There is something terribly embarrassing about being in a
foreign country, particularly in a place with conservative values, when Miley
Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” video starts playing on the big screen tv. For those of you who don’t know, it features
the dubiously talented Miley Cyrus naked, riding a wrecking ball as it crashes
into a wall, with obvious physical enjoyment.
And just in case that is too subtle, she also grabs a metal pipe and
performs some suggestive oral actions.
But why is that embarrassing for me?
Its not like I would ever do that and maybe I shouldn’t be so
prudish. Except that when I am in a
place where every white person is lumped together under the dubious category of
forenge (foreigner), I might as well go out to find a building site because to
most people Miley Cyrus and I are virtually indistinguishable.
We live in a world where the majority of people learn about
America through its popular media. Is it
any wonder that when the image we peddle across the airwaves is a young naked
girl dry-humping construction equipment, conservative leaders in other places can
convince people that Americans are morally bankrupt, more concerned with sex,
money, and consumption than thoughtful, deliberate living? And that in times of economic and social
instability, it is much easier to unite people under a banner of “us” against
“them” than offer constructive solutions, especially when “them” seems to be a
society that celebrates debauchery and turpitude? Should we truly be surprised that there are
some people out there who despise our culture?
Should I be truly surprised when men in other countries assume that all
American women have loose sexual mores?
What else should they think based on what they see and hear?
I am not saying that this view is correct, nor am I saying
that the exploration and acceptance of sexuality without shame is equivalent to
immorality. I think on the whole, most
Americans are genuinely caring, earnest, and kind people, if somewhat naïve
about the effect our economic and political processes have on the rest of the
world. I think that the ability to have
open and honest conversations about sex, gender, and the celebration of
pleasure are all incredibly important, and positive, aspects of American
culture . If anything, we should do more
to lessen the restrictive morality around sex (hello, abstinence only
education) within our country.
But I don’t think that packaging up nude, nubile
pop-starlets for mass consumption and shipping it overseas is really an effort
to engage in that conversation. Nor is
it an attempt to show the rest of the world the good parts of America; that
women are allowed to be the equals, if not superiors, of men; that we are
becoming increasingly intolerant of racism and homophobia (at least I hope we
are), that we are a culture that is made up of every country, allowing us to
learn a little about the world just by talking to someone who grew up somewhere
else. But what I see when I am overseas is
consumption, sexual gratification, and political ineptitude. These are, tragically, as much a part of
America as civil rights, social safety nets and religious tolerance, but we do
ourselves a disservice by not insisting on not only portraying ourselves
better, but also being better (apologies for all the double negatives).
Do I blame Miley Cyrus?
Of course not. She is a victim of
our obsession with pushing boundaries to raise advertising revenue, not an ingenious social commentator. But
maybe instead of celebrating the newest pop-tart’s sexual exploitation, we could
just take a second and think about whether that is really the image we want for
America? Whether we want people to
associate the USA with freedom, independence, open dialogue and equality or
with sexually suggestive music videos and inept governments? Because from where I am sitting, all I see is
a lot of twerking and political grandstanding.
And it’s hard to prove that there is much else.
I don’t have any sort of recipe about how to change things,
but I think that it probably starts somewhere around trying to be better people
instead of just trying to consume and exploit.
And maybe with electing leaders
and not wing-nuts. Instead of taking
every criticism as a threat and every suggestion as an insult, maybe we could celebrate
what is truly good about our country, while thinking critically about what we
can do to improve it and ourselves.
I think I may have gotten off track somewhere so I am going
to get off my soapbox now and be grateful there aren’t any construction sites
around.
