Not That  Innocent 

The Chosen One

 

In most fantastical stories, it all comes down to the “Chosen One.” The one who didn’t ask for any of the fame or the responsibility, but is somehow … special. You know, the Luke Skywalkers, the Percy Jacksons, the Harry Potters, the Katniss Everdeens. The “Chosen One” usually becomes what external forces in the world they live in need them to become.

 

We have “Chosen Ones” in our world too. They usually don’t save the world, or maybe they do in their own ways. Disney’s “Chosen One” has been and always will be Miley Cyrus. But before Miley, there was another It-Girl pop princess who was also scrutinized mercilessly by the media in her young adulthood.

 

Britney Spears was the original Disney Channel girl, starring on “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” in the early 90s. Born in Mississippi but raised in Louisiana, she was, like Cyrus, a country girl at heart. She was signed to her record label at 15 years old. 

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As the daughter of country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley began her acting career at a young age and got her big break on the hit Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana.” She starred as the titular character who was the alter ego of a normal Malibu teen named Miley Stewart.

 

“Hannah Montana” was an extremely popular and marketable show — as was Miley herself.  During its run, the show had 17 episodes with over 5 million viewers when they premiered, it had its own spinoff concert film and its own theatrically released film, and Cyrus released five soundtracks under the faux pop star alias.

 

But by playing a fictionalized version of herself, there was a lot of room for confusion. Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana, something Cyrus has acknowledged herself. The magic was in Hannah, not Miley. Her fame was because of Hannah and because she was Hannah. In an interview with Kevin Hart, she said, “I was growing up as her, she was me. There was no divide between us.” 

 

“Sometimes it feels like my life started when Hannah Montana was born,” Cyrus wrote in a Tik Tok caption. “But before Hannah there was Miley.

 

In an appearance on the podcast Rock This With Allison Hagendorf, she said:

“Talk about an identity crisis. I was a character almost as often as I was myself. The concept of the show is that when you’re this character, when you have this alter ego, you’re valuable. You’ve got millions of fans, you’re the biggest star in the world. Then the concept was that when I looked like myself ... when I didn’t have the wig on anymore, no one cared about me. I wasn’t a star anymore.”

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In her recent “Used to Be Young” series, where she looked back at her iconic career thus far, Cyrus revealed her insane work schedule when she was 12 years old: 12 hour work days filled with interviews and photoshoots and filming “Hannah Montana.” In an emotional moment in the series, she revealed that she’s always been made to feel like a star. 

 

Miley had the whole package — she could sing, she could act. And she was dedicated. At one point in time, she was America’s sweetheart who sang about partying in the USA and projected Disney’s squeaky clean and wholesome image. She was not only Disney’s “Chosen One,” she was the It-Girl. 

 

One might think that nepotism played a role in Cyrus’s success. But I’d argue that Cyrus would have made it with or without the success of her father. The acting and singing lessons he provided helped her of course. But even in her auditions for the show, her sass and confidence and talent shined all on their own. The fact that Miley and Billy Ray were actually father and daughter in real life surely added to the success of the “Hannah Montana,” but at the end of the day, it was her show. Their experiences of fame and success were drastically different though. In an interview from 2020 with Joe Rogan, Cyrus said, “He went from having nothing to having everything … I went from having it all to having more.” 

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That’s not to say she didn’t have support from others in the industry. In an interview with ELLE, Cyrus revealed that country singers — not pop stars — were her mentors, like Johnny Cash and her godmother, Dolly Parton. That kind of support from another woman, especially one that is older than you, is almost necessary in the entertainment industry.

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​The Other Ones

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Success can mean different things to different people because there are, of course, the ones who could have had the “Miley Cyrus Treatment” but didn’t although they had successful careers on Disney Channel. 

 

Take Ashley Tisdale, Brenda Song, Hilary Duff, or Raven-Symoné. 

 

Ashley Tisdale had worked on a variety of commercials, sitcoms and dramatic series before becoming Maddie Fitzpatrick on “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” in 2005. Her iconic character from the highly successful “High School Musical” trilogy also inspired its own (forgettable) spinoff movie. She was also signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2006 and would record two studio albums with them. Tisdale would go on to be the voice of Candace in the animated show “Phineas and Ferb” for 130 episodes. Surely Tisdale is a household name to some, she acted on Disney Channel consistently for ten years.

 

Brenda Song had been acting since she was six years old but then worked on a variety of Disney Channel TV shows and movies: “The Ultimate Christmas Present,” “Get a Clue,” “That’s So Raven,” “Lilo & Stitch: The Series,” “Stuck in the Suburbs,” “Phil of the Future,” “American Dragon: Jake Long,” and “Phineas and Ferb.” She would go on to play the lead in the DCOM “Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior” and play London Tipton on “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” and “The Suite Life on Deck.” Similar to Tisdale, she consistently worked for Disney for ten years.

