New York, NY - August 25: Miley Cyrus performs "We Can't Stop" with dance team LA Bakers at the Barclay Center. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for MTV)
I, like everyone else watching the 2013 VMA's, was disturbed all throughout Miley Cyrus's performance. At first I was thrown off by her entrance - her tongue, weird facial gestures, and the crawl/walk had me thinking maybe she was trying to be a mix of a lizard and the Wicked Witch of the West. She was full of energy (especially sexual energy) and there were teddy bears all around. Then she attempted to twerk. I figured that was coming because Miley has been tweeting, instagramming, and releasing "twerk" videos up until the release of her song, "We Can't Stop". I knew then that twerking would become a pop sensation and household name, not because of the black women who started and progressed it through popularity in the black community, but because Miley Cyrus was doing it on national TV. That was justifiably disturbing. It seemed as though black women and black culture were being used as a means to an end, and didn't reap any of the benefits. After all, everything about the MTV VMA's was black, except the winners.
But when the minstrel show and race problem accusations started coming in, I had to take a second look at what was really going on. Now I'm not disturbed by her performance. I like it. I'm happy she did it. I'm happy she gave credit where credit was due. She had a stage full of thick black women and joined them in doing something that mainstream America discourages: having fun and expressing yourself in whatever ratchet way you want to.
Miley's new brand is: do whatever mainstream America discourages. Many Black Americans have an inherent tendency towards non-conformity, a non-conformity that is rooted in America's history of racism. Many non-black people look to Black Americans because of this. They see us as the epitome of people who have been oppressed, hated, and abused, yet still manage to have fun expressing ourselves, our frustrations and our ambitions while overcoming trials and tribulations. People feel oppressed for many reasons - some because of their race, others because their parents won't let them drive their brand new Audi to Big Bear for a weekend ski trip. Whatever the case may be - feeling oppressed is feeling oppressed. People rebel when they feel oppressed. Miley Cyrus clearly doesn't want anyone telling her how she is supposed to behave or what she's supposed to like, and that was her message at the 2013 VMAs. She will express her sexuality however she wants, and she will immerse herself in black ratchet culture however she wants. She's laughing with us, not at us - only she gets to take home the money for it.