Hannah Montana, a 15-year-old pop icon, is being attacked in the media for photos that Vanity Fair published of her taken during a photo shoot Vanity Fair conducted of the young girl. One picture, in particular, is being held over Montana’s head where she is posed in just a sheet covering the front of her. Shame on the person who told the girl to dress and pose such a way, and the photographer who took the pictures! A 15-year-old doesn’t have the maturity to decipher what will appear trashy and what will not. Montana told reporters that she thought the photo was “artsy.” I can see why she would think that, but by looking at the picture myself, I can’t see how the adult photographer could justify taking such a photo, and how Vanity Fair could publish the image. The magazine had to have known that this was going to start a stir, which means more publicity and more copies sold. Shame on Vanity Fair.
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Mel King
Shame on Vanity Fair? Yes, but also shame on Miley and her parents. My daughters know that having one’s picture taken sans-top is simply off-limits, whether or not the photo is taken from front, side, or behind.
As to fifteen year-olds not having the maturity “to decipher what will appear trashy and what will not”, what planet are you from? Kids much younger than 15, if raised with a sense of modesty, can look at most pop stars and tell you whether or not they are dressed nicely or poorly, and whether or not such outfits are “bad” or “good”. Kids of fifteen years, in most other cultures, already carry adult responsibilities. The development of extension of this formalized period of “childhood” has developed only in recent centuries.
Girls need to understand the visual orientation of men from a young age, so they will understand why we have standards of dress and modesty. One need not get too graphic, either–the details of the message increase as a girl matures. And I’m not talking about requiring the prairie dresses that have been in the news recently, or referring to full-body coverings like those used in some Islamic countries, but simply a choice to be modest. A girl (or woman) can dress beautifully without dressing suggestively or seductively.
Shame on you for excusing this girl and her family allowing this photo shoot, and for not reserving the right to review the photos before releasing them for publication. She’s not new to all of this.
Not long ago, it was Brittany Spears who seemed to be a wholesome young lady until she started to become more and more suggestive and revealing. She (and her mother) justified it by noting that it was what was expected in the industry. Shameful!
Stop cutting these celebrities slack. They already have agents and contracts and access to lawyers. If someone else were to try to post photos of them to a tabloid or some other publication without consent there would be a legal firestorm.
If a fifteen year-old girl isn’t able to discern the appropriatenes of a Miley-esque photo shoot, God help her.
My earlier comment did not make it here yet, but here’s my follow up. You think Miley Cyrus, the star of Hannah Montana got duped into these photos? Go to Vanity Fair’s website and look at the slideshow and the video of the shoot. She knew what she was doing. Besides, she’s the daughter of country legend Billy Ray Cyrus. Would you still have us believe her family didn’t know what to expect from Vanity Fair and the photographer?
Thank you for your opinion, and I respect it, but ultimately I still hold Vanity Fair responsible for discerning right, wrong, and appropriate in their own publication. They know what they’re doing, far more than a 15-year-old.
As for cutting celebrities slack, I could care less what they do, and we shouldn’t pay them as much attention as we do and presently are.
I was 15 once, and I do believe that such a photo shoot would seem glamorous at that age, not knowing or maybe even caring, about the repercussions.
If Vanity Fair makes money from this photograph, it will exploit another 15-tear-old girl in the future. Here is how to solve this problem. Don’t buy the magazine, no matter how curious you are to see the photo.
Country legend Billy Ray Cyrus? More like Country one hit
wonder. I do agree that the Cyrus family is as resonsible
for this as is Vanity Fair. They all know what they are doing, getting more publicity.
Jen,
where does personal accountability come into the picture? I agree that asking a 15 year old to take an inappropriate picture is wrong, but they (Vanity Fair) don’t care. They are out to just make money and controversy makes money. People need to be accountable for their actions…..lets try teaching that to people vs. giving them an out for not being responsbile.
I don’t disagree that Cyrus and her family have accountability in the mess as well. They should have known better and put a stop to it, I agree. I am really disgusted that a professional photographer and Vanity Fair staffers overseeing the shoot steered the photos in this direction. It gives me the creeps to picture her looking as she did, surrounded by adults, be it some were her family as well, and an adult photographer taking the pictures. I’m not trying to give anyone an out, I just get appauled when adults, who know better, take advantage of minors. That includeds her parents.
Yes, her parents should have stopped the direction the photos went in, I agree. As a parent, I can’t imagine letting something like that happen, no matter how much money was paid. It’s just so disheartening, all the way around. A good conscience is hard to find now-a-days, especially with companies and celebrity parents out to make a buck. But like I said, it is creepy, and unfortunately not uncommon these days, that adults who know better, have their hand in such dealings.
Jen - Thanks for the reply. I agree it is scary, but that is the world we have come to live in.