 

Hilary Duff began her acting career in 1998 and starred as the lead on Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” from 2001-2003 and then the 2002 DCOM “Cadet Kelly.” In 2003 alone, she had three films released: “Agent Cody Banks,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” and “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.” The next year, “A Cinderella Story” and “Raise Your Voice.” The next, “The Perfect Man” and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.” In the midst of all of this, she had a singing career. In fact, music was a way she could shy away from her identity of “Lizzie McGuire.”

 

In an interview on Josh Peck’s Good Guys podcast Duff said: 

“I just desperately needed to be my own person, and I think that I thought music was going to be a good way to reintroduce myself, and it was.”

 

Duff would go on to release five albums in five years, with her debut “Metamorphosis” being the most popular. More recently, Duff starred on “How I Met Your Father,” but hasn’t had much to boast about acting or singing wise in the past few years. 

 

Raven-Symoné got her start on “The Cosby Show” in 1989. A decade later, she would make her Disney Channel debut as Nebula on the DCOM “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century.” She became a Disney staple through her show “That’s So Raven,” and the movies “The Cheetah Girls,” “The Cheetah Girls 2,” “The Princess Diaries 2,” and “College Road Trip.” She went on to voice characters on “Kim Possible” and the “Tinker Bell” franchise. She hosted “The View” for a couple of years but returned to Disney Channel in 2017 to reprise her role of Raven in “Raven’s Home.” 

 

How was Cyrus promoted so differently than the rest of the girls? Is it a generational occurrence? If you ask people my age, they might remember Hilary Duff, but maybe not. I had older siblings, so I grew up aware of “older” Disney Channel shows and movies (“The Lizzie McGuire Movie” VHS tape still sits in my basement at home, it’s a prized possession.) I’m confident that the general American population could name a Miley Cyrus song. 

 

These girls all rose to fame before Cyrus, there was no established Disney It-Girl. Duff and Symoné certainly paved the way for what could be. It was as if “Lizzie McGuire” was Duff’s one and done, similar to Cyrus’s “Hannah Montana.” Did other Disney girls even want to be launched into stardom like Cyrus would be? Did other stars after Cyrus want that either? 

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In contrast to the Duffs and Tisdales, there was the Disney Channel Holy Trinity: Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato. What did Miley and Selena and Demi have that these girls didn’t? Well, most Disney girls could sing and act. But these three, they were all on Disney Channel at the same time, being promoted together at the same time through “Friends for Change,” they were frenemies? and they all dated a Jonas Brother.

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Selena Gomez started out on “Barney & Friends” in 2002 but made her Disney Channel debut on an episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” in 2006. Starting in 2007, she had a recurring role on “Hannah Montana” but would ultimately win the lead role on “Wizards of Waverly Place,” which ran from 2007-2012 and had its own DCOM “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.” 

 

Gomez was signed to Disney’s record label Hollywood Records in 2008 and put out three albums with her band Selena Gomez and the Scene. She has three solo albums under the label Interscope Records, and continues to put out music today.

 

She starred in the 2009 DCOM “Princess Protection Program” alongside Demi Lovato. Her other feature films include “Another Cinderella Story” in 2008, “Ramona and Beezus” in 2010, “Monte Carlo” in 2011, and “Spring Breakers” in 2012, and she voices Mavis in the “Hotel Transylvania” franchise. She’s currently the executive producer and main character on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Gomez is currently the third most followed person on Instagram, and the most followed woman on Instagram.

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Like Gomez, Demi Lovato got her start on “Barney & Friends” in 2002 but had her breakthrough on Disney Channel in the 2008 DCOM “Camp Rock,” in which she played the main character and sang for the soundtrack. She reprised her character in “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.” She played the main character of the sitcom “Sonny with a Chance” from 2009-2011. She also starred in “Princess Protection Program” with Gomez in 2009. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2008, and she released six studio albums with them over the course of nine years.

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Amanda McGough of “Her Campus” noted that while Duff and Symoné were the “blueprints” and Gomez and Lovato were “alternatives,” Cyrus was the “ultimate” It-Girl, and I’d have to agree. 

 

Though Bridgit Mendler is the same age as Miley Cyrus, I would argue she’s Cyrus’ antithesis. Mendler began acting later than most Disney girls. Before Disney, she was in “Clique” and had a supporting role in “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” but then she went on to play love interests on “Jonas” and “Wizards of Waverly Place.” Then, she starred as the lead in both the 2011 DCOM “Lemonade Mouth” and the show “Good Luck Charlie,” which ran from 2010-2014. After her time at Disney, she guest starred on “Nashville” in 2017, and in 2019, alongside Dennis Quaid and Ashley Tisdale (yes, you read that correctly), she starred in a one-season Netflix sitcom called “Merry Happy Whatever.”

