Raising Daughters

This is the controversial photo of Miley Cyrus that appeared in Vogue magazine. It was on the news for days because, at age 15, she posed "nude" in a magazine. I loved it when asked about the photo, some random actor said "What, the War in Iraq is over??? Surely it must be if there is this much news about a photo of Miley Cyrus." I could not agree more!

I have a few issues with this whole "controversy". First off, it was featured in Vogue magazine, so if the rest of the media had not made a big deal of it, I, (& probably nobody that I know) would have ever seen it.

Second, I find it an artistic photo taken by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. The media making it pornographic is just disgusting to me. Art and the human body is what we make of it. We have a painting hanging in our living room of a women showing her back & naked bum, Ariana doesn't think of it as pornography on our wall, but just a painting, like any other piece we have, I also showed Ariana the Miley picture and asked her what she thought. She said, "Her hair looks too poufy." She didn't even mention Miley's naked back or anything like that. Now, if I had let her see any of the negative media coverage on the photo, she would have run to school and said "Did you see Hannah Montana was naked in a magazine???" But, Ariana has been exposed to all different kinds of art from infancy with Baby Einstein, so I think she has a good grasp of art, the human body and appropriate exposure of the body.

I think the media should be more involved in why I can not find a one piece bathing suit for my daughter at major retailers. Why is it ok to make itsy bitsy bikinis for 4,5, 6 year olds for them to be exposed to numerous people out in public on beaches etc. Why is it that there are short shorts made for 4 year olds that have 'Cutie' written across the bum? Why are skirts for my daughter made so short that her 7 year old bum would be hanging out if I actually let her wear them?

Where are our priorities??? Make a huge deal about some random photo in an obscure fashion magazine, but overlook a country full of little girls running around worried about how their bums look in their short shorts and competing for the lowest cut tank top????