Anyway, a few thoughts on this, in no particular order. First of all, Vanity Fair is a magazine for adults, not the tween girls who are "Hannah Montana's" target demographic. The girl is 15. Why would VF want her, and more importantly, why would her parents say, "Sure, we think it's great for you to be on the cover of this, it's so much better than Tiger Beat or Seventeen!" Secondly, Annie Liebowitz is a freakin' genius, but she's a genius who took a photo of Miley Cyrus looking like she'd just bonked off all three of the Jonas Brothers. It's a completely sexualized picture of a fifteen year old girl wrapped in a sheet, which is just icky, not artistic. You can bet your ass if some trucker in Duluth took that same picture of his fifteen year old neighbor, he'd be slapped with kiddie porn charges in a heartbeat. Finally, Miley herself is a pretty showbiz savvy kid -- after all, her dad is Billy Ray "look at my achy breaky mullet" Cyrus, so she knows how fleeting fame can be. Hannah Montana is an industry unto herself, and brings the Disney factory bazillions of dollars each year, so despite the fact that she's a kid, it's not like Miley didn't understand what the words "how about you take off your shirt and wear a sheet" meant. It meant Big Sales.

Unfortunately, Miley's (and her parents', and Liebowitz', and Vanity Fair's) poor decision may cost her. Because here's the problem. This has been the year of the Skanky Teen Starlets. In the past twelve months, parents have had to explain to their children -- and I do mean children, not teenagers -- why Nickelodeon's Jamie Lynn Spears is on magazine covers with "Pregnant at 16!" all over the place, and why there are stories on the school bus about naked photos of High School Musical darling Vanessa Hudgens all over the Internet. Miley is just the straw that has broken the camel's back. We're TIRED of having to explain stupid behavior by the people who are marketed as role models to our children. What makes this even worse is the fact that Disney and Nickelodeon market their shows -- and their stars -- as being wholesome, family entertainment. Miley Cyrus may be as virginal as the driven snow -- and frankly, I don't care if she is or not -- but what matters is that my kids will walk past the newsstand at the grocery store and ask me "Why is Hannah Montana just wearing a sheet on that magazine?"

Sure, I plan to take this opportunity to talk to them some more about taking responsibility for your choices (although ultimately I hold Miley's parents more to blame than anyone else in this whole thing), but you know what? I shouldn't have to have this conversation just because some people I don't even know made some really risky decisions about what to do with their daughter's career. 

Don't get me wrong -- I don't *hate* Miley Cyrus, I actually think she's a really talented kid. But she's put herself in a position where she's going to take the backlash from parents, coming on the heels of the Spears and Hudgens scandals. If she's smart -- and I think she is -- she'll stay out of the limelight for a while, give us all a break, and then come back to focus on doing what she does best, which is entertain little kids.