Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tell All Tuesday

Teenage Sex Appeal


Why yes I do feel like a huge pedophile by writing that, but while being laid up at home and having nothing else to do but watch HLN, I've been noticing alot of BAD teenage sex appeal.  (Okay when is it good?  I'll get to that).  But I like to always get the bad news off of my chest first...

For those who have been living under a rock, Miley Cyrus has gotten a lot of bad press recently for her very risque video for "Who owns my heart."  I recently watched this video and would have to agree with the images of her rolling around in a bed and kissing on girls of the same sex is a little too much for me to handle.

But, wait Magan, didn't your boy toy Adam Lambert do the same thing?

Okay, first off YOU WILL NOT SPEAK ILL OF MY GLAMBERT...

But, why yes he did get criticized for similar sexual performances...

So what's the difference? 

Adam is a twenty-eight-year-old MAN and Miley Cyrus is a seventeen-year-old GIRL.

Miley spent years building up her fan base on the squeaky clean HANNAH MONTANA, and even I'll admit that I was a fan of the show's image.  It was something I could watch with the kids I babysat in high school without having to worry about anything raunchy coming on and I thought with such active parents in Miley's life she would never go down the wrong path like other Disney stars have...(not mentioning any names that start with L...)

Then it seems like she decided that she wanted to break away from her Hannah Montana role, but do it in the trashiest way possible by riding an ice cream cart like a stripper show on a COMPLETELY kid friendly awards show.

But Magan what about Adam Lambert and the AMA's?

My subconscious mind needs to stop talking about Glambert right now... But yeah he did have that sexually charged performance, but again I will explain the difference.  How many of you ACTUALLY watched him on Idol?  I sat with my parents watching him and let me tell you, from day one I knew that this guy was the next David Bowie.  You could tell with his outlandish costumes and performances that radiated sexuality even on prime time television, that he was definitely not kid friendly (thus he does play a lot of 18 plus shows people!)

Oh and the AMA's?  Yeah who lets their seven-year-old stay up to watch a performance at eleven o'clock at night?  Yeah my parents would let me stay up to watch Conan when I was in like 9th grade, but I was fourteen there is a HUGE difference between a young kid staying up till eleven on a school night and a high schooler doing it.  And from the looks of the set and the costumes, sorry ABC you should have known.

Now that I've stepped off my Adam soap box...I want to talk about the SAFE teenage sex appeal.

This is actually one that I've seen most prominent in teen literature and then when it's adapted onto the screen.  Even though I'm not a huge fan, the Twilight series does this REALLY well.  As a mom, you know what you're getting into with the Twilight series.  Yeah there are sparkly vampires, a little violence, and some forbidden love, but you know that Edward Cullen isn't going to get on a stripper pole to start seducing Bella.

YA writers (oh yeah I'm including myself) we know how to do the sexual tension tango without taking it too far.  We know that a first kiss scene can be just as sensual as a sex scene and we can do it well.  Writers know who their audience is and exactly how we should tailor our work to that audience.  Even when things are adapted to the big screen (Hunger Games anyone?) we know that there would have to be a PG-13 rating, at the very most, so we can get our readers off those showings.

So YA writers, THANK YOU, thank you for knowing the difference between bad and safe teenage sex appeal.  Thank you for making it known that you know what's appropriate for teenagers to read and won't get them bored.  And thank you blog readers for not talking smack about my boy toy any more than my Devil's Advocate does...

So what do you think about Miley Cyrus?  Sex Appeal in teenagers?

6 comments:

  1. Ugh...I remember what it was like to be 17, and back then it all felt okay (not that I was ever trampy or anything). But looking back some things weren't super appropriate.

    And now I have a daughter. The thought of her running around like that makes me throw up in my hand.

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  2. As a mom to be I look back at myself at seventeen (and it scares me to think that I might have a daughter), but I just don't understand how someone who's parents manager their career could let them do that. There are plenty of other teenage actresses and singers that got far without being skanky (Hello Taylor Swift), so I don't know what Miley's deal is...

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  3. i agree!

    shes trying to fit in i guess...
    sad

    speaking of disney stars, did you read EXILIR by HILARY DUFF? its out :)

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  4. No, I have not read it yet. She was actually doing a signing not too far from me. She is actually one celebrity whose book I may read. How is it?

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  5. i agree about the AMAs all he did was makeout with his boyfriend, and do beyonce and Jay-Z get i trouble for that? no. which proves that whoever "reprimanded" him is a homophobe. there are some people out the who hate him being gay, and then there are his real fans (like me) who love him no matter what. (ps. have all of you seen his video, for your entertainment? you have to see it!!!)

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  6. Miley cyrus came into disney too late she is part of the generation obsessed with sex appeal, hilary duff, taylor swift (i think shes just an acception) ect.. are lucky to have grown before this madness again you have the extreams on the left side- britney spears, paris hilton, and dare i say it Lindsay Lohan...

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