My two cents on the VMAs

 
Alright, I told myself I wasn’t going to weigh in on this. Yet EVERY SOUL I know on the internet has, so here I go.

I wasn’t allowed to watch Much Music (the Canadian MTV…significantly more tame) until I was 13 years old. Period. That was a rule and since my Mama raised me to respect her and her guidance, I obeyed.

I was allowed to watch CMT. Let me tell you, those country music videos are racy ;)

I didn’t watch the VMAs. Why? Because I don’t care. Although I love music, I have never really been that into music videos. I can completely respect the level of production and art that goes into them, but it’s just not my thing. I’d rather just listen to the lyrics and music.

That being said, I have seen the music video for We Can’t Stop by Miley Cyrus. Honestly people, what were you expecting? She twerks and motorboats her way through the entire video. Why would the performance be any different?

Listen, I am not going to get into her right to express her adult sexuality or whether or not she went to far. I will leave that for EVERY OTHER parent blogger on the internet. Instead, I would like to talk about where our job as parent’s comes into play.

Now, I can respect that I know little of what I am talking about yet, since my daughter is only 3. However, less than 10 years ago, I was still a teenager. I’m a youngin in this blogging world. I remember what it was like.

Was I influenced by artists? Of course I was. I saw the video for Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain right before I went to a grade 6 dance. I promptly changed into a white belly shirt with jeans and a denim jacket. I had natural long brown curly hair and thought I was the second sexy coming of Shania at a mere 12 years old.

No, I don’t have pictures. But I’m sure I looked awesome.

I remember my mom telling me I looked cute. I asked her if I looked like Shania and she giggled, but reminded me that Shania is a grown women, putting on a performance for a video. That I only had to look like me, in whatever made me comfortable.

This is a lesson I am glad I remembered when I was 15 and resisted the urge to come to school in plaid mini, button up and pigtails like the rest of my Britney Spears crazed peers.  For the record, I was also BritBrit crazed, I just didn’t feel the need to dress like her.

Maybe I feel differently because I grew up loving theater. I spent much of my spare time in different characters and creating performances. I understood that what I saw on TV wasn’t realistic. It was an act.

The performance by Miley Cyrus at the VMAs was just that. A performance. An act. It is our job as parents to make sure that our kids know that. That they understand the difference. If they don’t understand the difference, than they might not be old enough for the VMAs.

No judgement here. Each parent can make their own decisions. I do know I will not be letting my kids watch teen geared stations until they are teens.

I know that might be an uphill battle. I am sure with the likes of YouTube at sleepovers, Lilly will be exposed to much more than I would like, much earlier than I would like.

Ideally speaking, it’s a damn good thing she has her mother to help her understand that twerking is a dance move reserved for pop performances and not the high school dance floor.

Comments

  1. says

    I thought her performance was distasteful. I agree that parents have to monitor what their children are doing when they are online, watching tv, ect. It is sad that you have to be careful what you watch on television these days.

    We don’t watch a ton of television in our house for this vary reason.

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