Music performances have always been a hot topic when it comes to pornification in U.S. pop culture; in understanding music performances, the College Student Journal of Oklahoma State University states that “if one ascribes to the view that pornography is not defined by the body parts portrayed but rather the portrayal of those body parts, then music performances must be examined.”

On Aug. 25, 2013, U.S. pop culture was altered with the help of MTV’s Video Music Awards. A live performance collaboration of two mainstream artists, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, would shock the nation; the duo constructed an image of Thicke, who was 36 at the time, appeared to be sexually dominant of Cyrus, who was 20 at the time. An iconic image of the performance features Cyrus bending over in front and “twerking” on Thicke, who condones the behavior. I argue that this image exemplifies pornification in U.S. pop culture through Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke demonstrating themes that objectify women, including superiority, clowning, and canting, cementing the gender roles within U.S. culture.

Objectification can commonly be understood as the notion of treating a person as an object; objectification of women is a common practice in U.S. pop culture and has an evident effect on perceptions of a women’s body image. Often enough, objectification of women is considered to be sexual, portraying women as an object with the sole purpose of sexual satisfaction. According to Jean Kilbourne, Ed. D., author of “Beauty and the Beast of Advertising,” sexual objectification can be broken down into five central themes: being superior, clowning, dismemberment, canting, and dominance and violence. These themes can be frequently seen in images of women in U.S. pop culture, all together undermining women and further encouraging sexual objectification. The results of sexual objectification has led to normalized pornification, defined as “the increasing occurrence and acceptance of sexual themes and explicit imagery in popular mainstream culture.” After images of her performance with Thicke were released, Cyrus fell into many of the central themes of objectification and successfully highlighted the pornification that exists in the U.S.

The first theme of sexual objectification that is portrayed in this image is Thicke’s “superiority” over Cyrus. According to Kilbourne, “superiority is how size, attention, and positioning are used to demonstrate how the subject is non-dominant.” In Cyrus’ case, she is bending over, positioned lower in correlation to Thicke as he is standing up straight. In addition, Thicke’s hand is seen placed on top of Cyrus’ shoulder, which could lead to the belief that he is either grabbing onto her shoulder or pushing down on her shoulder. Thicke’s size appears to be larger than Cyrus’ as he is taller than her, making him appear to be “above” her. Lastly, and most importantly, the positioning of the two together resembles a sex position, making it appear as though the two could potentially engage in sexual intercourse.

The implications of the superiority displayed in this image are massive: it conveys that Thicke is in control of both Cyrus and the situation, spotlighting him as dominant and her as a sex object. In this instance, Cyrus can be misconstrued as Thicke’s sex object, influencing specifically adolescents’ perceptions of what and whom a sex object is. In a study published in the Journal of Communication discussing the effects of adolescents being exposed to sexually explicit internet material results found that “regardless of adolescents’ gender, liking of sexually explicit internet material mediated the influence of exposure to sexually explicit internet material on their beliefs that women are sex objects, as well as the impact of these beliefs on exposure to sexually explicit internet material.” Essentially, the exposure to sexual images, such as the one of Cyrus and Thicke, reiterates that women are men’s sexual objects, normalizing the notion within our society. Another implication of the superiority seen in the image of Cyrus and Thicke is the literal act of sexualizing women, whether it is women making themselves appear more vulnerable or weaker than men, or men aggressively attempting to be dominant over women. Ultimately, the superiority in this image suggests that women are seen as sexual objects, which leads to the act of sexualization of women.

The second theme of sexual objectification that is seen in this image is “clowning.” According to Kilbourne, “clowning is how a woman appears to be childish, ridiculous, or stupid, demonstrating how women cannot be taken seriously, whereas men are seen as secure, powerful. and serious". This article was provided to me in a class in a hard copy. When considering the image of Cyrus and Thicke, Cyrus appears to be acting quite childish in the way she is sticking her tongue out. She appears to be stupid or ridiculous by wearing an out-of-the-ordinary hairstyle and appears to be naked with an all nude colored outfit. In addition, Thicke appears to be serious and secure, considering that he is wearing a suit of sorts with sunglasses, as well as having a facial expression that appears to be more mature than Cyrus’.

There are three implications caused by “clowning” in this image; first, it could be misconstrued that women need to “dumb themselves down” in order to be considered sexual. The image of Cyrus and Thicke make it apparent to both males and females of all ages that a woman’s sexuality is silly and childish. In an attempt to conform to social norms, women could potentially participate in self-objectification by appearing to be stupid, which consequentially undermines women as a whole. If women cannot take themselves seriously, it’s unlikely that others will take them seriously. Lastly, the “clowning” seen within this image particularly portrays Cyrus as childish yet sexy, potentially sexualizing the look of innocence. The “innocent” look associated with children isn’t anything new in our sexualized culture, which may be the reason girls are being sexualized at younger and younger ages. When adolescents are exposed to images that reflect themselves, they are more likely to imitate that image, according to the Australian Journal of Early Childhood: “the very direct sexualization of children, where children themselves or representations of children are presented in images or directed to act in advertisements in ways modeled on adult sexual behavior.” Essentially, the childish image of Cyrus could potentially further and encourage adolescents to submit to self-objectification and sexualization of others. In addition, Cyrus appearing as childish contributes to the predominant rape culture that exists in the United States, as females are being sexualized at younger and younger ages. The clowning seen within this image ultimately illustrates Cyrus as immature, reiterating that women are being sexualized based on their lack of intelligence and childish demeanor.

The third and final theme of objectification that is seen within this image is “canting.” Kilbourne states that, “canting is how a woman may look unprepared, submissive, and appeasing through the bending of body parts; this causes a woman to look insecure and weak” (Hard Copy Article). The image of Thicke and Cyrus features Cyrus bending her legs and leaning forward as she “twerks,” making her appear unbalanced; it appears as though there is the potential of Cyrus falling forward. Meanwhile, Thicke is standing upright behind her with his hand on her shoulder, as if he is holding onto her and preventing her from falling.

The “canting” seen within this image may have implications of the sexualization of women. The body posture of Cyrus conveys that she is both dependent on and submissive to Thicke. A person’s body posture can affect both how they feel towards themselves and how others feel towards them. According to a study performed by Psychology of Women Quarterly, “the covert manipulation of body posture has also been shown to impact participants’ emotional states, with an erect, upright posture corresponding to increased feelings of pride and a slouched posture with feelings of helplessness and depression.” The image of dependence reiterates that the male figure in the image, Thicke, is in control and the female figure, Cyrus, leans, literally and figuratively, on him. The damaging effects of this concept represses women and could potentially lead to self-objectification, meaning that women may portray themselves to be in need of a man that they can be dependent on and distance themselves from being independent.

In the end, the image of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke took pornification in the U.S. to a dramatic new level. The implications of sexualization, objectification, and self-objectification are tremendous for numerous reasons. This image encapsulates Thicke using Cyrus as an object through the three themes of sexualization which include superiority, clowning, and canting. The image of the two can be interpretated in many different ways, but ultimately it glorifies Cyrus as a sexual object. The rhetoric seen within the image reiterates to male and females that "man" is in charge of "woman" and she is there for his entertainment and use, reiterating the gender roles within our culture.