...and we can't stop

"We can't stop, and we won't stop." Pretty similar to Drake's "You only live once, that's the motto: YOLO," Miley Cyrus has the same approach to how she wants to live. She can't stop and won't stop "doing lines in the bathroom." 

 

Notorious for her partially nude video of her swinging back and forth on a metaphoric wrecking ball, Miley became more viral than ever before. Critics may say that she is out of control and has lost her mind, but has she really? Miley has opened up during many interview and spoken about how hard her breakup with celebrity Liam Hemsworth really effected her. 

"if people can take their minds off the obvious and go into their imagination and see what the video really means, it is so vulnerable. … If you look at my eyes, I look more sad than actually my voice sounds on the record. It was a lot harder to actually do the video than it was to even record the song. It was much more of an emotional experience."

Okay, I feel a little sympathetic for her because she was so sad and lost, but does that really mean that she has to swing back and forth on a wrecking ball naked and do unbelievably provocative sexual gestures during the video? I get it, she is trying to express to the entire world that she was hit by a wrecking ball of love and all Liam did was wreck her. Man, she sure did make a point.

If that wasn't enough, her performance at the 2013 Video Music Awards made it more than clear that she truly meant that she can't be tamed when she titled her 2010 album "Can't be Tamed." Many, if not all, of the viewers of the VMA's thought that Miley's performance was out of control and raunchy. 

 

So why would she sacrifice her career by making herself out to be such a trashy person. Well, it was all part of her master plan. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Miley says that she does not regret any of the questionable things she has done in the past year. She accomplished her goal, and did it skillfully. As she mentioned in the interview, "It was with a purpose, everyone in the world is talking about me and my music." I give it to her, there is not one person in the world who has turned on a TV or computer in the past year that doesn't know who she is. If her goal truly was to have everyone in the world talking about her, she did an amazing job. Her mom, Tish Cyrus believes that "this is what all twenty year old's do, but she is just doing it in front of the world." I don't know about you, but I don't think I ever swung back and forth on a wrecking ball, or made such a bold statement on stage at one of the most watched Award shows in the country.

The display that Miley has put on over the past year has lead to many more opprobrious acts by other celebrities and athletes. Miley showed that doing something crazy lead to her getting more attention and being known world-wide overnight than staying conservative would have. Others are trying out her approach and making themselves known the same sort of way she did.

Critics may despise her and think poorly of her, but at the end of the day, she devised a plan that made her one of the most well known people in the world.

Miley Cyrus 2013 VMA Performance

CBS News: VMA Reaction

Miley Cyrus is a Marketing Genius

Wrecking Ball Music Video

Women in Business

The role of women in business has changed drastically over the past few decades. Women have evolved out of the kitchen and into the workforce and have started to play a bigger role in the business world. Okay, so here goes nothing, a woman is going to sit here and write about women taking on leadership roles and rising to the top. Real Original.

After spending my summer in an industry dominated by the best and brightest male scholars in the country, I started to appreciate the scarcity of women in the field. Now, that does not mean that I think women should not work hard in school, obtain challenging jobs, and have successful careers. Rather, I think that there should be a certain appreciation for those women who "man up" and enter industries that have been inhabited by males. During my experience, I realized that all the males in my office took me more seriously because I was able to make it in an industry with treacherous hours, too grueling for any sane woman to want to work. I think in their testosterone filled heads, they did not think that a girl was capable of doing the same work they were capable of, until they were proved wrong. Not only did the guys I work with realize that I had the "guts and glory" to work around only guys all day, but they also had a greater appreciation for me because I was able to break the misconceived notion that women are not able to have an appropriate work / life balance. Working with males is one thing, rising to the top and leading an industry dominated by males is an entire different ballgame.

Sheryl Sandberg, one of my idols, is known throughout Silicon Valley as being one of the most influential leaders in a "hypergrowth" industry by her executive role at Facebook. She has given a few TED talks about women and leadership roles that help women to feel comfortable taking the next step and teaching women to "lean in" more. She describes the difference between bossy and aggressive and how women react to being called aggressive in the workforce. Now, a man that is considered aggressive typically means that he will close deals and do everything necessary to succeed. Quite contrary, when a women is considered aggressive, coworkers tend to have a negative view of the way she leads (think Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada).

 

So what does this mean? How is a women supposed to be as aggressive and successful as her male counterpart if she is disparaged for being a strong, assertive leader? Well Sandberg explains what it means for women to lean in and rise up to obtain executive leadership roles and change the number of women at the top. This starts with the way women see themselves, not the way that men view women. If a woman believes in herself and doesn't succumb to the stereotype of what women are supposed to do in the workforce, she will be more capable of thriving in her career and earning a C-suite. 

It is my belief that it takes a lot more work and determination for a women to become a successful executive leader thank it does for a man. So what did Sheryl Sandberg's TED talks really say? They said "that little girl is not bossy, that little girl has executive leadership skills." It is not about ability, it is about perception. Once women start to change their perception and realize that they can in fact be in charge, we will start to see more women rightfully taking the corner office suites. 

Why we have too few women leaders

So we leaned in, now what?