Miley Cyrus and the stripper pole: What do you think?

Miley Cyrus' brief flirtation with a stripper pole on Fox's Teen Choice Awards on Monday night has people buzzing today with online forums and message boards lighting up with adjectives like "inappropriate," "shocking" and "trashy." 

But was it really any of those things? As Culture Monster recently reported, pole dancing is fast losing its risque stigma, thanks in part to gyms and fitness centers that use the pole for workouts. In the dance world, the stripper pole has become the focus of a new competitive sport that has followers all over the world. Even family-friendly Cirque du Soleil has hired a pole dancer for its "Zumanity" production.

Cyrus, 16, is reported to have said her on-air pole dance was intended as an homage to her small-town, trailer-park roots. However you want to parse that statement, the teen star's actions have clearly succeeded in sending mixed messages. That the stripper pole was planted on top of an old-fashioned ice cream cart -- a symbol of childhood innocence and wholesomeness -- only heightens the cognitive dissonance. 

So what did you think about Cyrus' little dance Monday night? Take a minute to vote.

-- David Ng

Comments

[sam]

shes trailer trash with money.

[random21235]

its wasn't that bad but still its like ehhhh thats pushin it. i think it would have been different if she wasn't wearing short shorts and stuff. i wonder if she even like thought about that

[astronomius]

something i have not read anyone comment about thus far are the technical aspects to her dance, that the dancing itself incorporated stripper's moves albeit toned down; this doesn't surprise many of us, because we've seen her antics progress over the past few years, and her displays don't seem to be getting more family-friendly... just smoother.

again, i think Disney should dismiss her.

[Jessica]

Are you people really surprised? Have you not seen all of her half naked pictures all over the Internet? Go ahead and google Miley Cyrus racey pictures and u will see exactly what "inocent normal teenager stuff" you let your kids watch.

The pole was unnecessary she could have sat on the cart and she didn't need to thrust anywhere near it. Do you really think it was her choreographer's fault? She's 16, if she or her parents told her choreographer she was uncomfortable with any of the moves they would have been avoided.

Also, did you not miss that booty dance she did before getting on the cart or how far she opened her legs when she busted out of her trailer home?

I'm 16, and most of the girls at school think she's ugly and slutty. Nothing she did in this performance was normal teenager stuff. Sure there have been worse on the streets, but those people aren't performing at The Teen Choice Awards. Plus just because there are worse out there doesn't mean any less erotic behavior is ok.

[sharmina]

Ahm it seems that she is too young to do that. I love her being hannah montana because of that wholesome image. I wish in real life she will stay like that until she reach the appropriate age.

[Fink]

She's a pig like her dad, exploiting 12-year-olds. More culture whores.

[des]

relax people.

in this day and age, it could be ALOT worse.

everything she does gets completely overscrutinized and bashed and i find that to be complete bull.

we all get to live and learn from our mistakes so let her do the same on her own.

[Anna]

She is a role model for young teens, even kids, especially that she's still associated with Disney. And whether parents will allow it or not, kids may imitate her. She should be setting an example, not following what most teenage girls do. Just because many girls her age wear such skimpy outfits and dance as provocatively as that doesn't make it right.

[S Caggiano]

I see a very sickening trend with the Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus media monster. First there was the shockingly provocative photos that Billy Ray approved of. Then the sexually suggestive dancing she has begun to use and now the stripper’s pole. All this from a girl who is still a child. I begin to hear the dueling banjos of the movie Deliverance and all the incest riddled hillbilly jokes in the back of my mind.
As a parent I could NEVER approve of such activities from a child not even 18. I know the Cyrus Clan is using her as the family treadmill but this is mind boggling. It appears to that parental morality is a scarce commodity in the Tennessee Hills. Or at least in the Cyrus family. The child needs a parent not a pimp! I get the willies hearing the excuses that Billy Ray uses in the media to make this look all ok, at least in his mind.
Some day Miley will make a Psychologist very wealthy if she doesn’t crash and burn long before that. If the ordinary Joe did this with his child in Anytown USA, Children’s Services would be taking that child away. We all know it!

[Teens Shine]

I personally think that people are making a big issue out of nothing. As far as I can see nothing looked inappropriate or trashy. And even if some people may think that it's trashy and "stripper-like", I don't think anything was meant to look intentionally inappropriate....(That's what I think after watching the video)

[dakota]

miley im 10 old but you can do wote to wote yor cool a hat pepol who tolk to you nastey but i love you and pepol are stopid it is not evin tat bad im not evin joken you wrte evin stripper just holden on to the pole im yor bigist fan i will save you no mador wute wapind it will be ok gtg have a grat day

[jackie]

Hey im 15 girl and i think she could of handled this better. I know that she is trying to break out of that cute thing but, this is for younger kids who cares how old she is. And that outfit was not cute, not sexy just plain trashy. If she went to my school we would call her a whore for dressing like that. Not all teenagers are like that and ew. I'm sorry i just don't like her. I saw no point to any of this.

[crater]

what the heck? i have a younger family member that looks up to her and she acts like a hormonally raging brat.

[qwerty]

Seriously, if a stripper did what she did, they would be fired for not doing their job. Come on, other than people's erotic obsession with poles, was there anything remotely sexual about it?

[Siobhan]

Everybody is making way too big a deal of this. She wasn't even "pole dancing." She was holding onto it so she didn't fall.

And, as for her outfit, I don't necessarily agree with the fact that she wore it to an event that young teenagers and kids were watching, but it really wasn't that bad. Not nearly as bad as what some teenage girls wear to their middle schools and high schools.

[Siobhan]

Everybody is making way too big a deal of this. She wasn't even "pole dancing." She was holding onto it so she didn't fall.

And, as for her outfit, I don't necessarily agree with the fact that she wore it to an event that young teenagers and kids were watching, but it really wasn't that bad. Not nearly as bad as what some teenage girls wear to their middle schools and high schools.

[Tina]

Obviously the people bashing her for pole dancing have no idea what pole dancing really is. This young girl didn't pole dance, nor did she strip out of any clothes that would be associated with pole dancing; she merely held on to the pole as the cart was rolled along the stage.

And as for the comment about the religious card / Christianity: if you knew anything about being a true christian you would have never made a comment so rude and condemning for this girl or her family. Or did you forget that Jesus came for the sinners? And protected an adulterous woman from being stoned to death from people that were saying the same kind of righteous bull that you are spewing. HE WHO HAS NO SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE.

[aly]

OMG!!! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF PEOPLE SAYING SHE "POLE DANCED"!!! she did a simple move backoff!! Her outfit was super cute,and nothing was wrong with her performance i thought it was cool. She's my idol and hero and yall are overreacting. it was a move and it aint a stripper pole,it was a pole attatched to a cart bigggg difference.... seriously,leave her alone and give her a break..

[Liz]

Heaven to Besty she went down along the pole once, except for that one little move seems to me the pole was there so she wouldn't fall and break her neck while they wheeled her across the stage. It's not like she was grinding or spinning around the pole. When I heard about this on Tv I thought it was going to be like some huge shocking thing, turns out it was completely innocent. Children see way worse behavior from their parents sometimes than what Miley did during that concert. But the saying is you can't please everyone.

[antony]

let her do wute she wonts to do