Robin Thicke is as much to blame as Miley

[SpeakNow]

I found this interesting piece on CNN about how Robin Thicke should be getting as much or more shame for the Miley fiasco. The author mentions that Robin should know better how to treat women, especially one at a young age who is still at a stage in her life when she is prone to making mistakes and figuring out who she is.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/30/living/ro ... ?c=&page=3

[FreeJosie]

I agree with that. Female performer gets slut-shamed, male performer gets a pass. Nothing new, sadly.

[Patsy]

Barely-legal woman on drugs with skeevy childhood and gross, gross dad grinds on dude: the devil!

30yo is totally into barely-legal women grinding on him, sings song about how women are dirty girls who secretly want to be traumatically anally raped, essentially: *crickets*

[Arete]

They are both pretty appalling. I won't watch or listen to Robin Thicke either. In fact, I'm about up to HERE with so called "musicians" putting out smut videos and lyrics, and then whining they really were trying to tap into their creative flow and are just so misunderstood. :evil-eye:

[RainbowSky]

I hadn't seen the Blurred Lines video before. I went and watched them.....and now understand where the finger came from at least. I'm quite a bit more baffled, though. I think I'll go with "What the fuck did I just watch?" Again. Because that is worse. I think. If Robin's wife was okay with the unrated one, the VMAs were a non issue and I don't understand how its nearly as big of a deal now other than because it was Miley. If it had been some random chick, it wouldn't have been as much of an issue, I don't think. Or if she didn't seem to be on something. Or just ew in general.

I do find it interesting that Miley equals "barely legal girl" as much as calling women who are legally women girls starts a fight. Especially since its not like she turned 18 last week or something.:shrug:

[JesusFightClub]

I was sort of like "I watched that, and I have rarely seen anything less erotic." Even Antiques Roadshow would have been an improvement.

The visual can be super sexy (for women just as much as men, and although every person on the planet will have a different view on what sexy might be) but personally? Bored looking naked women posing next to dodgy looking men, well each to their own, but whatever. Seriously.

If I had to apportion "blame" to the actors in that performance at the VMAs I would say little or nothing to Miley, a wee bit to Thicke, and by far the biggest to the companies behind it all. Think about it, outraged right-wingers around the nation. If capitalism is morally right, and sex sells, what did anyone do wrong?

[RandomTrivia]

I agree with that. Female performer gets slut-shamed, male performer gets a pass. Nothing new, sadly.

Shouldn't the producer or whoever planned this get a bit of the blame too? Not sure how awards programs work, but surely this had to be rehearsed or something - props and extra people were involved. Or did MTV just grab 2 random musicians and tell them to perform for 3 minutes, and Miley shows up with a foam finger and a dozen backup dancers?

[Ariel]

Shouldn't the producer or whoever planned this get a bit of the blame too? Not sure how awards programs work, but surely this had to be rehearsed or something - props and extra people were involved. Or did MTV just grab 2 random musicians and tell them to perform for 3 minutes, and Miley shows up with a foam finger and a dozen backup dancers?

That's kinda hard to tell. I'd say it was rehearsed, but it sure as hell didn't look like it was rehearsed a lot or professionally choreographed.

I'm sure the producers are happy and patting themselves on the back. This is the most people have talked about the VMA's since Kanye stole the mic from Taylor Swift.

[m0drnmoonlight]

I agree that acting like Miley Cyrus is jailbait is ridiculous. I saw people on facebook who were shocked and saying things like "Where is that girl's MOTHER?!" She's 20, not 14. To be honest, I think a lot of it comes from people still associating her with Hannah Montana and Disney, though she hasn't done that in years.

Although I will say - dancing suggestively with giant teddy bears is a little pedo-ish, if you ask me.

I think the whole performance was tragic and not entertaining and made me feel gross, but people calling Miley a slut or a whore or a skank, or making joking comments about how her dad must have aroused while watching it, no. When Britney Spears stripped on the VMAs 14 years ago when I was in high school, she was called a whore and a slut too. A woman being sexual does not make her a whore or a slut.

Robin Thicke is a disgusting douchebag. Blurred Lines is the rapiest song I've heard since Baby It's Cold Outside and I think a music video where models walk around with their boobs out while he sings "I know you want it" and calls women bitches is incredibly sexist. That's reducing women to objects that are solely there to please men. But since his wife thought it was hot, he thinks it's ok and is even calling the song a "feminist movement." What?

Not to mention the song's a ripoff of Marvin Gaye's Got to Give It Up and he's even suing Gaye's family to prevent them from suing him.

Both Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus did that performance knowing it would be shocking and garner a lot of attention. And since this is the MTV VMAs, most performances done there are done to be shocking. It's been that way since Madonna came out in the wedding dress to sing Like a Virgin. I think their performance was gross, but I'm not going to call Miley Cyrus a slutty whore for it.

If anything, blame the music industry. Let's be real - the industry it has made so that the only way a "wholesome" "innocent" "squeaky clean" teenage GIRL performer can be taken seriously as an adult is to "sex it up." Dance provocatively, strip or wear revealing clothing, sing sexually suggestive songs, be as raunchy as possible. Again, look at Britney or Christina Aguilera. You don't see male performers having to do this.

Sidenote, while the media's gasping and clutching their pearls over Miley Cyrus grinding against Robin Thicke, has anyone said anything about her cultural appropriation?

[Anise]

I am just going to leave this here:

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And this:

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;)