First off, I’d like to offer a formal apology for deceiving you if you are reading this. If you’re anything like me, you probably looked at the kicker, saw it was not “greek life” or “integration” and sighed with relief as you started to read the column. But I’m not going to offer you a fresh, new topic you haven’t encountered yet: I am going to write about Miley Cyrus. (Again, I’m sorry.)
Cyrus has been dominating entertainment news as of late, beginning with her music video for “We Can’t Stop” and most recently involving her breakup with long-time fiancé Liam Hemsworth. I’ve heard every sort of conversation about her repeated over and over ad infinitum, but I have noticed a glaring hole in the public’s criticism of her recent behavior.
Everyone, it seems, was appalled and disgusted by her performance of “We Can’t Stop” at the Video Music Awards in August. Her nude bathing suit paired with the fact that she twerked on Robin Thicke during his performance of “Blurred Lines” had virtually everybody talking about the stunt the next day. It was “gross” how sexually she behaved; it made people “uncomfortable.”
These sentiments echoed the comments made by the same people in regards to the song’s music video. The focus was placed on her so-called promiscuity, but no one had anything to say about the problematic implications of Cyrus’ treatment of black culture.
In an interview with Vibe magazine, Timothy Thomas, half of the songwriting duo who penned “We Can’t Stop,” said that Cyrus had requested her latest album to have an “urban” sound – “something that just feels black.”
One of the definitions of appropriation is “to take or make use of without authority or right.” Miley Cyrus does not have the authority or the right to try and “sound black,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. The way she is treating black culture is like a piece of clothing. She can put on her T-shirt that says “URBAN” across the front and wear it for the day, but at the end of the day, she gets to take it off that night and still have the privileges normally afforded to white people. Black artists can’t take off that T-shirt, because it’s not a T-shirt; it’s their heritage and their roots.
What Cyrus is doing is taking bits and pieces of a culture and choosing the parts that are most fun for her to act upon. That is blatant cultural appropriation, and that is what she is doing that’s wrong. Not grinding on Robin Thicke – I noticed no one blamed him, the married man, for the performance – not riding naked on a wrecking ball, not acting overtly sexual in any manner. When we bring up Miley Cyrus in conversation, we should be talking about her commoditization of black culture so she could stand out in the modern pop landscape, not that foam finger.
Beth Lindly is a junior majoring in journalism. Her column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.
