Miley Cyrus and Black Bodies

During one of our classes we took some time to talk about Miley Cyrus and how she is appropriating black bodies. Without a doubt, Miley is appropriating a form of dance that is associated with black culture: twerking. Could Miley be using black bodies to assert her sexuality? And if so, has she considered how culturally insensitive this appropriation is? In addition to her dancing at the VMAs, Miley also had actual black bodies around her, and not just any body type - these were round, full figured women. Throughout the performance Miley uses black bodies as props, literally slapping the behinds of women dancing around her almost as if to assert white female body types over black female body types. Miley Cyrus's obsession with black culture does not stop there; black bodies are in her music videos, black artists are featured in her music, and her utilization of black slang is endless. To top it off, this Halloween Miley dressed up as Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim - both artists famously known for their hyper sexualized body types. Were these costumes really necessary? Is Miley merely promoting a culture that she hardly knows anything about? Regardless, Miley seems to be benefitting from this exploitation seeing as her popularity has sky rocketed and everyone wants to know what Miley is going to do next.