m saying that this performance made her seem like a dirty cartoon parody of sexy. [Speaking of cartoon sexuality, Miley twerks on works of art made me laugh pretty good.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/jenlewis/miley-cyrus-twerks-on-famous-paintings) ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/77 "2013-08-29T22:38:13Z")
> [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](#): > > Man, I hope nobody asks her to do the national anthem. :eek: You ever see someone twerk in 3/4 time. It ain’t pretty. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/78 "2013-08-29T22:48:52Z")
So what’s the Straight Dope Consensus on Miley Cyrus and Illuminati and/or reptilians? More or less likely based on tongue dancing? ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/79 "2013-08-29T22:50:05Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > You ever see someone twerk in 3/4 time. It ain’t pretty. Unless you get some syncopation going with the left and right cheeks like some of the great ones. I saw this stripper once . . . :eek: 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/80 "2013-08-29T22:54:50Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > I only learned the word “twerking” a few months ago. I knew what the dance was, but I didn’t know it had a name. Don’t feel bad. It only showed up in the Oxford Dictionary [just now:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twerking) > [@](#): > > In 2013, “twerk” was added to the Oxford Dictionary Online. The dictionary said the word had been around for 20 years, but the evidence for it to be included in the dictionary had tipped the scale when U.S. pop star Miley Cyrus gave a controversial and headline producing twerking dance at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25, 2013. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343.md?page=5)