 

Like the many Disney girls that came before her, Mendler was signed with Hollywood Records. She released her debut album in 2012 titled “Hello My Name Is…” but hasn’t released any new music since 2017. She doesn’t have a large social media presence though that’s probably because she’s busy pursuing her education — she holds a degree in anthropology from USC, a graduate degree from MIT, and is currently enrolled at Harvard Law School and is working toward her Ph.D from MIT. 

 

How does one get launched to this Cyrus level of stardom? How do different girls take such different paths when one is clearly laid out for them? Is it by purely chance? Is it Disney? Music executives? Personal or familial connections? What did Miley do? I think it has to do with the company themselves: Disney profits off of the stars they create. The merch and apparel, the interviews are all branded with the Disney name and logo, even Cyrus herself. 

 

Executive producer of “Hannah Montana” Michael Poryes once said:

“In Miley we found the perfect girl to carry off this part. She has a kind of strength and sweetness that make her character appealing, an unmistakable something that makes you believe she’s a star.”

 

A TIME article from 2006 said:

“While [Cyrus] certainly has musical talent and charisma, she’s also the product of a winning formula for creating shows that tweens love and make stars out of its leads … But the most important part, which Disney has perfected, is identifying and developing unknown talent to star in its shows.”

 

So what I’m hearing is that it was inevitable that Cyrus would turn out to be the star she did. It was perhaps her status as the It-Girl that led to her perceived downfall and such harsh criticism for a period of her life.

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With the emergence of social media, a lot has changed for the careers of Disney alums. 

 

Nowadays, child stars have millions of followers after their shows air and have massive influence that’s independent of their contracts and what they’re being paid for with their respective networks, becoming independently wealthy and having leverage over that company. 

 

Most millennial Disney girls grew their careers exclusively within Disney. But take any other recent Disney alum — Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Jenna Ortega. They’re highly successful women but that wasn’t all because of Disney.

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Read more about other well-known Disney Girls.

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​The Legacy of a Child Star

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Child stardom affects every person differently, but there have been some patterns of drug and substance abuse and mental health issues among former child stars, specifically Disney ones. 

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Some actors are allowed “cleaner breaks” from Disney than others and some remain “unscathed.” The Sprouse twins, who started acting at 8 months old, had massive careers as kids, most notably on the Disney Channel shows “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and its spinoff “The Suite Life on Deck.” When they quit Disney, they went off to college but eventually returned to acting a few years later and are highly successful now. 

 

I don’t think Disney Boys face the same level of criticism or scrutiny as Disney Girls, but that doesn’t make their struggles any less important to talk about. 

 

I don’t think everyone is on the same playing field. Child stars in general may be set up to fail, but women are more likely to fail, are more likely to “go crazy” because the industry ensures that they will. Cole Sprouse even said:

“The young women on the channel we were on were so heavily sexualized from such an earlier age than my brother and I, that there’s absolutely no way that we could compare our experiences.”

 

Miley Cryrus’s co-star Mitchel Musso recently got arrested for public intoxication, but it didn’t make national headlines. Whenever I read about Zac Efron, it’s always about his face. Ross Lynch sings shirtless at his concerts, but that’s no big deal. The Jonas Brothers have continued to be a family-friendly group, though I do distinctly remember when those Calvin Klein photos of Nick Jonas were released. Admittedly though, the biggest scandal at the moment is Joe Jonas’ divorce. In 2013, however, Joe Jonas wrote to the New Yorker about how Disney controlled every aspect of their lives. 

 

Isaak Presley is best known for his Disney Channel series “Stuck in the Middle,” in which he starred opposite Jenna Ortega. He has been vocal about his binge drinking and admitted to going to parties at 14 years old (the same age he started drinking alcohol), where there were drugs. He claimed that child stardom led to exposure of the “real” world very young, which meant exposure to club life, alcohol and drugs from a very young age. 

 

Christy Carlson Romano began her career at six years old but is probably best known for her work on Disney Channel’s “Even Stevens,” which ran from 2000-2003, “Kim Possible,” which ran from 2002-2007 and the 2002 DCOM “Cadet Kelly.” She started drinking at 16 years old and struggled for years before going to AA, and is now eight years sober. She has been open about her battles with self-harm and depression during her late teens and early twenties. 

