Throughout our last unit studying youth and pop culture, I have realized what a huge impact media plays on youth; rather this is being produced by or for girls. This is thoroughly discussed in the Kearney article. Throughout this blog I will discuss the music video Ordinary Girl by Miley Cyrus. The music video primarily focuses on loving who she is and does not want to be ungrateful for what she has but bottom line she just wants to be an ordinary girl. The video starts out with Miley getting ready for a concert backstage getting her makeup on and singing about how she wishes she was ordinary. She goes on stage and is being hurried by her directors and she says sometimes I even choke on my own words, just like an ordinary girl. But she must put her best foot forward and get on with life. The video then goes into a school and focuses on random people from the school and what everyday life is like for ordinary people.
Singers and famous people such as Taylor Swift whom we discussed multiple times in class want people to believe that they are just like you, an ordinary girl, when in reality they can never be an ordinary girl. They may not discuss their personal life with the media like other celebrities but they are still famous and anything but ordinary. The idea by Kearney that adolescent girls are more playful than serious this music video demonstrates this. Miley wants her fan base to think she is just like them and the fans believe that they are just like her. Miley goes on to talk about her being lazy sometimes, she gets bored at times just like normal girls. She says sometimes she even feels ignored points in her life. This is what really sticks out in my mind. A lot of youth and teenage girls feel that they are being ignored and need to express themselves rather this be sexually or just being and individual which we have discussed in lecture many of times. I can appreciate that Miley does her own thing and does not go with the norms of society. Yea she may be singing a song about being “ordinary” which she is far from but in the same aspect, she does dress age appropriate and is not acting like many other singers her age.
Miley talks about her dreams and making wishes as if she has not already hit her goal in life. I like the lyrics “get back on your feet when you stumble and fall”. This could be a particular negative argument for someone because how many times has Miley fallen, but for me I see it as positive. She is telling girls that when you fall you just have to get back up and can not dwell on what happened. This is such a great statement for young girls to learn from their idols. I can’t tell you how many young girls that I know that know every song and line by Miley Cyrus.
Miley is largely focused on as being a “good girl”. Harris discusses this in her article about the difference between being a good girl and a bad girl. Miley is a good girl because she is Caucasian and upper class, she has access to practically anything she could want, she can receive the best education and has the money for this. This is according to Harris’ definition. Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus also grew up in this same category, Billy can relate to what Miley is going through in her life even if it may be years later.
Miley is largely still a young girl who does not know what she wants, maybe at this point in her life she wishes that she was just like everyone else but she will never be like every other girl in the world. In my eyes she still has a lot of growing up to do. In all of her music videos she is portrayed as a kid for “Hannah Montana,” which is a Disney channel TV show. When she is just simply Miley Cyrus there is an entire different discussion to be had. Throughout the video discussed in this blog she wants you to know she also has crushes on boys and even though she is famous, boys are still a major part of her life however her dad is still very much a dad. Miley gives hope throughout the video by saying anything can happen in this world to an ordinary girl you just like me. At the end of the music video they have a “ordinary girl” from the school they were shooting this music video in and she is smiling at the camera as if she is waiting on her chance to be famous. I like the way the video ended with hope for an ordinary girl to have a dream just like Miley had at one time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vHKfwuCrQM Ordinary Girl by Miley Cyrus
Kearney, Mary C. "Producing Girls-Rethinking the Study of Female Youth Culture."Delinquents and Debutantes: Twentieth-Century American Girls' Cultures. New York City: NYC, 1998. 285-307. Print.
Brown, Adriane. "Intro to Youth and Pop Culture” Women’s Studies 230 Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Popular Culture. 23 May 2011
Harris, Anita. "The "Can-Do" Girl Versus The "At-Risk" Girl." Future Girl: Young Women in the Twenty-first Century. New York: Routledge, 2004. 13-36. Print.
I really enjoyed your blog particularly because I did my blog on Miley Cyrus’s song “Can’t Be Tamed” so it was interesting to compare her two songs. In this song that you discussed, Miley sang more about her desire to just be an ordinary girl and for her fans to realize that she is just like them despite her stardom. Instead of dressing like a pop star, she wears appropriate, everyday clothes. However, this is the complete opposite for her song “Can’t Be Tamed” in which she prances around in an incredibly revealing leotard and sings about how she has to get her way 24 hours a day. This does not sound like the same Miley who just wants to be an ordinary girl.
