1 Miley Cyrus and the Perception of "Hoodness"

By: Marvin DeBose

Many of us saw last night's rather cringeworthy performance by Miley Cyrus on the MTV Video Music Awards. In fact, I don't know what was more appalling, Robin Thicke's zebra-striped, Beetlejuice-esque suit or Miley's "dancing".

Will Smith and his kids saw it, and they looked like they just saw the box office numbers for "After Earth".

But there are countless things that are wrong with not only Miley Cyrus' performance, but with her whole persona... and people's perceptions of it.

Miley, who was once a Disney sweetheart and a teen idol is now one of the raunchiest, most controversial performers of her time.

Miley has recently talked in interviews about how she loves "hood music" and how people think she's trying to be the "white Nicki Minaj".

Well what exactly is "Hood"? Is it a place? Can you find it on Google Maps?

And who are "hood people"? And what exactly is "hood music"? Who's a part of "hood" culture?

Let's be honest. We know that good ol' Miley Ray from Nashville is talking about Black culture, whether she admits it (or realizes it) or not. Simple and plain.

The truth is that what Miley's doing right now is promoting a gimmick, a persona or character contrived for marketing purposes, kind of like what professional wrestlers do. She's just acting out her media-influenced idea of what a "hood" girl is.

It's similar to what minstrel show performers would do in the early 20th century... except they'd take it a step further and dress up in blackface to portray their idea of a "hood" character.

And the problem is that her erratic behavior, similar to the minstrel shows of centuries past, often represents a twisted, myopic, stereotypical view of what Black culture is all about, especially that of Black women.

And people's criticisms of her are subtly reflective of those views.

People say, "Miley is acting so ghetto these days" or "I liked her before she became a hood rat".

Here are a few things that Miley, and some of those who criticize her, need to understand:

1. When you use terms like "hood" or "ghetto" as adjectives synonymous with stupidity and a lack of sophistication when, in reality, you have minimal understanding of the lives of people who actually live in places considered "hoods" and "ghettos", you are being offensive.

2. Everyone from the so-called "hood" or "ghetto" doesn't a) act recklessly b) use/glorify drugs nor do they c) start "twerking" anytime a camera is on and music is playing. 

There's nothing wrong with Miley admiring aspects of hip-hop culture, Black culture or any other culture,  but when you completely misrepresent a culture (see: cultural appropriation) and label it as "hood", especially in today's America which already has issues with stereotypes and generalizations, that's when we have a problem.