 

There are patterns of sexualization, of exploitation, of children growing up too soon, that stem from the industry. Christy Carlson Romano knows it’s the industry itself:

“We have this industry that benefits off of convenience. We want it loud, fast, funny and cheap, and we need it right now, and that’s how productions work. It’s not just a Nickelodeon problem, or a Paramount problem or whoever it is. It’s not one particular network’s issue. It’s an entire industry issue. Which is why it comes back down to either SAG or even child labor on a federal level.”

 

It’s sad that not all child stars are protected: not by their parents, not by the Screen Actors Guild, not even the law. The media and paparazzi certainly don’t respect the children’s privacy. Despite major flaws in the system, these child stars are still expected to be role models for other children. 

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A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success serves as a model to be emulated by others, especially by younger people.

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“The Disney-to-pop pipeline is well trodden, and it usually takes a long time for young women making that transition to find anything close to free expression, straitened by America’s puritanical double standards and the commercial imperative/threat to be a good role model.”

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An Image Wrecked

 

Part of Miley’s It-factor, I suppose, is the fact that she’s the least apologetic about herself and her sexual agency. The way that she was able to seize control of her image is admirable. She probably saw what was coming — it happened to Britney — and she needed to take control of the situation. Because as a child actor, it’s inevitable that they will be sexualized. It’s just the nature of the industry. If a child is aware of that sexualization throughout their whole life, what does that cultural and psychological weight do to a child? 

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Miley faced a micro-scandal when she posed “topless” (backless) on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2008, which was considered “controversial” and “scandalous” at the time because she was only 15 years old. The Vanity Fair cover was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

 

“Here, my parents are thinking they’re seeing a beautiful picture by a major photographer, and the people of America want to see something dirty in that?” Miley said in a 2010 interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

An Atlantic article from 2008 titled “Miley Cyrus Knows What She’s Doing” said:​

“One day you’re posing for Annie Leibowitz; the next you’ve ended up in the Britney-Lindsey-Paris circle of celebrity hell … I think the Cyruses are stage-managing this whole ‘controversy’ — and doing so pretty adeptly — I’m inclined to think that maybe, just maybe, they have enough worldliness and self-awareness to navigate Miley’s adolescence without letting the celebrity machine grind her down into Britney Redux. That machine isn’t evil because it corrupts every young woman who steps into its gears; it’s evil because it preys upon the weak and the damaged and the dumb, the girls who aren’t equipped to deal with the intersection of their celebrity and their sexuality, and with the culture’s desire to use them up and throw them away.” Despite his condescension, the author makes a good point about the industry and its tendency to always be looking for the next big thing.

 

Then, the Teen Choice Awards of 2009 happened. Cyrus was singing her hit song “Party in the U.S.A.” and after she emerged from a trailer, she hopped onto an ice cream cart that happened to have a silver pole coming out the top of it. See where this is going? Yeah. 

 

Cyrus recently talked about the incident in her recent “Used to Be Young” series:

“So, apparently me dancing on an ice cream cart with a stripper pole, but it wasn’t a stripper pole, it was actually just for stability. I had a heel on! Like what did you want from me? Was I really gonna do my performance without dancing on top of an ice cream cart?” 

 

Something seemingly innocent misconstrued as something sexual.

 

Fox News reported: “It was goodbye ‘Hannah Montana’ as Miley writhed on a stripper pole in hotpants!” 

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“My job is to be a role model, and that’s what I want to do, but my job isn’t to be a parent. My job isn’t to tell your kids how to act or how not to act, because I’m still figuring that out for myself. So to take that away from me is a bit selfish. Your kids are going to make mistakes whether I do or not. That’s just life,” 17 year old Miley said about the TCAs in a 2010 interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

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Again, Miley has always been unapologetically herself — a quality to be admired — and this was evident in her 2010 “Can’t Be Tamed” music video. (It was the OG rebellion that didn’t stick, but more on “Bangerz” later).

 

In the video, Cyrus acts as a bird and attempts to escape the cage she’s been put in, trying to sprout her wings. Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger described the song itself as a “shuffling electro stomper in the vein of Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed a Girl’ or Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer,’” and the video as a “PG-13 cross between Britney Spears’ ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ and Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi.’”

 

In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, According to Miley, “Can't Be Tamed” was the moment she began to spread her wings and move into a new period of her life and career: “I was already telling y’all that something was about to happen, that I wasn’t Hannah Montana.” After her time on Disney, Miley starred in two teen rom-coms: “LOL” and “So Undercover”

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So then why was Bangerz such a surprise? 

 

In 2012, Miley Cyrus entered her “Bangerz” era, a year before the aforementioned album was even released. It had been a year since the conclusion of her teen sitcom “Hannah Montana,” and Cyrus went through an image transformation: She chopped her long, brown hair into a platinum blonde pixie cut, which invariably matured her look. 

