Ok, I'll admit it...I totally YouTubed the Miley Cyrus VMA Award performance that seems to have everyone in a tizzy.  I have to say though, I usually don't pay much attention to these things, in fact (at the risk of sounding like I live under a rock) I usually don't even know about these stunts until long after they've happened.  But this one has gotten so much attention I just had to see it for myself.  I watched as she came out of that weird bear (?) thing with her tongue lolling out, and as she shook what her daddy gave her, and then watched some more as Robin Thicke joined her onstage and as they gyrated all over each other and she made sexual gestures with that silly foam finger.  And what crossed my mind was this:
                                      WHY is that man rubbing up on that little girl?         ... followed by...
                                  WHY are these two performers even onstage together?
So, Miley Cyrus is an 'adult' who should recognize what a poor example she may or may not be setting for little girls, and yes both of those adults probably had PR people helping them stage their act but does no one else find it weird that a full grown man (who also happens to be a husband and father) is rubbing his junk on Hannah Montana???  Why is nobody upset about his role in this?  I felt skeezy just for watching!  It wasn't the fact that she was dancing around the stage almost naked (if it had been Lady Gaga who would have batted an eye), it wasn't that she appeared to be intoxicated and it wasn't the lyrics of the song (which, guilty pleasure, I don't mind).  It as a man in my age group grinding on a girl has barely passed puberty!  If my husband was up there doing that, I'd at least hope the woman was in the same age group!

As a mother, as a woman, I feel it's my job to teach my 3 daughters how to conduct themselves with class and discretion and to instill in them the values my mother and the other strong women in my family instilled in me.  It`s my job to teach them that beauty, real beauty, isn`t parading around with all your parts on display or make up caked on.  If they  choose to idolize train wrecks like Cyrus then maybe I haven't done my job.  It's time that society starts pointing the almighty finger in the right direction, at the parents.  There will ALWAYS be a Miley Cyrus, or Robin Thicke for that matter, out there for us to scoff at for showing our kids it`s ok to objectify women and that you only have worth if you are physically beautiful, half naked and willing to act obscene.  It`s our jobs as parents to make sure our kids know better!  I know it`s easier to lay blame elsewhere, but that`s just laziness.  It`s time to open this lines of communication between us and our children and talk about the 'uncomfortable' issues before it`s too late.

 I realize that try as I might to teach them otherwise there is a large chance that at some point one, or all, of my daughters will want to present themselves in a way that is inappropriate (we all have at some point in life). And when that time comes,  I just hope it's short lived and that I have enough clarity to not blame the Miley Cyrus's of the world.