Miley and Madonna: Faux Feminism, Selective Outrage and Beetlejuice?

Every few years a performer does something that gets everybody talking. In the 80's it was Madonna wearing a massive cone bra and humping the stage, in the 90's it was Marilyn Manson wearing a creepy nude suit, a few years ago it was Lady Gaga wearing a bunch of meat and now it's Miley Cyrus sticking her tongue out and humping anything in sight. Each of them have garnered a reaction, some of them mixed and some predominately negative. Miley falls into the latter. Why is that? What makes one act of humping of simulated stage humping better than another?

When Madonna made her controversy some people were outraged. It was new and some thought it was obscene. Other's thought it was liberating and a show of expression. While some branded her a whore other's branded her a hero for women. As the years have passed most people look at her older performances now in a positive light. Why not the same with Miley? The reaction has been mostly negative. Is it her age? Do some people have trouble dropping her Disney image? Is it because her father donned a terrible mullet and blemished country music with his terrible single? Why is one lauded and one condemned.  One can't really blame Miley Cyrus for acting out, even if a little overboard, after being held as a wholesome little girl for most of her life. That might make anyone act crazy and go "Look I'm not a kid anymore", though most probably wouldn't hump a Robin Thicke dressed as Beetlejuice or a douchebag referee but hey everybody grows up in a different way. Women always bristle over the slut label women get for their actions while it's never applied to men for the same things. So why are they throwing it around now. The outrage seems a bit selective here.

Speaking of Robin Thicke and selective outrage let's talk about Blurred Lines for a bit. A lot of backlash among the female populace for the song and the music video. The song can be interpreted to mean a number of things and some of them could be cause for a negative reaction. The video however, not so much. There are women complaining about the scantily clad girls in the video. Do they also complain about an almost naked guy in a Calvin Klein ad? Your cries of "This video is terrible because it objectifies women!" are quickly dismissed when you go watch Magic Mike right afterwards. Just sayin. Then there's people getting upset over the age difference of the male performers in the video and the age of the dancers. These dancers are adults not child brides in Nigeria. Did these same people fuss about Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore? Doubt it.

It's time for "feminists" to start using the same standard for every case. Like when people cry racism over everything it disrespects the real victims of racism or sexism in the world. They do them no favors when they stomp their feet and say "I'm mad about something". Will they ever get it? Probably not. People will still cry over spilled milk and Miley will continue to stick her tongue out any chance she gets. Such is life.