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Miley posed, but adults should be ashamed

Joye Brown

6:46 PM EDT, April 28, 2008

The photo of Miley Cyrus in the June 2008 issue of Vanity Fair taken by Annie Leibovitz that has everyone talking. (Annie Leibovitz exclusively for Vanity Fair)

Dear Miley,

You're right to be embarrassed about that photo shoot for Vanity Fair, but it's not your fault.

You're 15. And you're supposed to make mistakes.

But you should have been saved from this one.

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Where were the adults in the room? And what were they thinking?

And, no, it doesn't matter that Annie Leibovitz was the photographer. Heck, if she told you to smile while jumping off a visually stunning skyscraper, would you?

Looks to me like somebody said, "Hey Miley, how about shedding your top and posing with some expensive bed linen?

"Turn your head back, toward me, honey. And smile."

Click!

"That's beautiful!"

Well, no, the photo that shows most of your back, with your front covered by the sheet, is not beautiful.

It's a highly sexualized image. And for that, you are the one who deserves an apology, from the adults who know better.

Let me put it this way: If somebody asked my kids to do the same thing, I'd say no. And if the matter didn't end right there, somebody probably would get slapped.

And maybe that's the problem here.

Like it or not, you're a kid. And it doesn't matter how wealthy, talented or hardworking you are.

No adult in their right mind -- hey, uh, dad, are you listening? would let their young teen be so blatantly exploited. But wasn't that Billy Ray himself posing with his daughter in other shots during the very same photo shoot?

Because you are a celebrity (whatever that means these days), whatever you do is public. There's no running; no hiding, even for a kid who probably needs to.

And it gets worse.

Because now even more adults are piling on.

There's the news media -- and yes, that would include me. The studio bosses, who, I'm guessing, had a heavy hand in the apology handed out by your publicist yesterday.

And then comes the legion of parents who say, "Hey Miley, you're my kid's role model! How could you!"

Forget them, Miley.

The question they should be asking is: Why would I push fictional characters as role models for real-life children, especially impressionable tween-age girls? Because that's exactly what Hannah Montana and Miley the Marketing Juggernaut are.

Fake.

There are living role models out there. Lots of them. And it doesn't cost a king's ransom to see, or better yet, talk to them. To ask how they got to where they are; how they handled embarrassing situations.

Or better yet, how they survived adolescence.

Then, maybe something good can come out of this for you and your legion of fans.