Miley Cyrus is a household name. If you don’t know it, you have to be living under a rock. From Hannah Montana to her sold out headling tours and her new scandalous music videos, Miley seems to be everywhere. What’s got people raising their eyebrows is how this good ol’ girl from Tennessee who was sweet Hannah Montana has changed into a sexy, glamorous eighteen-year-old megastar with a risqué image concerning parents.

Miley Cyrus has starred in the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana for years… they’re in their fourth and last season. Many kids have grown up with this show, looking up to their favorite idol, Miley. From the merchandise to the songs, you can’t not have seen her face plastered somewhere. With a Hannah-fanbase of mainly eight to thirteen year olds, parents are concerned about letting their children watch Miley after recent events.

Back at the Kids Choice Awards in summer 2009, Miley came out singing her new single, “Party in the USA”. With an upbeat tune and catchy lyrics, Miley had the crowd on their feet…and she had their eyes wide-opened. Her risqué outfit showing her bra and short shorts made her pole-dancing move even worse and had parents in an uproar. How could their kid’s role model do such a thing?

Following this, Miley released her EP and continued on with her music while filming the fourth Hannah Montana season. During this time, there were even more outfits to stir up the press and older boyfriends.

Last May, Cyrus released her first music video to promote her new album for her track “Can’t Be Tamed”, in which she sings about being hot and all the boys wanting her. In the video, she is dressed like a bird, or as they call her “Avis cyrus”, and is dancing with her backup dancers who are also wearing bird-costumes that show a bit of skin. This seemed to be Miley’s final goodbye to Disney.

More award shows, more scandalous dancing, more risqué outfits, and more Miley appeared, and recently, she released her second video off of her new album “Can’t Be Tamed” for the track “Who Owns My Heart”. The video starts off with Cyrus lying on a bed, cutting to scenes of her getting dressed in her underwear, hot dancing in a club in showy outfits and scenes where she is showing some leg in a car.

The press loves to take a superstar and tear them apart, which is just what they have been doing with Miss Miley. While her outfits are not what she wears as Hannah Montana, her videos are not “Disney-approved”, and her attitude is not the fourteen year old she started out on Disney as, Miley is still the good ol’ girl from Tennessee who loves her music and acting. She is not just Hannah Montana anymore, but an actress, singer, and adult-to-be (Cyrus officially will turn 18 in November).

Personally, I think Cyrus’s new videos have been tasteful and well put-together. They are not trashy but artistic and are no different than what any other artist is doing. When Britney Spears or Kesha put out a new video, nobody jumps on it and says that it is too risqué, but with Miley they do. On the other hand, do I think it is appropriate for a seventeen-year-old? Maybe not. But if you look at other artists, like Taylor Momsen (who is just 16), Miley is pretty tame. She isn’t out partying, drinking, and doing drugs.

However, I do think that Miley went about this big-girl transition a little too quickly. One day, we are all watching her in the Hannah Montana movie riding a horse and having to keep her big secret from the world to her pole dancing on stage. If Miley had slowed down and eased into her “big-girl” image instead of throwing it all at us at once, I think people would be more accepting of it. Am I saying that the parents of those Hannah-worshipers would approve? No. I’m not. Miley Cyrus is not just Hannah Montana. She is a beautiful, young, independent, talented woman who deserves more respect than what she has been getting. I do think, however, that Miley also needs to understand that Hannah Montana will always be something that follows her. Until her old fanbase grows up a little bit more, she needs to slow down on the really risqué stuff.

Long story short, I love the new Miley… if you want to call it a “new”, Miley. But, I think that the approach should’ve been taken at a different direction and pace.