Capitalism, Commoditization, Cyrus and Black Women Accessories rather Than Equals by Kimberly Miller

As weeks pass, and the media pounces from one sensational, social pariah to the next, the disturbing imagery from Miley Cyrus’s VMA performance is still seared into my memory. The rigid patriarchal media talking heads excoriated Cyrus for her scantily clad attire and overtly sexual gestures, in a bastion of moralistic slut shaming. Social media exploded with silly memes on Cyrus’s apparent struggle twerks and the audience’s priceless reactions. However a serious critique was not waged by the media apparatus against the blatant cultural appropriation, commoditization and exploitation taking place in not only that performance but Miley Cyrus’s entire rebranding. If a serious critique were waged, it would have to address the historic ways capitalism as a system of commoditization, dehumanizes and utilizes racism and misogyny to fuel its parasitic propellers.

From the degradation of Sarah Baartman to Sojourner Truth, white supremacist capitalist patriarchy plaguing the Western world sought to refurbish their economies by subsequently deteriorating black female autonomy and relinquishing black female bodies under control of the state. For Sarah Baartman, a Khoi woman from South Africa, her voluptuous physicality was rendered freakish, inherently wanton, and yet profitable by white slave owners. Whites gawked at Baartman’s large derriere, bulbous chest and it was clear for the black woman, her voice, spirit, mind and humanity was obsolete, a mere spectacle to be enjoyed and exploited by the on-looking white masses. For the United States specifically, black women’s sexual organs were valued as a commodity to produce more slaves and fuel the southern economy, therefore her reproduction was the business of the patriarchal state. The lack of black female bodily autonomy even lingered into the twentieth-century, as legalized forced sterilization in the south sought to eugenicize those deemed “undesirable,” from reproducing. Since under capitalism, profit is the sole aim, if black people can’t contribute to the profits of white patriarchs, what purpose do they serve?

This history of bodily autonomy in the U.S. was wrought with economics, racial politics, privilege and coercion. For white women, patriarchal ideals worked to restrain their sexual expression to uphold racist constructions of the “purity” of white womanhood. However for black women, their identity was subsumed by racial stereotypes depicting a salacious demeanor, justifying sexual abuse and this racial/gender binary regarding sexuality intercepts law, politics, and popular culture. This historical context ties well into Miss Cyrus’s gimmick.

Although capitalism relies on the profit motive, and that profit is overwhelmingly controlled by men, the racist and sexist marketability of Miley’s getup speak to intersectional power dynamics at play; Power dynamics where black women fall into yet again marginalized spaces of a white dominant class, whether the exploiter is male or female, while Cyrus becomes a pawn of a male dominated music industry, and misogynistic marketing campaign that conflates pubescent girlhood with overt sexuality. This dynamic creates an appearance of infantile pornography as teddy bears adorned the VMA stage; Miley sported her piggy tails and barrettes while later stripping her backpack and teddy bear ensemble into an acquiescent Lolita caricature to the much older Robin Thicke. The whole presentation was a mixture of fetishization, adolescent sexualization, among its more racist elements.

As if representations of simulated kiddy porn weren’t bad enough, there is a classist dynamic in Miley’s antics furthering its problematic nature. When a young woman who has been exorbitantly wealthy all her life thanks to her country singing father, and expansive Disney career, appropriates an aspect of a “ratchet” culture originating in a disenfranchised, low income community, the result is exploitation. Even in Miley’s “We Can’t Stop” video, her “home girls with the bug butts” were relegated to an area separate from her lavish majority white friends in the pool. It looked as though she literally ventured with her driver to an impoverished black neighborhood, selected three black women, and told them to hop in her video and “twerk” with her. As Miley wore all white, symbolizing the racist and patriarchal notion of white female purity, aligning herself in the center of the three black women, it was clear they were solely props. Not equals, but accessories. The economic vulnerability of the black women who parade with Miley’s minstrel show, convey how in a capitalist society, lack of money leads to compromising choices, as you are being utilized as a tool to solidify white supremacy and black women’s dehumanization.

Interesting how racist depictions of a hyper-sexualized black woman resurface as Miley’s crafted sexual exploration, leads her to immediately associate herself with black female bodies. The shaking butt of a black woman becomes a moneymaking powerhouse for a naïve Miley who remains the center of attention and pretends it’s all just fun and games. As Miley slaps the butt of the black woman with zebra print leggings, it becomes emblematic of Miley “going into the wild” and quickly venturing out of her colonial expedition when she deems fit. That’s how white privilege works. Black women have been trying to combat these one-dimensional stereotypes and dehumanization for decades and yet the mainstream media found the only problem with Miley’s performance is that she doesn’t know how to cover up?

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kimberly Miller.