Miley Cyrus. 'Nuff Said.

This summer's top new story was not the Syrian Civil War, or Anthony Weiner making a fool of himself in New York, or the Supreme Court striking down DOMA and Prop. 8, or even (gasp!) the royal baby. No, this summer was made when, at MTV's Video Music Awards in August, pop star Miley Cyrus twerked. For readers who are not familiar with twerking and have no inclination to watch the video, Wikipedia defines it as, "A type of dance in which the dancer, usually a woman, shakes her hips in an up-and-down bouncing motion." The point is, Cyrus danced suggestively on national television, in more ways than twerking. Not only did Miley Cyrus twerk, she twerked on someone, that person being singer Robin Thicke. Thicke's mother was quoted by NPR's "Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me!" as saying, "I was not expecting her to be putting her butt that close to my son!" Well, neither were we.

I could make snarky comments about this incident for some time, but there is something more here than that. Miley Cyrus is the latest example of the "midriff," the image of the hypersexualized young woman that the entertainment industry is marketing to teenaged girls. Think 16-year-old Brittany Spears. It is true that Miley Cyrus is the ripe age of 21, meaning that technically, she is not a teenager. She is, however, a major star performing on a channel aimed at teenagers. Unfortunately, Cyrus' status as a pop star makes her a roll model or trendsetter for many teenage girls. That's not to say that, because of her performance, all teenage girls are going to start dressing in just underwear and twerk in public on a regular basis. It does, however, perpetuate the image that teenagers will strive for, the image of a young girl as a sexual object long before they are mature enough to understand what that means.

Pop stars like Miley Cyrus are reshaping America's youth. Female pop stars often act in a way that persuades their loyal fan base to act as they do. They perpetuate the idea that a woman's body is her best, or even her only, asset. Girls see this message, and become sex objects long before they are mature. Miley Cyrus is, therefore, an example of what is wrong with popular culture in America today.