More on Miley

One of my first posts in this new blog dealt with image problems faced by 15 year old superstar Miley Cyrus. Those problems have gotten worse with Vanity Fair's publication of a very salacious photograph of her. Richard Mansel describes the photo in his blog today.

I want to speak to a broader subject: the need for solid parental guidance not just for Miley but for all young women as they grow to adulthood. For the last year, news reports have unfolded the sad stories of Lindsay Lohan and Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. Those young women all started out as wholesome personalities. Britney was a Mouseketeer in the 1990s version of The Mickey Mouse Club. Her younger sister Jamie Lynn also played the role of Zoey in the Disney Channel series Zoey 101. Lindsay Lohan came on the scene in 1998 in a remake of The Parent Trap. She played the twins role Haley Mills originated in the 1961 classic movie. Five years later, she repeated Jodie Foster's role in Freaky Friday. This all goes to say that at one time, these young women were looked upon as wholesome girls who were acting as good role models for our daughters and granddaughters. All three of these young actresses' fall from grace has been amply chronicled so I do not need to repeat the sordid details. The question now is whether Miley Cyrus is headed down the same unfortunate road. Recent evidence indicates that she may be.

The hope for Miley has been that she apparently comes from a more stable family situation and that is extremely important in the upbringing of any adolescent. If anyone understands the uncertainties of fame, it ought to be Miley's dad, Billy Ray. He seemed to come out of nowhere to instant fame as the singer of "Achy, Breaky Heart." Billy Ray Cyrus has continued a solid career as a singer and actor, but his fame has never again approached the zenith of the Achy Breaky days. He should be able to speak from experience in advising his daughter how to handle white hot fame and the inevitable cooling off that comes afterwards. Billy Ray and his wife Tish have been married since shortly after Miley's birth in 1992. They have two younger children as well as three other children from previous relationships. By all accounts, they have formed their blended family into a tight supportive unit which could be expected to give Miley direction and encouragement to make good choices about her lifestyle as she matures into adulthood.

Having acknowledged that, I'm disappointed that, according to Vanity Fair, both parents were present at the photo shoot and signed off on the picture which the magazine published of their daughter. The assumption behind the apologies being offered today seems to be that Miley is an innocent fifteen-year-old who was duped into posing for the picture because she lacked good judgment. The presence of her parents on the set when the photograph was made argues against that idea. One blogger speculates that the whole controversy is contrived to remake Miley's image into more of a grown up so she can appeal to an older demographic than the pre-teens who make up the majority of Hannah Montana fans.

It is a difficult thing to guide daughters through the transformation from girls into women. I am the father of two sons and no daughters so I cannot speak from firsthand experience. However comparing the job of parenting sons with what I have observed with others' daughters, I believe bringing up sons is easier. Girls who are brought up with a strong spiritual base and a genuine love for the Lord and desire to follow His will in their lives have a great advantage. Even then, they can face a strong pressure to fit into the expectations of the world around them.

A critical part of that upbringing is helping our young children to understand that the celebrities they like -- whether singers, actors, sports stars, whomever -- are people who are going to make mistakes and do things that are wrong. There are celebrities who genuinely try to live godly lives, but they are few and far between. Our fourteen and fifteen year old girls need to understand clearly "Just because Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant doesn't mean it's OK for me to do that" and "Just because Britney or Lindsay or Miley dresses trashy doesn't mean I should."

When I think about the challenges facing parents today, it kinda makes me glad that my sons are grown and that I don't have any thirteen year olds running around the house just itching to "grow up" with all that entails.

Final Disclosure: I am not the expert on these young women's careers that this piece makes me appear. Thanks the Internet Movie Data Base for a lot of useful information.

Update -- The New York Times website carries an interesting article on how parents are reacting to the "Miley scandal" on Tuesday, April 29.