Miley Cyrus: Overly sexual or an empowered woman?

Miley Cyrus is undoubtably one of the most controversial stars of our time. From her music videos, to instagram posts, to her MTV VMA perfomances she is regualarly criticised for being overly sexual and acting inappropriately. Her skimpy (or lack of) clothing and provocative actions often cause a storm, but is she wrong? Is she behaving in a way we shouldn't be praising or is she actually an empowered twenty-something woman? Is it all just very clever PR?

Writing a piece for @KettleMag considering if Miley Cyrus is inappropriately sexual or an empowered woman. Thoughts anyone? #journorequest
— Laura Brown (@ljbrown26) August 21, 2015

Overly sexual?

The 2013 VMA award coverage was dominated by Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's perfomance together. Aside from all the issues surrounding 'Blurred Lines' as a song, Cyrus' dance moves and underwear-esque outfits came under fire. She was seen as 'shocking' and the word 'slut' was even used by many on Twitter. It seemed that her actions were just too much and she was pushing things too far for some people.

@ljbrown26 @KettleMag I think she's both, aware of her sexuality and is not afraid to use it, controversially or otherwise.
— Chantal Icilda (@MsChantall) August 21, 2015

It could be said that there was no need for her to push things as far as she did and to take things further than the original video. This criticism has been something which has continued in many other things that the star has done; anything she does is reported as shocking or a scandal. Many feel that given her fanbase of generally young females she should be 'classy' and tone down the things that she does in order to give them a good impression and not encourage them to follow suit.

@ljbrown26 @KettleMag Cyrus is a consenting adult…nobody blinks if a male artist is topless in a video
— Bridie Pearson-Jones (@bridiepjones) August 21, 2015

Empowered?

There's no doubt that Miley is a sexual young woman, but is it a totally bad thing? Is she actually just embracing female sexuality and putting it out there as something to embrace? Over the years women have always been seen as sexual and visual objects, especially within male music videos. Miley seems to be continuing with this but also putting herself at the forefront of it all. She's not shy about the way she acts or dresses and seems to be reflecting this across her social media and through public appearances. She exudes confidence and doesn't see the need to apologise for the way she acts, and why should she need to?

@ljbrown26 @KettleMag Male artists sexualising women is a bigger problem but faces far less criticism – and that's sexist.
— Alice Wolff (@wolff_alice) August 21, 2015

It may simply be that she is making these decisions herself and merely expressing how she feels, which happens to be more sexual than both the media and the public are used to. This embracing of female sexuality could be seen as something that we should be celebrating and praising Miley for doing, after all why shouldn't we challenge traditional stereotypes? She's taking control of her body and her actions, and surely that can only be a good thing.

@ljbrown26 @KettleMag inappropriately sexual. Do some women use 'sexual liberation' to mask that they really want men to lust after them?
— ARDNASSAC (@CassyNelly) August 21, 2015

Just good PR?

Though it seems that Miley is making all these choices herself, there has been some doubt as to whether it's all just good PR and causing a storm to get coverage. If that's the case then congratulations because it has been completely successful. Whatever it is, she's doing something right and getting people talking about women and female sexuality.