Miley Cyrus has come a long way from the country-grown Hannah Montana star that America fell in love with. The official declaration of the new Cyrus was established with her infamous 2013 VMA performance, where she donned a racy leotard and did questionably inappropriate things to Robin Thicke with a foam finger. Since then, Cyrus has become known for her rebelliousness and eccentricity. She openly talks about using drugs and is constantly outdoing herself with crazier and more sexual antics than before. Just recently, on November 19, 2015, Cyrus did not disappoint and even shocked fans when she sported fake nude breasts and a prosthetic penis at the first show on her new tour, titled, “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz,” in Chicago, Illinois. Striking great controversy, as much of her material does, fans are left to wonder what the motivation is behind her crazy behaviors. It is obvious that Miley Cyrus prides herself on her strangeness, and undeniably attributes her odd methods on and off-stage simply to being “weird.” However, Cyrus is also a large advocate for the LGBTQ community, most notably, she is the founder of “The Happy Hippie Foundation,” a nonprofit organization that fights discrimination of LGBTQ youth. When being criticized by the public, she has been known to defend her naughty behaviors by arguing that she is promoting awareness for this community. Her performances are heavily packed with unconventional sexual content – content that is meant to highlight LGBTQ rights and make the public comfortable with the community. While her advocacy is commendable, fans must consider whether or not her motives are pure. Can her wild antics be attributed solely to promoting awareness? Or do they also serve an ulterior purpose of self-promotion? As Cyrus embarks on her new tour she has significantly upped her game in emphasizing the sexualized “other,” with the inclusion of real-life drag queens, and, as previously mentioned, a strapped on prosthetic penis. Cyrus incorporates many different elements of art in her overall performance in order to draw attention to the LGBTQ community and point out that there is nothing wrong with it. She utilizes a vibrant color scheme that often takes different forms of the rainbow, which is the universal symbol of the LGBTQ community. By visibly sporting both male and female genitalia, she is using shock value to capture her audience’s attention in hopes of opening their minds. She is blurring the sexual boundaries of male and female, excessively flaunting the genitalia to show how little these parts actually have on defining who we are as human beings. Other sexual antics, such as orally engaging with a drag queen’s breast, are employed to convince her audience that we need not perceive the LGBTQ community as this “other” way of being, thus leaving it in obscurity. Instead, we must celebrate it and promote “weirdness” and “being different,” so that everyone can feel free to be whoever they wish to be. By over performing this role of a sexually liberated, give-no-fucks type of girl, Cyrus undoubtedly embodies this ideal. While adopting this persona has definitely had some positive outcomes for the LGBTQ community, fans must consider whether her exaggerated performance is, in fact, an overkill of what she is trying to achieve. While it has raised great awareness, it seems that the primary gain for Cyrus may be the attention that she receives for her personal self. Growing up in the public eye, a star like Cyrus gets quickly accustomed to being constantly observed, and, as a result, can equate attention with success, thus developing a need for more and more attention in order to gain validation. As her strangeness increases, seemingly so does her popularity. It is likely that she uses her LGBTQ platform as Carte Blanch for her bizarre stage persona and her outrageous antics on and off the stage. Performing in this fashion provides her with an avenue for self-promotion, while also allowing her to maintain a high media profile. Her years as an entertainer has taught her a great deal about media manipulation, a skill that she incorporates into her persona. While portraying her promotion of the LGBTQ community, the question remains as to whether or not she is doing it for her own personal gain. Her actions appeal to the prurient interest of the public, which produces a great deal of conversation, regardless of how it is viewed. This provides a large amount of evidence for her own self-promotion. Another aspect to consider is the criminality factor that her recent performances posses. In some jurisdictions, her actions could be considered obscene and thereby liable for prosecution, similar to the case of Jim Morrison of The Doors. The full-on display of nudity and sexual actions is undeniably questionable as to whether or not it is appropriate, especially for the age group that she most appeals to. This becomes an issue of censorship versus artistic freedom. Should she remove or at least reduce the amount of nudity and relating actions to better suit her audience, or is asking her to do this asking her to stifle her artistic freedom? Either way, her on stage antics are certainly racy enough to be perceived as offensive. A valid case in protest of her actions could easily be made on the basis of criminality. Whether or not Cyrus is a torchbearer for the LGBTQ community or a self-promoting media genius will continue to be debated. Her on stage actions are questionable in the sense of both their intent and their appropriateness. Can the public look past her underlying motivations and lewd behaviors in support of the awareness she has raised in regards to the issue of sex and gender? Or do they cross too far a boundary of both moral and legal crime? In order to make a decision, one must weigh the evidence and make a judgment based on his or her own individual morals, values, and ethics. Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/11/20/miley-cyrus-penis-boobs-concert-tour-looks-pics/
