Miley Cyrus And Other Performers Should Tone It Down, Annie Lennox Says

Miley Cyrus and other music industry artists should take their young impressionable fans into consideration before they participate in what amounts to “soft porn.”

That was the general assessment of former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox.

Without identifying Cyrus or any artist by name, Lennox, 58, addressed the controversy about sexually charged content on her Facebook page.

As you no doubt recall, in late August at the VMA Awards, the 20-year-old former Hannah Montana star twerked on stage during a performance of her song “We Can’t Stop,” then turned it up a notch when Robin Thicke went onstage. Performing his hit song “Blurred Lines,” Thicke was joined by a gyrating Miley who wore nothing but a bra and nude underwear. The raunchy performance shocked the audience and brought a strong reaction on social media and subsequently in the mainstream media. A similar controversy recently arose over the Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” video.

Late last week, Lennox wrote in part, “I have to say that I’m disturbed and dismayed by the recent spate of overtly sexualized performances and videos. You know the ones I’m talking about. It seems obvious that certain record companies are peddling highly styled pornography with musical accompaniment. As if the tidal wave of sexualized imagery wasn’t already bombarding impressionable young girls enough… I believe in freedom of speech and expression, but the market forces don’t give a toss about the notion of boundaries. As long as there’s booty to make money out of, it will be bought and sold. It’s depressing to see how these performers are so eager to push this new level of low. Their assumption seems to be that misogyny — utilized and displayed through oneself is totally fine, as long as you are the one creating it. As if it’s all justified by how many millions of dollars and U tube hits you get from behaving like pimp and prostitute at the same time. It’s a glorified and monetized form of self harm.”

In a subsequent posting, Lennox penned a clarification that her main concern is protecting young children from inappropriate content:

“I tried to be carefully measured with my comments on yesterday’s blog, realizing that the subject clearly courts controversy and divisiveness. On reflection I will say that sexuality is an inherent and profound part of life. There is absolutely nothing ‘wrong’ about our sexuality or sensuality per se — But if a performing artist has an audience of impressionable young fans and they want to present a soft porn video or highly sexualized live performance, then it needs to qualify as such and be X rated for adults only.”

Do you Annie Lennox has correctly sized up the current state of the music industry and the possible danger that is poses to children?

[Image via Richard J Ashcroft / Shutterstock.com]