Miley Cyrus' Raunchy Performance Prompts Angry Mom's Open Letter to Teen Daughter
ABC News' Daisha Riley reports:
Pop star Miley Cyrus's raunchy performance at MTV's Video Music Awards created a furor on Sunday night, and days later the resulting criticism shows no sign of abating.
Kim Keller, of Frisco, Texas, took the uncomfortable moment of watching the performance with her 13-year-old daughter and turned it into a lesson for her child, writing an open letter to her daughter on her blog, Roadkill Goldfish.
"Dear daughter, let Miley Cyrus be a lesson to you," the letter opens. It goes on: "Yes, this is what happens when you constantly hear everything you do is awesome. This is what happens when people fawn over your every Tweet and Instagram photo. This is what happens when no responsible adult has ever said the word 'no,' made you change your clothes before leaving the house, or never spanked your butt for deliberate defiance.
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"If you ever even consider doing something like that, I promise you that I will run up and twerk so you will see how ridiculous twerking looks. I will duct tape your mouth shut so your tongue doesn't hangout like an overheated hound dog. I will smack any male whom you decide to smash against his pelvis - after I first knock you on your butt for forgetting how a lady acts in public."
She called on her daughter to demand respect for herself, and to not follow any peers who could engage in questionable behavior. She wrote that her role as a parent was to praise when praise was necessary, but also to correct and discipline when needed.
Her letter ended: "Dear daughter, I am going to fight or die trying to keep you from becoming like the Miley Cyruses of the world. You can thank me later."
As of Wednesday night, there were more than 1,100 comments on the blog post. Many of them applauded Keller - but some suggested she went too far, while others pointed out that Cyrus was an adult who makes her own choices.
"I had a lot of criticism that the blog was harsh and that I was attacking Miley, and people need to understand that I am a mother," Keller told ABC News. "Miley is an example that I used with my kids and we have to use these teachable moments."
She added, "I hear the debate, too, on how Miley's not a role model. No, she's not a role model, but she is in the public eye."
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During Cyrus' performance, the 20-year-old "We Can't Stop" singer stuck her tongue out, bent over at the waist with her legs wide apart and shook her hips.
Keller said her daughter grew up watching Cyrus as the star of the popular teen program "Hannah Montana" and thinks Cyrus' transition is a cry for attention.
Keller said Cyrus' performance made her "absolutely angry," and she had a message for the singer.
"If I could say anything to Miley, I would say this … 'Honey you are beautiful, you are valuable, you are loved, and you don't have to do this for attention. This is not who God created you to be,'" she said.
As for the pop star, she doesn't appear fazed by all the outcry. In fact, o n Wednesday she tweeted what she said was a quote from her father, the singer Billy Ray Cyrus: "Mile, if twerkin woulda been invented…. And I had a foam finger…. I woulda done the same thang you did."