September 26, 2014
Last Tuesday, Sept. 16, on Mexican Independence Day, Miley Cyrus gave a concert in the city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico. During the show, Cyrus twerked against the Mexican flag, effectively flossing her butt with the national icon. As a Mexican, I am incredibly angry about this incident.
Anybody would be angry at someone disrespecting their nation’s flag, but I believe Mexicans are particularly touchy about it. We consider it improper to display the flag outside our homes if it isn’t September (the month of our Independence Day). In fact, flags are normally only flown all year long by government buildings. We hardly even put our flag on pins, bumper stickers or anything that could get dirty; we have too much respect for it. Mexico even has a national folk hero, who made his name by jumping off Chapultepec Castle wrapped in the Mexican flag, to prevent the enemy from capturing it during a battle.
For Cyrus to disrespect the Mexican flag on our national holiday is an enormous insult. Furthermore, she showed absolutely no contrition about the act. In an interview after the incident, she stated that she did not care what people thought, even though the Mexican government has announced it will launch an investigation into the issue. Disrespecting the flag is illegal under Mexican law, and can result in up to three days in jail.
This incident is consistent with Cyrus’s general “bad girl” persona, an image which she has fostered since approximately 2013, and which particularly emphasizes defying authority. The transformation has succeeded in completely cleansing our memories of her Hannah Montana innocence, and has made Cyrus a common conversation piece. Clearly these antics, such as disrespecting the Mexican flag, and the themes of her recent songs, are designed to be eye-catching and provocative.
Cyrus is part of a general trend in modern music that objectifies women, and trivializes alcohol and drug use. Before I sound too preachy, I would like to clarify that I believe drug use is a private choice, and it is my personal belief that every sentient adult has the maturity to decide what and how many substances to use. However, the trivialization of women, and the glorification of sex in the context of subdued consciences due to drugs, is not something I agree with.
Her single “We Can’t Stop” is a good example. The song seems to describe an “ideal” party, with lyrics including “Can’t you see it’s we who own the night?” However, the song also describes the party as having “red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere.” In an age when college students are more keenly aware of issues regarding sexual assault, especially when alcohol and drugs are in the picture, Cyrus’s message seems to be going in the complete opposite direction. She continues with a comparison: “home girls here with the big butt/ shaking it like we at a strip club,” effectively stating that a good party is one where guests are to be entertained by the objectification of women as sexual objects. The girls’ primary appeal is merely sexual, de-personifying and de-humanizing them along the way.
This is also not to say that a party cannot have drugs, alcohol and sex. However, college students should inform themselves and discuss with others the importance of consent, particularly when under the influence. Hamilton will see a Sexual Assault Protest next Tuesday, Sept. 30, and I believe it will be a good opportunity to think about the small things we may take for granted that normalize sexual aggression at social events. Parties should be fun, and people can partake in alcohol and drugs if they so choose. But people should also be aware of their negative effects, specifically when they decrease inhibitions and result in sexual aggression and violence.
So what to do with Cyrus? Personally, I will not stand to hear her music blast out of my speakers, not only because she insulted my country in one of the worst imaginable ways, but also because she is the representation of what I consider to be a bad trend in modern music: that of the objectification of women and glorification of substance-induced sex. I appeal to you, Hamilton students, to listen to your party-music sober, and see if the lyrics call women “bitches,” or equate drunken violent sex with fun. If it does, reconsider playing it the next time you throw down, because you may be inadvertently perpetuating a decidedly wrong way to view women, parties, alcohol and drugs.
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