Miley in Vanity Fair

Sometimes, I get dismayed at how female sexuality scares people, especially when it's reflected like today's celeb story on Hanna Montana's Miley Cyrus.

She's 15. She's a young woman.

Vanity Fair Magazine?! asked her to pose for Annie Lebovitz??

Vanity Fair, not Teen Vogue or the equivalent?

I call inappropriate. And if you read Jamie Lee's Curtis's full HuffPost blog post you'll see that Miley is not at all topless--she's backless. Lots of blame go around here with overreactions and twisting of truths all wrapped up in Victorian-mindedness and as Curtis says, "Business," "SHOW Business" or, as she likes to call it, "Show Off Business".

And yeah, Miley's too young if she wants to keep working for Disney to do these kind of shoots (cover after the jump) and if as she states, it embarrasses her, lesson learned, no more "back shots" until she's out from under her Disney obligations to be "perfect." Judging however from recent photos, Miley's going through a phase where she's really chomping at the bit, pushing boundaries, but she'd best not yank Disney's chain unless she wants to be a former employee. We'll see how it goes.

I think she needs handlers that don't include her father at something like this photo shoot 'cos obviously, he let it happen. Is there a Miley's mom or is she a step, or what? Who is calling the shots? Miley herself?

Not cool. She's perfect for a teen's/tweens magazine. But a sexy shoot with Annie Lebovitz for Vanity Fair at age 15 as a Disney employee?  No way, José.

The New York Times

Miley Cyrus is embarrassed, and apologizing to fans over a topless* picture of the 15-year-old Disney star, covered only by a sheet, that was published in Vanity Fair magazine. The photo was taken by Annie Liebovitz for the magazine, and Miley's parents were on hand for the shoot, but now Miley is trying to do "damage control" (or drum up extra publicity), claiming the pictures did not turn out as expected. *(That's factually incorrect. Semi-topless is what the photo is; backless, to be precise.)

In the Vanity Fair article, written by Bruce Handy, Miley is quoted saying this about the topless photo:

Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought it was really cool. That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie. I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.

However, in her statement about the published photo is Miley had this to say about the Vanity Fair shoot:

I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be "artistic" and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.

Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak, had this to response:

Miley's parents and/or minders were on the set all day. Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley.

That's is nutz and exploitive.

I agree with Jamie Lee Curtis:

Jamie Lee Curtis wrote in The Huffington Post , "I know how Miley feels. I too was a little embarrassed by my recent topless "scandal" and the subsequent parodies, but I am an adult woman. I protected myself during the shoot and I can take the heat. I only wish that her guardians had protected her."

Cyrus had apologized for the "racy" pictures she had shot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for the Vanity Fair cover. Disney Channel also issued a statement claiming the magazine had manipulated the actress.

However, Leibovitz hits back saying the Cyrus camp knows exactly what they are getting into and insisting that the photos were just "misinterpreted."

Curtis adds that she empathizes with the young Cyrus but she just doesn't think the photographer had tricked her.

She continues, "Of course she is embarrassed. She is a young girl. She shouldn't have to deal with any of this. I don't feel that she was duped. I know the integrity of Ms. Leibovitz and the magazine and I know there were people present at the shoot that should have been looking out to make sure that this didn't happen."

Leibovitz counters in usmagazine.com as saying in a statement, "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together, and we discussed the picture in the context before we shot it."

"The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

Um. That's "very little makeup"? whoa.

Jamie Lee's "topless" cover for AARP