 

But to the media Miley cutting her hair short made her crazy much like Britney shaving her head circa 2007

 

As her fourth studio album, “Bangerz” was a departure from Cyrus’ pop princess sound. Produced by Mike Will Made It, she featured several rappers on the album, including Nelly, Future, Big Sean, Ludacris, and French Montana which added to the album’s hip-hop, R&B sound. Lyrically, “Bangerz” is not the strongest but the vibes are immaculate.

 

“Adore You” is the most romantic song on the album while “Wrecking Ball” is an emotional heartbreak anthem. “We Can’t Stop” is the ultimate teen party anthem that talks about drugs, drinking, strip clubs. 

 

“We can kiss who we want / We can screw who we want,” 

“So la-da-di-da-di, we like to party / Dancing with Molly / Doing whatever we want,” 

“Everyone in line in the bathroom / Tryna get a line in the bathroom / We all so turned up here / Getting turned up, yeah, yeah, yeah.” 

Because of this drastic image change and sudden maturation, people kept calling Miley the next Britney, or in some sick and twisted way, they wanted her to become the next Britney.​

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Throughout her teens and twenties, everyone was obsessed with whether or not Britney was “too sexy,” “predatory,” and “dangerous” for the way she dressed. She was only one thing in people’s mind. She couldn’t be sexy AND capable or talented AND hot. The media painted her as an eternal virgin well into her twenties, which took the focus away from her music and her career.

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In a 2003 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Britney said:

“These parents, they think I’m a role model for their kids, that their kids look at me as some sort of idol. But it’s the parents’ job to make sure their kids don’t turn out that shallow. It’s the parents who should be teaching their kids how to behave. That’s not my responsibility. I’m not responsible for your kid.”

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Watching people criticize a 19-year-old girl for what she’s wearing and putting the weight of modesty and good behavior on her shoulders is devastating and unfair. Britney’s VMA performance in 2000 in a sparkling nude suit. A 16-year-old Britney in her Catholic School Girl outfit singing “Hit me baby one more time!” A 20-year-old Miley and her wrecking ball.

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When women take control of their sexuality, that makes people uncomfortable — even though other people were going to sexualize them anyway. There is nothing scarier than a woman feeling good about her body, feeling comfortable in her own skin — something we’re constantly being told we should feel shameful about.

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And yet, these young women inevitably became role models for a generation of young girls whether they wanted to be or not. With fame and fortune and a lack of privacy and constant harsh criticisms came this other burden.

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Nickelodeon girls faced the same challenges of being in the public eye while maturing, but the level of severity was different because of Disney’s image: clean, wholesome, family-friendly. Nick girls were inherently “edgier” because they didn’t have the squeaky clean Disney image to protect.

 

“Scandals” occurred on both networks. Are these considered scandals because they mainly involve women?

 

Take “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens: In 2007, nude photographs of her were leaked. As one Vox article said,

“Looking at how fast and furious the flame of public reaction burned in the response to Hudgens’s photos makes for a vivid illustration of just how fast and how drastically the ways we talk about women’s sexuality have changed over the past 15 years — and, in small and crucial ways, how they haven’t.”

Rarely do I hear people discuss Hudgens’ leaked nudes, but Miley will never live down that damn wrecking ball. Yet, they’re part of the same generation of Disney Girls and Hudgens’ “scandal” occurred at the height of her Disney career with very little pop cultural relevance now and with very few logistical consequences besides a public shaming, which is most detrimental of all. 

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If we look at Jamie Lynn Spears, however, it is a different story. In 2007, when Spears announced that she was pregnant at 16 years old, all hell broke loose. Although she had already finished filming the final season of her hit Nick show “Zoey 101,” everyone assumed the show had been canceled because she got pregnant as the final episodes were still airing on TV. During an appearance on Hannah Brown’s Better Tomorrow podcast, Spears said:

“The whole world came down and told me I was the worst human alive for doing so, and that every young girl who ever watched my show was going to be ruined because of me and my personal decision.”

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As women, are we then expected to regret every phase of our sexuality? How are we supposed to behave?

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And you are watching ... Disney Channel​

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“I think whether a reader relates to a cover star is not always the point. They just need to find her interesting. And Miley, at this point in her life, certainly is.”

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It’s a difficult concept to wrap my head around — children being role models for other children. 

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I’ve always felt a sense of caution within my admiration toward celebrities (“Oh, she’s amazing, but I could never be her or be like her.) Did I ever want to be these Disney girls or be like them? 

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Well, it’s complicated. 

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If you asked my seven year old self if I looked up to Miley Cyrus, I would 100% say yes. I loved her show. I loved her music. I’d even gone to one of her concerts with my friends who also loved Hannah Montana! 

