Putting perspective into Miley's twerk

Robin Thicke, left, and Miley Cyrus perform at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Photo by Scott Gries/Invision/AP)
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130827_Miley_Cyrus__twerking_moves_disturbed_some__garnered_groans.html#QbF383PFf1QPKg3o.99

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor

Am I the only who had no clue what "twerking" was/is until the sensation Miley Cyrus caused Sunday evening at the VMA Awards?  I have to admit that I have never watched the VMA Awards or Miley Cyrus, and, in fact, the Consort and I were at our local movie theater seeing "The Butler" when she took the stage.

But in the interest of full public disclosure and of remaining relevant in this ever-changing world of ours, the Rim Country Gazette Blog hereby presents a primer for us older folks and for others who are hopelessly out of it.

According to Wikipedia, "twerking is a dance move that involves a person shaking the hips in an up-and-down bouncing motion, causing the dancer to shake, 'wobble' and jiggle."  So far, so good.  But check out the above photo from Miley's performance.  Surely, there is more to twerking.

Your obedient editor decided to consult a higher authority, a lady who bills herself as the "fashion consultant" for The Inquirer (who would've thought).  Anyway, according to this expert source, twerking involves "one person (usually a woman) gyrating backwards against another person, her behind jiggling."

Now we have a definition that matches Miley's performance.  All that's left is to put it all into some kind of perspective.  

What does it mean?  What is the world coming to?  How can we let our children watch such perversion?  Who let this happen, anyway?

My god, this is Hannah Montana gone wild.

But we let our children watch TV shows and movies and play video games where violence is glorified.  Every day. 

We send them out into a world where people who can't tie their shoes are armed to the teeth with automatic weapons. 

And we've carelessly created a hazardous world of pollution and climate change that they'll be fortunate to survive.  

And yet we're consumed and frenzied about the antics of a modestly talented young woman strutting her stuff on a TV show that can be turned off.  

Strutting her stuff?  Where I have heard that before?  Oh yeah, a guy named Shakespeare:

"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing."

If you haven't yet, you really need to see "The Butler."  And take your kids.  It's infinitely more relevant than anything Miley Cyrus will ever do.

Here is a primer: Twerking can be done alone or with a partner. It involves one dancer (usually a woman) gyrating backward against another person, her behind jiggling. Can we say sexually explicit?
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130827_Miley_Cyrus__twerking_moves_disturbed_some__garnered_groans.html#QbF383PFf1QPKg3o.99

Here is a primer: Twerking can be done alone or with a partner. It involves one dancer (usually a woman) gyrating backward against another person, her behind jiggling. Can we say sexually explicit?
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130827_Miley_Cyrus__twerking_moves_disturbed_some__garnered_groans.html#QbF383PFf1QPKg3o.99

Here is a primer: Twerking can be done alone or with a partner. It involves one dancer (usually a woman) gyrating backward against another person, her behind jiggling. Can we say sexually explicit?
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130827_Miley_Cyrus__twerking_moves_disturbed_some__garnered_groans.html#QbF383PFf1QPKg3o.99

Here is a primer: Twerking can be done alone or with a partner. It involves one dancer (usually a woman) gyrating backward against another person, her behind jiggling. Can we say sexually explicit?
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130827_Miley_Cyrus__twerking_moves_disturbed_some__garnered_groans.html#QbF383PFf1QPKg3o.