So Miley Cyrus has had pictures taken for Vanity Fair which some claim to be shocking and sexualising the teen star. Time and again commentators berate the girl for being a "poor role model", seeming to think that this picture is going to cause a global wave of evil, with young girls wanting to put on make-up and wear bedsheets. One blogger has been described the picture as looking like a "freshly f*cked slut". Apart from the obvious question about how this seemingly moral blogger knows what a "freshly f*cked slut" looks like, the whole furore shows how modern society is increasingly unhinged, and that looking to celebrities to act as role models for one's kids is an act of parental irresponsibility.
When I was in the States last summer I saw the Hannah Montana show on TV a couple of times, and frankly speaking I would find the image of the teen schoolgirl's pop star alter ego more disturbing than the pictures by Annie Leibovitz. Disney protrays itself as the guardian of family values in the US, and yet here is a clearly pre-pubescent girl prancing around a stage in a tiny skirt, pop socks and belly revealing top - if that isn't sexualising the teen star then I really don't what is. Or is it a case that people like their role models as "innocent" fantasies rather than womanly fantasties?
If something offends, don't bang on about it relentlessly, turn off the TV and provide your kids with a different role model - you could even try being one yourself.
Yes the media is pervasive, yes celebrities are everywhere, yes the TV has an off switch.
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