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My 21 year old self would agree with my seven year old self in my admiration for Miley but aspiration? I’m not so sure.

 

When I was younger, I watched Disney Channel for far longer than I should have. Although most of their shows depict teens and high schoolers, the Channel’s primary audience serves 9-11 year olds. I was watching the channel well into middle and high school, specifically for the Disney Channel Original Movies. There was a lot of comfort within the shows and the predictability of the jokes and plotlines. Even if it wasn’t the familiar faces I grew up watching (Miley, Selena, Demi), I found new girls to admire: Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Holt, Zendaya.

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I also found a lot of comfort within the cheesy music that the channel produced through their shows and original movies. Soundtracks from “Hannah Montana,” “Camp Rock, ”“High School Musical,” “The Cheetah Girls,” “Jump In!,” “Starstruck,” and “Austin & Ally” continue to make up my music taste. And even the music from newer DCOMS like “Descendants” and “Zombies” still find their way into my playlists… From a young age, I connected with the music that these shows and movies had. Really, I was connecting to people who were behind the mic. I got to watch these Disney stars grow up, and even though that wasn’t really reciprocated, I formed a connection with them. That’s why I find myself still getting excited about Disney stars’ new releases. I feel like we’ll always have a connection so long as they continue to put out music.

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But these Disney girls were performers. In some ways, I saw more of myself in the characters they played rather than the actresses themselves. These characters weren’t the most popular girls in school — intentionally so — but they were cool and confident to me. 

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As a child, the actresses were not so much older than me. Miley, for example, is only ten years older than me. But growing up I had an older sister to look up to, one that was eight years older than me. But she went off to college during a time when I was still growing up in need of guidance and sisterly advice. So, in a way, these actresses became my older sisters.

 

Although I don’t play in front of crowds of thousands, I don’t post videos of myself that millions of people will watch, I’m not famous — I can still relate to them. They still have human struggles. They are human. I feel like some people put celebrities on pedestals, where they are untouchable and invincible. For some, celebrities can do no wrong. There is a danger to idolizing someone, of having parasocial relationships with celebrities in general. 

 

1. They will never live up to your expectations.

2. Because of this, you will be disappointed. 

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Now I admire these girls, these women, for being secure (although maybe not totally secure) in themselves and their sexuality. 

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I can’t even imagine my body being judged on such a wide scale medium. Having my body and the way I look and the way I dress as a means to determine my character.

  

Maybe deep down I always have looked at these women as friends, as sisters, as role models. 

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A Gen-Z Role Model

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Olivia Rodrigo was once upon a time a Disney girl, starring on the Disney Channel show “Bizaardvark” and then later the Disney+ original series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” both of which she sang on. She went viral, specifically on TikTok with the release of “All I Want,” a somber, yearning song on the “HSMTMTS” soundtrack that has accumulated over six hundred million streams on Spotify.

 

Rodrigo has been deemed “the promising new voice of [our] generation.” Rodrigo’s highly successful debut album “SOUR” was released in 2021 while her sophomore album “GUTS” was released in September of 2023. It’s a pop album but has punk rock elements, à la Avril Lavigne. Rodrigo’s audience is largely young and female. Rodrigo’s whole image and persona encapsulates teenagehood.

 

“GUTS” does incorporate mature themes: sex (“Bad Idea Right…?), underage drinking (“Making the Bed”), and toxic relationships (“Vampire”) in a more subtle way than Cyrus ever did. 

 

One Buzzfeed article argues that the way that Rodrigo avoids the “Miley Cyrus Treatment” is by not dressing promiscuously and not flaunting her teenage behavior. It says, “On social media, Olivia dresses like any other girl her age” and her makeup looks are “subtle and barely there.” I’m sensing a little bit of internalized misogyny coming from Miss Stephanie Soteriou of Buzzfeed News. 

 

So the way Rodrigo portrays sleeping with men, going to the club and having relationships with older men is cute and relatable and youthful, but Cyrus was crazy and slutty and not acting her age when she was singing about similar things? Yeah, I don’t buy it.

 

In 2013, (as one Twitter user points out), nobody considered Cyrus (20 years old at the time) to be a teenager, especially after the VMAs heard ’round the world. The foam finger, the gyrating, the twerking, the grinding on Robin Thicke? People were appalled by her behavior, and were incredibly vocal about it. The “Wrecking Ball” music video, which was released a few weeks after Cyrus’ VMAs performance, depicts Cyrus licking a sledgehammer and swinging from a wrecking ball naked. But that was Cyrus’ intent: She wanted to be seen as more mature, to shed her Disney girl image. The music videos, the VMAs, the whole album.

