# 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:** 5
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/81 "2013-08-29T23:02:05Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > 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. Wow. Where have you been hanging out? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/82 "2013-08-29T23:09:28Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > “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. It is a distinction without a relevant difference in this context. Media owners drool about items like this but they aren’t drooling over Miss Cyrus. They are drooling over pageviews. ---
**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, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/83 "2013-08-29T23:18:53Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Wow. Where have you been hanging out? Magic City, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/84 "2013-08-29T23:42:19Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > We always called it ‘booty poppin’. I started hearing that ‘twerk’ word a few years ago, as southern Hip hop became more popular. I still call it booty poppin’, the internet’s embrace of the word ‘twerk’ notwithstanding. We had to change the name when [bootypopping](http://www.bootypop.com/) took on a new meaning. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/85 "2013-08-30T00:03:21Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > We had to change the name when [bootypopping](http://www.bootypop.com/) took on a new meaning. Oh my. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/86 "2013-08-30T00:09:39Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Wow. Where have you been hanging out? Haha, I meant seen in music videos, etc. ---
**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 30, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/87 "2013-08-30T00:32:56Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Haha, I meant seen in music videos, etc. Damn. I was forming this image of you hitting all the clubs with hot bootylicious babes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/88 "2013-08-30T02:53:24Z")
I love the racism angle. She sticks her face into a black woman’s huge ass, and that’s racist? Because the black woman has a big butt? Or did that somehow imply ALL black women have big butts? This one was strange. The teddy teddy bears = WTF? It was sad, really. just doing it to get attention and basically whore herself out to shock the world. The tongue was the most disturbing part of it. I don’t think its cool to slam her lack of ass or breasts as a way to judge the thing… I think she’s built like a 13 year old boy, and odds are, not too many 13 year old boys would fill out that outfit either. She’s a late bloomer… Or maybe she will never have a “booty and boobs”. Who cares? Maybe next time, look at her before shoving on stage to make a fool out of herself. I am officially old. I did not know the song, the old guy she was ramming herself into while he played porno-actor from behind, the purpose of the bears, the foam finger fucking, or anything else. It wasn’t even erotic or sexually stimulating. It was just plain sad. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/89 "2013-08-30T03:04:21Z")
Girl Talk’s 2010 mashup “All Day” was the first time I heard ‘twerk’, so I had to look it up. Can I get a twerk twerk bounce bounce clap clap? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/90 "2013-08-30T04:44:57Z")
I haven’t read the entire thread, but I’ve been wanting to talk about Miley for a couple weeks, and this thread presents an opportunity. > [@obfusciatrist](#): > > I have no issue with any raunchiness. Just with it having been done so poorly. > [@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. > [@nion](#): > > I think the comparison to Britney Spears was an apt one. > > Here’s some young thing trying to break out of the family-friendly teenybopper mold by being over-the-top raunchy and sexual. > > I cringed only because of how clumsy and amateurish it was (look at me! I’m a sexual ADULT!) I watched Miley’s “[We Can’t Stop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUvu1mlWco)” video before I saw the VMA performance, but both performances hit me the same way. Basically, what I saw was a young woman trying to be “sexy” without having the first clue as to what “sexy” means. Honestly, I thought Miley was “sexier” before she started _trying_ so hard to be “sexy”. Though, honestly, I’ve always seen Miley as more “cute/pretty” than “sexy”. From what I’ve seen lately, Miley is showing all the signs of somebody who’s had their every move controlled by “handlers” for too many years, and now she’s all “I’m a grownup! I’mma do what I want!” Basically, postponed teenage rebellion. Some have made comparisons to Britney Spears. I will say that the comparisons are not apt. I’m not a Britney Spears fan — I’m too old for that, and as a musician I’ve never been impressed by her singing talent. But I admire Britney the same way I admire Madonna (who I _am_ old enough to be a fan of - Madonna came out while I was in high school). Britney, like Madonna, is a _performer_. And honestly, Britney was sexier (at, what, 15 years old?) in the _[Baby One More Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4)_ video than Miley is in her _We Can’t Stop_ video. Maybe it’s because Britney is a trained dancer where Miley is not, or maybe Britney was/is simply a better performer. But Britney started the “sexy” thing with Baby One More Time, and everything she did afterwards was, like Madonna, a progression. She was subtly sexual, without crossing the line into “offensive”, and _slowly_ stepped it up until she was a legal adult, and _then_ she turned up the volume. But she only turned it up a couple more notches from what had come before, and it didn’t look like such a big, drastic change. Miley, OTOH, went from “pure and innocent” to “skank” almost overnight. And it’s unfortunate. I’ve always thought she was a lovely girl, but what I’ve seen recently I’ve found utterly repulsive. I also find myself sadly shaking my head when I read how Miley dismisses her older songs as being something she did when she was younger, and now has no connection to those songs. Now, she wants to do more “grownup” music. Unfortunately, from my point of view (being close to Billy Ray’s age - he’s only 5 years older than I am), Miley’s earlier material actually consisted of a lot of good songs. And, point of fact, Miley is the far superior singer when compared to Britney or Madonna. Listen to _[The Climb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs)_. It has great (if perhaps trite) lyrics, a good melody, and Miley sings it with conviction and emotion. And yet she puts that behind herself, in favor of something she considers more “mature”. And that more “mature” music (We Can’t Stop) is one of the most utterly generic-sounding attempts at “hip-hop” I’ve ever heard. Miley, you’re not a hip-hop artist. Stop trying to be one. And stop trying to be “sexy”. You’re already a beautiful girl. Don’t ruin that. And keep your tongue in your mouth. What you’re doing is just repulsive. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/91 "2013-08-30T05:45:56Z")
