sinead o'connor vs miley cyrus

You would have to be either living under a rock (or extremely lucky) to not have realised what is going on with Miley Cyrus recently.  If you are unaware here are the basics:  She has split with fiance Liam Hemsworth, which is awfully sad, she gyrated on a very married Robin Thicke at the VMA awards (and cavorted with a foam finger prompting a hefty lawsuit) and now she is feuding with Sinead O'Connor...bizarre.

As fun as it is to joke about Cyrus there is the chance that she is quickly going to spiral into the same loop suffered  by Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes, and that isn't particularly funny.  As for Sinead O'Connor, she has had her fair share of troubles and I think genuinely was trying to offer some sort of support.  I do not think however that she went well about it.

Dear Miley,
I wasn’t going to write this letter, but today i’ve been dodging phone calls from various newspapers who wished me to remark upon your having said in Rolling Stone your “Wrecking Ball” video was designed to be similar to the one for “Nothing Compares” … So this is what I need to say … And it is said in the spirit of motherliness and with love. 

I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way “cool” to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos. It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it’s the music business or yourself doing the pimping. 

So she starts almost positively, claiming what she is saying comes 'in the spirit of motherliness'.  I agree that Miley is being poorly advised by people without her best interests at heart and it is concerning as a teenage girl to see someone who my friends and I could have once looked up to naked licking a hammer.  It is missguided, I have read all the statements saying what it's representing and I understand, but was that in the forefront of the video directors mind? I am not sure it was.

Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent. 

I am happy to hear I am somewhat of a role model for you and I hope that because of that you will pay close attention to what I am telling you. 

The music business doesn’t give a sh– about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted.. and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, “they” will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone. 

Now a lot of this I do agree with.  I would never call myself a feminist but I definitely feel passionate about the way women are represented in the media.   What does it say about young women when the videos for Wrecking Ball and We Can't Stop are racing up the YouTube most viewed pages?  That is not empowerment, empowerment is positive, it is not a half dressed Miley Cyrus kissing a blow up doll.  I understand that O'Connor is not a shining role model herself but surely her concern should not have fallen upon deaf ears.

None of the men oggling you give a sh– about you either, do not be fooled. Many’s the woman mistook lust for love. If they want you sexually that doesn’t mean they give a f— about you. All the more true when you unwittingly give the impression you don’t give much of a f— about yourself. And when you employ people who give the impression they don’t give much of a f— about you either. No one who cares about you could support your being pimped.. and that includes you yourself 

Yes, I’m suggesting you don’t care for yourself. That has to change. You ought be protected as a precious young lady by anyone in your employ and anyone around you, including you. This is a dangerous world. We don’t encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the music industry and its associated media.
You are worth more than your body or your sexual appeal. The world of showbiz doesn’t see things that way, they like things to be seen the other way, whether they are magazines who want you on their cover, or whatever.. Don’t be under any illusions.. ALL of them want you because they’re making money off your youth and your beauty.. which they could not do except for the fact your youth makes you blind to the evils of show business. If you have an innocent heart you can’t recognise those who do not. 

It is very true that by giving of the impression you do not care, other may begin to feel that they can act the same toward you, and when did that become okay? I love 'if you have an innocent heart you can't recognise those who do not' yet I do sometimes wonder if Cyrus knows exactly what she is doing, I hope not, obviously.  The fact of the matter is, in ten years are we still going to think of 'Miley Cyrus' as a household name?  If she carries on this way then we might, but for all of the wrong reasons.  There is no reason that she cannot remain as the Miley we knew and have a happy life.  Look at Raven Symone, or Hilary Duff.  A Broadway actress and mother respectively, two Disney stars living a happy and successful life post Disney.  They grew up.  

I repeat, you have enough talent that you don’t need to let the music business make a prostitute of you. You shouldn’t let them make a fool of you either. Don’t think for a moment that any of them give a flying f— about you. They’re there for the money.. we’re there for the music. It has always been that way and it will always be that way. The sooner a young lady gets to know that, the sooner she can be REALLY in control. 

You also said in Rolling Stone that your look is based on mine. The look I chose, I chose on purpose at a time when my record company were encouraging me to do what you have done. I felt I would rather be judged on my talent and not my looks. I am happy that I made that choice, not least because I do not find myself on the proverbial rag heap now that I am almost 47 yrs of age.. which unfortunately many female artists who have based their image around their sexuality, end up on when they reach middle age. 

 I do not know a lot about the music industry, but I get the impression it is pretty ruthless, and here my thought gains clarification.  Never should anyone let themselves be made a fool of as they are worth more.  And like a lot of industries, is anyone looking out for each other, really?  Everyone wants to be at and stay at the top while they have chance, they don't care what they do in the process.

Real empowerment of yourself as a woman would be to in future refuse to exploit your body or your sexuality in order for men to make money from you. I needn’t even ask the question.. I’ve been in the business long enough to know that men are making more money than you are from you getting naked. It’s really not at all cool. And it’s sending dangerous signals to other young women. Please in future say no when you are asked to prostitute yourself. Your body is for you and your boyfriend. It isn’t for every spunk-spewing dirtbag on the net, or every greedy record company executive to buy his mistresses diamonds with. 

Why is it that to feel as though they will gain fame, or triumph women can feel exploiting themselves to be a viable route?  Looking at the charts there is a massive contrast between artists like Lorde and Birdy with Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus so what is making the former place lower?  I'll let you come to your own conclusion.

As for the shedding of the Hannah Montana image.. whoever is telling you getting naked is the way to do that does absolutely NOT respect your talent, or you as a young lady. Your records are good enough for you not to need any shedding of Hannah Montana. She’s waaaaaaay gone by now.. Not because you got naked but because you make great records. 

I thought everyone was over Hannah Montana, I think the only one who isn't is probably Miley.  In a recent interview with Nick Grimshaw Cyrus joked that she 'just made an empire for herself at the age of eleven'.  I understand, congrats and all for getting the part nine years ago, but shall we move on, without twerking.

Whether we like it or not, us females in the industry are role models and as such we have to be extremely careful what messages we send to other women. The message you keep sending is that it’s somehow cool to be prostituted.. it’s so not cool Miley.. it’s dangerous. Women are to be valued for so much more than their sexuality. we aren’t merely objects of desire. I would be encouraging you to send healthier messages to your peers.. that they and you are worth more than what is currently going on in your career. Kindly fire any motherf—er who hasn’t expressed alarm, because they don’t care about you.

And on a somewhat rounded note we have reached the end of this particular open letter.  It is a lovely way to finish.  I think it is a huge shame Miley reacted the way she did, along with her fans who sent actual death threats! I hope it all fizzles out because she really deserves better than this.  I would really love to hear your thoughts on this, please comment!