ReplyDeleteThe way Miley Cyrus presents herself in this video seems to be in accordance to the norm of adolescent girl musicians self-representations described by Kearny. Miley is attempting to represent herself as a normal teenage girl in the music video that Nicole describes, and thus produces herself in the clique, teenage girl image. The music video depicts Miley as being sometimes lazy, and as a dreamer-she is unserious about the activities she pursues. Miley also discusses in the song about how she sometimes feel ignored, and wishing for attention- she is the typical emotional teenager.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though Miley Cyrus began with good intentions. At the start of her career she was the Taylor Swift-esque purist who really was just an ordinary girl who happens to have a famous father and outstanding circumstances that made her famous. This song does a fairly good job of detailing the life of an "ordinary girl" although I'm skeptical as to how the video is supposed to match up. However, later in her career Miley is forced to “grow up” and adopt the sexual attitude of the pop stars that came before her, without the sexual appeal Miley would have forever been categorized as a little girl.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post that Miley Cyrus is, in many ways, like all other adolescent girls. Although she is famous and in the spotlight all the time, she cannot escape that period of her life when she is learning who she really is and who she wants to be. I understand that she probably is who she wants to be already!!! famous!! However, like some of the others have said, she portrays a good-girl at this time in her career. We discussed this concept in class on Thursday actually, that at some point in a female singer's life, she will alter her image and become a woman in the eyes of her fans. Miley hasn't done this yet and that indicates that she is still finding who she wants to be. Despite everything else, all girls will go through this adolescent stage in their lives and I think it's important for the "ordinary" girls to have a good-girl idol that they feel they can relate to, like Miley Cyrus.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog and I think you did a very good job describing the ways that adolescents are portrayed in popular culture. I also think that Miley Cyrus is a good example of what Kearney discusses in her article. This is something that we really talked about in class except it was about Taylor Swift and this idea that girls think that she is just like them and that is why they relate to her so much. You also did good in describing the idea of good girl and bad girl, I definitely think Miley fits in under the description of good girl, seeing that she is white, upper class, and has access to almost anything. Overall good job on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t take the song that way. To me it sounds like she is saying she enjoys what she’s doing, her fame making the simple things out of reach. But to it sounds like she likes where she is, she just wants people to see her as ordinary, or try to relate to her. By making her fans understand where she is coming from, they want what she has. The Palin/Bella article talks about how it’s important for fans to identify with their “heroine.” The irony in this song is her saying a little luck can go a long way. The article talks about how this lifestyle isn’t obtainable for all “ordinary girls” to have what she has. Did Miley really have luck? Her father had money, contacts and was able to introduce her to people. Not everyone has this privilege, so is she really “like me, like you?” I don’t think so.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how at the end of the video with the young boy stating again “ordinary, like me like you.” She showed the assumption of heterosexuality being the norm. I’m sure some girls probably couldn’t relate to that thinking. I believe by using the term “ordinary” she might have confused those that didn’t fit into that category, making them assume they were abnormal.
Miley Cyrus was a good pick for this blog. You did a really nice job of summarizing the material and I really agree with your point of how Miley tries to point out to her audience that she's "just like them." At this point in time, Miley is a little older than her target audience, which makes her audience gravitate towards her even more-- kind of like a big sister to look up to. I also agree that Miley fits with the "can-do" girl mold, and that is a good thing since she is a model for so many adolescent girls.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I believe Miley is a stereotypical depiction of teenage girls. She has boy trouble, gets into fights with her family etc etc, and never deals with any distress that isn't completely "normal." She never has to deal with any sort of queerness, fiscal problems, disability or anything of the sort. In Miley's world, this does not exist, which could be harmful for her fans that are dealing with this.
I really enjoyed this post. I feel as if you definitely hit the nail on the head with this one. Like many other young artists Miley Cyrus has a relative in the business that has connections that helped her to become famous. She didn't hav eto work as hard as everyone else. And I agree in no way is she like an ordinary girl , she has things handed to her and has no idea what it is like to not be priveleged and upperclass. She may experience some typical normal teenage girl things but her stardom and influence on others seems to be just an act to be able to better connect with her audience.
ReplyDeleteI think you picked a really great piece of media to do your blog on, because Miley Cyrus is a celebrity that America has seen grow up, and most of her spot light has been during her adolescents. I appreciate her effort to let her fans know that she is just like them, that she can be a normal girl. I also think the music video showed a very accurate depiction of what "normal girls" go through; you're average school day. The main character in the video was dressed just like everyone else, and she found romance with another boy in her high school similarly to how many relationships form, ( instead of Miley finding love with another celebrity). Many young girls and boys may compare themselves to celebrities their age, such as Miley Cyrus, and look down on themselves for not living up to that particular celebrities standard's, that's why it is important that Miley Cyrus made this song to let them know she is more similar to them than they believe.
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