 

“But from the moment she eagerly ripped off her furry-fantasy get-up, Cyrus not only embraced and amped-up her own sexualization, she threw it back in Thicke’s face (and lap).” — Nolan Feeney, The Atlantic

 

“With one swift twerk, Cyrus made much of Lady Gaga’s past antics look tame and ignited strong reviews of her performance on Twitter. Cyrus was mentioned 4.5 million times on Twitter, ahead of Justin Timberlake's 2.9 mentions. Cyrus and Thickes performance led in tweets per minute peaks with 306,100, according to The Associated Press.” — ABC News

 

“So yeah, Miley Cyrus is on another planet right now, and even the people who hate it have to admit that they can’t stop watching it.” — Andrew Gruttadaro, Hollywood Life

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Does sexual agency then equate to maturity? It’s normal to have different phases of adulthood, maturation looks different for everyone. This ambiguity and ambivalence to growing up is important and expected.

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The dilemma of transitioning from a girl who is a child to an adolescent girl to a female woman. 

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Our Bodies Are Not Ours 

 

I was scrolling through Twitter the other day and I came across a clip from 2003 of Ashton Kutcher talking about Hilary Duff. At first, I was like, why would a 25-year-old Kutcher even be talking about a 15-year-old Duff? But then I remembered that they starred together on “Cheaper by the Dozen,” which came out in 2003. The 15 second clip — from Kutcher’s MTV reality hidden camera–practical joke TV show called “Prank’d — starts out fine. He highlights her accomplishments as an actress, super casual. And then he says: “She’s one of the girls that we’re all waiting for to turn 18.”

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My immediate reaction to the Tweet was, “Gross!” 

 

And I then thought about it. It is gross because this way of talking about women is so common. I mean, grown men talk about underage women all the time in real life too, so why not in the ultimate cesspool of exploitation and sexualization? I’m talking about Hollywood of course. The very institution that consistently asks: Which of these people can we objectify? Which of these people can we sexualize? 

 

Celebrity women are constantly sexualized by the media, but the minute they tap into this or accentuate their sexuality or do anything remotely sexual they are called crazy, slutty, disgraceful. 

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But this happens not just in the media or in Hollywood. This problem permeates everywhere. Young girls are constantly hypersexualized by men and women. 

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My body will always be monitored.

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In the fifth grade, the girls in my class were told we weren’t allowed to wear colorful bras that would show through our shirts so as to not distract the boys. Throughout all of my schooling, I wasn’t allowed to wear skinny jeans or leggings or anything that would show off my figure or indicate that hey! I have breasts. 

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To this day, I am self-conscious about a bra strap showing, about underwear lines showing through my pants, which is so ridiculous. 

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My body isn’t mine. 

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In a recent New York Times article by Amanda Hess, she revealed that she learned, through Britney Spears, that:

“The bodies of women and girls had a speculative value. Men determined their worth. They invested early, but they were always ready to withdraw their attention and place it in someone new ... Spears arrived as the queen of girlhood, but she was not just for girls. The boys — who were themselves expected to project a compulsory heterosexuality — quickly reached a consensus that her music kind of sucked but that she was very hot. I could sense them dismantling her, distributing her parts. The girls could have her voice, but the boys would take her body.”
 

I’m constantly giving my body away. In the bikini posts on Instagram, in the clothes I wear at the bar.

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Men and women can be intrusive and inappropriate when it comes to physicality. For celebrities it’s a little different. There’s the pressures of fame and endless judgment in addition to the uncomfortability of growing pains and the hypersexualization.

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It’s Lindsay Lohan’s SNL “Harry Potter” sketch that was all about her breasts when she was only 17 years old. It’s the media’s weird obsession with the Olsen twins: the countdown to their 18th birthday, NBC saying, “They contain the innocence of children and the sultriness of sexpots,” the comments from Howard Stern, “Now, normally I don't look at a 13-year-old and sexualize them, I don't, but these two are pieces of ass. They've grown up so perfect.” It’s the media questioning Britney’s virginity, her bra size and constantly commenting on her breasts. It’s a grown man from Rolling Stone reporting from a 17-year-old Britney’s bedroom and commenting on her ‘honeyed thigh’ and ‘ample chest.’

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That shit wouldn’t fly today, but it shouldn’t have been acceptable back then either. It was — and is — perverse.

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Older men will want to sleep with me.

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Speaking of perverse, age gap relationships have always made me feel icky. 

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I’ve noticed a pattern in pop culture: young girls, especially actresses and singers, get into relationships with older men when they’re in their teens. Laura Snapes of The Guardian said,

“Conflicted experiences with older men have been a recent theme in pop, with songs by [Taylor] Swift, [Billie] Eilish, Demi Lovato and Phoebe Bridgers resonating with a post-#MeToo generation alert to exploitative power dynamics.” 

