Ryan- did you mean "CeleBrity Science"? (Though celerity is a word too.)

Though in defense of celerity, 15 year olds call each other sluts with much speed and enthusiasm.

But here's the thing: I just don't understand the "artfulness" of the picture, or rather what the aim of the artfulness is. Perhaps I'm a Puritan, perhaps I'm not, that's not for me to decide, but it seems clear that the picture is meant to arouse me in some way beyond it just being "pretty." And also, what is the article accompanying it about? I'm just suspicious of the whole thing from top to bottom.

They exude sexuality, even as they've internalized a language of shame and anger around it, a language that makes anyone who crosses some ever finer line of appropriate behavior a slut or a whore.

... that's exactly the point

... they are advertising the product but that doesn't mean they want to sell it

@WackoJacko: i agree with you totally.

it's a tease shot, period, and that's fine if it's a grownup and not fine if she's a kid

and to all those who say, oh puritan this uptight that, ask yourself, would you want that to be your kid?

My head hurts.

Sorry, but these girls are just jealous that Miley is on the cover of a glossy magazine in a bedsheet and they're not, so they're chiming in with the cricism.

I guarantee that they have pictures on their myspace profiles which are ten thousand times more provocative and revealing than this. And that most of them have performed sex acts that would make Larry Flynt blush. They just know the right words to say.

Yeah, um, not so incidentally these girls take most of their cues from Perez Hilton. And they are REALLY pissed that she gets to hang out with the Jonas Brothers. TRUST me. I have read/heard a lot of this.

Also, not a surprise to anyone, only about half the girls we label as sluts at that age have ever been in actual close proximity to male genitalia outside of our imaginations. We are just insulting them for their sensual self-awareness...

That said, I find Miley still awkward..and I can't stand they are forcing her to emulate adult sexuality. Her humpy stage dancing is a totally different deal, and I'm not being sarcastic.

15-year-old girls calling a member of their own age group a slut?

This. is. unprecedented.

@Buzz Killington: that may all be so, but they are at least in possession of the illusion of being in control and mediating their own message, and, in their minds, it's private -- just them and their friends, oh, and anyone who finds it online

teen boys, not so much

slut feminism "i'm wearing very little clothing, which proves i'm a hot feminist" makes my head hurt, but it is their right to present themselves that way

just don't be selling that to my daughter

News Flash: 15 year girl calls other 15 year old girl, "a slut". Even though the factuality of "slutiness" could not be confirmed. We'll keep you up-to-date with all the facts on this breaking story. Back to your regulary scheduled programming.

I don't know if any of you%2

@Buzz Killington: "They just know the right words to say."
Girls just being pleasers? You've GOT to be kidding. Miley would never do that.

The issue here is that 15 year old girls aren't overly sensitive of the idea of pressure and manipulation. They know that they don't have to take their tops off just because someone asks them to. So they don't really buy the idea of girls their own age as victims. (Obviously they ARE still very impressionable, and it's a million times harder when you're a celebrity doing what you're told to do and your creepy dad is pimping you out.)

The worst thing about this scandal is that it's an excuse to plaster that picture everywhere for a week, so that grown men can pretend to be outraged and then jerk off to it when no one's looking.

Let's hunt and kill Billy Ray Cyrus.

Gawd, I was called a slut last three years of my virginity. 15 year old girls can simply be very mean.
@ObtuseIntolerant: Perez Hilton does an excellent impersonation.
@McCheeburger: Well put, straight out of my head.

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: Yeah I agree. What gets me though is that the Times is either completely clueless to this reality or just chooses not to point any of that stuff out.

Since yesterday was "law day," please note that "judgments" is the correct spelling, not "judgements." That's pretty much the extent of my legal knowledge post law school, so I like to use it as much as possible.

It's the same old pot:kettle:slut:tempest:teapot

Am I the only one more - or at least as - creeped out by "Eye shadow and blush with a hint of glitter were brushed across her perfect face, giving her the look that Barbie gets when some young girl decides she could have even prettier pink cheeks" than/as I am by this photo? Way to intentionally-unintentionally illustrate-confuse the issue, guys!

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: I agree. I feel really bad for her. I think the fault for this debacle lies with ol' Annie and the Vanity Fair people. I'm fairly certain they knew this shitstorm would erupt and garner all of this (seemingly unending) attention. I don't think they've been hurt by this, my guess is they're likely enjoying it.

Poor Miley. She made a dumb choice. How many of us would have thought this was cool when we were 15? I know my judgment sucked at that age...

Is it me or was this reporter kinda perving out on assignment there...?

@Buzz Killington: on the one hand on the other hand times style reporting can't handle it

@Dusty in the Wind: Yes!

@sassypants: 100 percent what u said

the people around her have the responsibility of helping her grow gracefully into adulthood or spearsdom

she's still just a kid

@Dusty in the Wind: ita ... perfect cheek ... as smooth as ... yes ...

@Dusty in the Wind: @Astigmatism: Definitely not just you! They "exude sexuality"? Imagine if some wrote that about your daughter.

To summarize the article: "I cannot think why these nubile young Lolitas would have conflicted notions about sex." I'd go on, but I'm too busy vomiting.

looking at the photo, she really really looks young. she's a kid. even if she doesn't realize it herself.

@ronaldpagan: If I want to read about anyone's perfect cheek, it's gotta be Knut. Who's a good little bear? Whooooo's a good bear? Is it you? I think it is!

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: and to all those who say, oh puritan this uptight that, ask yourself, would you want that to be your kid?

You have framed your argument improperly. To wit, if one agrees with your premise, fine. However, If one does not, you are, ipso facto, a bad parent, or worse.

In other words, you are using the poisoning the well logical fallacy.

Just an FYI.

Miley knew what she was doing. I don't buy her victim act. And girls who call her a "slut" and dress like skanks are hypocrites. Yes, the picture was sexual--it wasn't an innocent picture of a teenage star. It had nothing to do with beauty. Annie knew that and Miley knew that. But we do live in hoochie culture, where we reward the skanks. It's all about hotness anymore.

back in the day when I lived in the midwest[circa '96], we'd go to this underage teen club [Zavos] and dance in the cages.

blame religion. all I ever needed to know about "slutting it up," I learned from catholic school.

@McCheeburger: i was seriously asking the question, if u think it's great 4 a 15 yo to be sold as a post-coital woman, would u want that 4 ur daughter

if someone wants that 4 their daughter, go 4 it

i'm saying that prob a lot of the people so quick to defend the "artistic integrity" of the shot, which was, imho, about $$$ and nothing more, might want to think about it in another context, the context of it was their kid and not someone else's

if someone tells me, hey, i'm ok with it being my kid i'd disagree but have more respect for them than if they said, oh, uptight america blah blah blah

cool?

@McCheeburger: ps i didn't like it when it was brooke shields and her calvins, either, but they were a little more honest in not saying it's art, just saying, well, we're selling jeans here

@ronaldpagan: good 4 u 4 taking up the "those 15 yo's were asking 4 it" ... ita

@ronaldpagan: I think the point this writer was making with the descriptions of the teens was that they were being hypocritical with their assessment of Miley Cyrus based on their own appearance.

And, while I certainly wouldn't like it if someone described my daughter as exuding sexuality, the first thing it would make me do is examine why my daughter was inspiring such a comment. If she were, she obviously wouldn't be dressed appropriately for a 15-year old girl. That's the bigger problem. One that a bit of parental involvement could, and should, address.