Hannah Montana: Best of Our World

Rocking out the show: My daughter in her Hannah Montana costume for Halloween. Photo courtesy Kristin Ford.

My 5-year-old daughter is going to dress up as Hannah Montana for Halloween and she is so excited to have the sequins, the wig, and most importantly, the boots. I think she’d wear the outfit every day if I’d let her. It makes me happy that something as simple as a Halloween costume can give her so much joy.

 But I’ve had some people tell me they don’t think Miley Cyrus, who plays Hannah Montana, is a good role model for little girls. They were implying, of course, that they think I should not allow my daughter to wear this costume. Nevermind that the costume consists of full-length leggings with a tunic that almost reaches her knees. The only parts of my daughter’s body that are revealed are her arms and face.

The problem here is that some people can’t separate the character from the actress. Hannah is a reasonably sheltered teen who sings some very catchy tunes and has a fantastic wardrobe that meets Disney’s standards for not being too sexy or revealing. As Miley Stewart, she is finding her place in the world and learning about having self-confidence in her decisions.

Miley Cyrus is a teenager and a performer, both of which almost guarantee the girl will be experimenting with her look and reinventing herself from young teen to a young adult. Has she made a few questionable choices? Perhaps. I didn’t care for the Vanity Fair photo shoot last summer in which her back was exposed to the camera with a sheet draped around her. It was provocative for a teenager and not flattering, but I don’t allow my kids to look at Vanity Fair. Do you? Miley’s performance of “Party in the U.S.A.” at the Teen Choice Awards involved pole dancing, though certainly not anything that resembled what I imagine to be stripper moves. But again, my daughter was not allowed to watch the TCAs.

My daughter wants to dress up as Hannah Montana because she loves the character from the TV show. But when she is old enough to see and discuss Hollywood’s marketing strategies, we’ll talk about how we both feel about Miley’s choices. Of course, by then, we’ll have bigger fish to fry than what costume she’s chosen for Halloween.