Miley Cirus and teen hypersexualization

When I first saw the photo of Miley Cirus (age 15) in a silk sheet circulating around the Internet, I wasn't sure what to think. As it turns out, millions of teenage girls in the country must have been just as puzzled as I was. While we hear messages from politicians telling us that being sexual is 'bad' and that abstinence is the only way to go, the media's capitalizing on bare skin and shock value is sending our young culture some very mixed signals.

Jessica from Feministing.com comments on what she calls the Stockholm Syndrome in Media. The media's portrayal of young women as sexual objects, Jessica believes, acts like a subtle version of verbal and physical harassment and is always present in the background. Subconsciously, girls absorb these messages and try to weigh them against the voices that are telling them (in their schools) that acting/dressing sexy and being interested in sex before marriage is bad. 

The real message, according to Jessica: girls shouldn't want to be powerful. The result: serious barriers between us and full equality.