Miley Cyrus Impact On Society

Have you ever felt the pressures of trying to fit in with the ever-changing trends and fads within your peer group? These pressures can be difficult enough to handle just within a small group of friends or a community, let alone the magnifying glass of the entire country and world. Many celebrities and professional athletes are subject to these scenarios every day of their lives by having their every move watched and every word listened to by millions. The pressures felt by these men and women include more than what brand of clothing they wear, what kind of car they drive, or what kind of food they eat; they have to be conscious of even the simplest day-to-day choices that they make including whom they are seen associating with or where or how they spend their free time. If, by some reason, one does not follow the “path” that his or her audience expects, there could be major implications on that person’s career. As a country, I believe that we are very guilty of forcing our standards upon those that we admire. In the United States, we claim that we are proponents of the idea of free will. However, in the respect of societal pressures on our “A-Listers,” we heavily discourage this concept. This is painstakingly clear in the case of child celebrities (specifically, Miley Cyrus and her roles as Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana): While young, the American public sees the actress as the character she is portraying (which, in this case, is a typical beautiful, smart, playful, innocent young woman). And, inevitably, when the role is over, the actress continues to be seen as her previous character. We, as a country, pigeonholed Miley into one certain role and feel she should stay in that role forever. Because of this, I believe we force former child celebrities to feel the need to drop their previously innocent image for a more grown up, mature one. If or when a star does decide to try to change his or her image like Miley did, many times the change is met with a very polarizing result: heavy criticism and disappointment, or a newfound sense of love and adoration. As stated before, one prime example of this scenario is the controversy over Miley Cyrus. Several years ago, Cyrus starred in her breakout role of a young girl living a dual life (a famous singer and a normal teenage girl) in the Disney series “Hannah Montana”. When asked in a survey about Miley Cyrus, 100% of the responders reported that they had learned who Miley Cyrus was through her role as Hannah Montana. Because of this, many young fans began to view Miley as Hannah, even after the show had ended. …show more content…
50% of the surveyed population responded saying that they hate Miley’s new lifestyle. In contrast, only 13% stated that they love Miley’s recent changes. However, even through this radical change in her lifestyle and all of the heavy criticism and opposition, Miley has only enhanced her popularity. She has gained fans by expanding her fan base, and she continues to produce chart-topping hit songs. So, how can a musical artist like Miley Cyrus have the amount of success that she does and still be “wrong” in her actions? The only explanation is that our society is forcing our own standards upon her. The survey results also showed that 100% of the responders agree that our general public does force our own personal standards upon the figure-heads of our society in some …show more content…
Is she not allowed the freedom to act in whatever fashion she chooses? In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Cyrus herself proposed another explanation for some of her actions. She claims that some of her actions are actually the result of anxiety and uncomfortableness. Cyrus explained that wearing fully-covering clothing gives her anxiety; she feels restricted. Miley also said that her now-famous tongue pose came from a nervous habit that she has about being on a red carpet. She clarified that sticking her tongue out for a picture feels more natural to her than forcing an awkward smile (Ellen, Ellen). If this is the case, who are we to tell her what she is doing is “right” or