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Hilary Duff started dating Joel Madden when she was 16, he was 25.

 

Taylor Swift was 19, John Mayer was 32. “Don't you think nineteen’s too young / To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?”

 

Swift was 20, Jake Gyllenhaal was 29. “You said if we had been closer in age/Maybe it would have been fine/And that made me want to die,”

 

Olivia Rodrigo was 18, Adam Faze was 24. “Said I was too young / I was too soft / Can’t take a joke / Can’t get you off,”

 

Olivia Rodrigo was 19, Zack Bia was 26. “Ooh, what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, fucked-up little thrill / Can’t figure out just how you do it, and God knows I never will / Went for me, and not her / ’Cause girls your age know better”

 

Billie Eilish was 20, Jesse Rutherford was 31. 

 

Demi Lovato was 17, Wilmer Valderrama was 29. “Thought it was a teenage dream, just a fantasy / But was it yours or was it mine? / Seventeen, twenty-nine”

 

There’s a certain appeal to older men, right? They’re more “mature” and “experienced,” more likely to give you something that a younger man can’t, whether that’s commitment, emotional maturity, or stability. 

 

We shame these young women for these relationships, but why aren’t we questioning the men?

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My body will be infantilized.

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I started shaving my legs at 10 years old. I had probably noticed the wispy little hairs growing on my legs before this but it didn’t bother me. I remember I was going to the carnival and would be wearing shorts and I was self-conscious that not only were my legs hairy, but it was noticeable. My mom wouldn’t let me use a razor at first though, I had to use Nair Hair Removal Cream, and the smell was absolutely repulsive. 

 

It’s been ingrained into my brain that I need to shave my legs and my armpits, have no peach fuzz on my face, and regularly get bikini waxes in order to be feminine, in order to appeal to men. I feel like I’m dirty and undesirable if I don’t shave. Maybe some men feel this way about their face, but their whole body? I don’t think so.

 

I’m desirable, I’m fuckable, when I look like a hairless little girl. 

 

I owe this in part to American culture and beauty standards. Razors are pink! I’m more likely to buy something that is pink! If you want to see the impact of shaving has on young girls just take a look at my college house’s bathroom, which I share with four other girls. We all have our razors, exfoliators, shaving creams, shaving oil, and baby oils. Most of us have the same products (Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub) because we see TikToks by girls our ages teaching us “How to get the smoothest shave!”

 

It’s been ingrained into my brain that men prefer this type of hairless cat look-alike. So I continue to spend time and effort and money on molding my body into something a man will appreciate. 

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I’m concerned about aesthetics. Does my makeup look aesthetically pleasing? My hair? My face? My body? After all, my worth is in the number I am out of 10. My outward appearance will always matter more than my personality, my being. Sure, not everything I do — wear makeup, curl my hair, wear crop tops — is for men. But they are always in the back of my mind, right?

It’s been ingrained into my brain that as women grow older, they lose value. That I’m in my prime right now as a 21 year old. That once I hit a certain age — maybe 25, probably 30, I will no longer be attractive.

 

Meanwhile, men apparently get better looking as they grow older. Patrick Dempsey was just named PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive at 57 years old. It’s why we had a “Golden Bachelor” before any “Golden Bachelorette.” Anti-aging products line our shelves and most are directed towards women.

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Unwanted male attention is a tricky thing. From a young age, girls are taught that any attention from a man is a good thing. The boy who pulls your pigtails and chases you around the playground? He’s in love with you. The man who catcalls you as you walk down the street? It’s a sign of flattery obviously. It’s terrifying. Because all of the sudden I’m 14 years old again, running with my cross country team. I’m wearing a ratty tshirt and Nike running shorts. A group of men are honking their horns at me, shouting at me.  

 

It’s disgusting, but hey, you’re attractive enough to garner the attention! In that way, it’s validating. But they’re also objectifying you. Some men feel entitled to women’s bodies — the men at bars who expect women to have sex with them after they buy them a $8 drink.

 

There’s this idea that validation from men is the only way to prove a woman’s worth. I am hyper-aware of the male gaze. I am suddenly 14 years old and the boy I wanted to ask to homecoming is telling my best friend that I am not “hot enough” to go with. I internalize that shit, maybe he’s right. 

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I’m called vain for caring about my appearance, but if I didn’t care, I would be called lazy and a slob. If I dress too “provocatively,” I’m a slut, a whore, I’m asking for it. If I dress too modestly, I’m a prude, I’m stuck up.

 

There’s no perfect way to be a woman, not in Hollywood but not in real life either.