Looks like there’ll be a really good corn crop. ---
**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 30, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/92 "2013-08-30T15:43:10Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I think she’s built like a 13 year old boy, and odds are, not too many 13 year old boys would fill out that outfit either. She’s a late bloomer… Or maybe she will never have a “booty and boobs”. Dude, she really, really is not built like a 13 year old boy. You should be ashamed of yourself for forcing me to search for these photos, like the ones at [noparse][The 15 Sexiest Photos of Miley Cyrus—Maxim’s No. 1 on the ‘Hot 100’](http://m.brobible.com/girls/article/the-20-sexiest-photos-of-miley-cyrus)[/noparse] ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/93 "2013-08-30T16:08:18Z")
the inventor of the foam finger is upset that his invention is being degraded. > **[Foam finger inventor says Miley Cyrus 'degraded an honorable icon'](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/foam-finger-inventor-says-miley-cyrus-degraded-honorable-223255596.html)** > > By Sara Morrison LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The man credited with inventing the foam finger - like the one Miley Cyrus brought to the forefront of national attention at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards - is not her No. 1 fan. Iowa native Steve... ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/94 "2013-08-30T16:54:31Z")
I didn’t watch the VMAs. My only impression of it was drawn from the reactions of my nieces who posted their reactions on Facebook in real time. Something like this: a) Miley is embarrassing b) And disgusting! c) And that dude is too old for her. Ick. And, then… a) \*NSync 4ever! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/95 "2013-08-30T17:39:30Z")
> [@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. I _do_ respect good, honest porn, which may be one reason I’ve never much liked twerking/booty-shaking/whatever. It… blurs the lines, let’s say. It’s the posterior equivalent of a woman juggling her own tits: not without appeal, provided you’re no fan of nuance and in a hurry to get straight to the point. But pretty sleazy outside of a strip club or brothel, where it just comes off as trying too hard—and awkwardly—to project “sexy.” It’s a short-cut, a cheater move. Ersatz eroticism. We’re now one step closer to sniffing each other’s asses when we’re introduced. Not that I give a squealing shart about Miley Cyrus, whom I’d never even heard of until whatsherface with the teeth started imitating her on SNL. She’s free to look as moronic as she likes, but I am bemused by all the attention being given to her clown performance (of which I am now equally guilty). ---
**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 30, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/96 "2013-08-30T17:57:36Z")
Isn’t there anyone who sees the parallel between Miley’s thrusting and Elvis’s swiveling? Aren’t we in the same territory a few generations later? What’s the matter with these kids today? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/97 "2013-08-30T18:52:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > We had to change the name when [bootypopping](http://www.bootypop.com/) took on a new meaning. Was ‘ass pads’ already taken? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/98 "2013-08-30T21:49:04Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Isn’t there anyone who sees the parallel between Miley’s thrusting and Elvis’s swiveling? Aren’t we in the same territory a few generations later? What’s the matter with these kids today? I made exactly that comparison on a friend’s Facebook page when she posted about banning Miley from her daughters’ media. People today don’t even think of Elvis’s hip shaking as sexual; it’s just another dance move. A little boy imitating Elvis is cute, not disturbing. In 50 years people will think the same thing about little girls twerking. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/99 "2013-08-31T02:38:42Z")
My sense of this performer is that her true personality is somewhat closer to Hannah Montana than this new character she is acting out on direction of whoever is trying to market her into an adult performer. And she acts even less convincingly in this “bad girl” role than she did in HM. As a marketing tool though it’s been predictably successful, even as clutzy and forced as it was, trying so hard to be edgy when she is really Wonder Bread. Lots of people who never would have watched her perform clicked on a YouTube link to see what the fuss was about. It’s got her name said and her new image entrenched. We all love to follow what we think will be train wrecks and many will pay attention to her just to see when it happens. If you are not a train wreck about to happen and you do not possess an exceptional amount of talent then getting enough people to believe you are a train wreck in progress is the best chance you got. We the public are so predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343/100 "2013-08-31T04:23:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Don’t feel bad. It only showed up in the Oxford Dictionary [just now:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twerking) Prolly because it’s a fairly new term. In the movie **Rize** the young dancers that are the focus of the film refer to the move as the “stripper dance”, and that movie is just from 2005. And frankly, if I were to think of anyone who would know what the move was called it would be the people who invented krumpin’ and clowning’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-currently-six-article-on-the-huffpo-regarding-mileys-performance-at-the-vmas/667343.md?page=6)