Supplemental Post #6: Miley Cyrus, A Wrecking Ball of Blond Ambition

When charting her crossover from child-friendly icon Hannah Montana to twerking delinquent Miley Cyrus, the former Disney star turned to the originator of the "edgy good girl" image for inspiration. Miley Cyrus' internet busting performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards was inspired heavily by the performance style of Madonna. Taking cues from Madonna's wardrobe, Miley initially sports a corset before ripping it off to reveal an even skimpier two-piece lingerie outfit underneath. Miley had at this point begun dying her hair platinum blonde, a showbiz practice with a deep history of inscribing whiteness in femininity, just like Madonna as well. The parallels don't stop there, Miley is surrounded throughout the performance by black backup dancers, performs a crotch grab, and even attempts to twerk. Clearly drawing inspiration from Madonna's appropriation of queer blackness, Miley's foray into the wonderful world of twerking is yet another misguided attempt by a white artist to reinvent their image on the backs of black folks.