I'm just gonna come right out and say this: I love Miley Cyrus. I don't get “Wrecking Ball,” and I wasn't at all fond of “We Can't Stop.” But Miley Cyrus, the celebrity, is my jam. Smart, thoughtful, free-spirited, direct, and oh my god, she is wearing heart pasties on “Kimmel.”
The story isn't really about the pasties, though. The story is that Miley used the pasties as a springboard to say something astute (if not exactly revolutionary) about American attitudes concerning the female body.
“Humans aren't afraid of the human breast,” she told Kimmel. “It's the nipple that's the issue. …Like, I'm showing my boobs and no one has a problem but the nipples are covered so somehow that's okay. So America's actually fine with tits, it's nipples they don't like. Which is what you have (referring to Kimmel), which is insane, because the nipple, what you can't show, everyone has, but the jug part, that everyone doesn't, you're allowed to show underboob. I've never understood the way that works.”
Is this the first time a celebrity has made more or less this same point? Of course not! But credit where credit is due: Miley has emerged, after an obviously traumatic early career, as one of our most relevant, reflective, compassionate (she started a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting youth homelessness earlier this year) and interesting mega-stars.
Watch a clip from the “Kimmel” appearance below.