I was 12 when Miley Cyrus performed at the VMAs in 2013. What I remember most, besides thinking the giant dancing teddy bears and her matching onesie weren't great design choices, was moving closer to the television screen, almost trying to physically shield Cyrus from the criticism I knew would be coming from my horrified family members, and then the world. In the moment, I tried, unconvincingly, to defend her on feminist grounds: Cyrus was a young woman expressing her sexuality and there was nothing wrong with that! It's totally fine! I don't see anything wrong with 20-year-old Cyrus, wearing a latex bra and underwear set, twerking on 36-year-old Robin Thicke while he sings a song about date rape. But, please, don't look at the TV. Maybe now is a good time to refill your soda.
We all remember what happened next. Cyrus became a controversial media fixture for the coming years. She received backlash for both her performance and appearance, became the butt of jokes and received an open letter from a concerned Sinead O'Connor after releasing the music video for "Wrecking Ball" a few weeks later. At the time, Cyrus was already three years into her campaign to break out of her Disney Channel box, a career challenge that often draws curious onlookers wondering if a former teen idol can parlay their early success into an adult, mainstream career.
