Opinion: Miley Cyrus is Sexy in New Video, Why Are You So Shocked?

In her latest video, Miley Cyrus sings seductively while sitting on the edge of a bathtub, while lounging in a big ol' bed and while writhing at a club.

Her hair? Well, it's either wrapped up in pink rollers or flowing around her shoulders in a wildly huge, Aqua Net-sprayed, teased out mane. Her clothes? A tanktop and undies or a plunging gold lame halter and mini.

Sexy? You bet. But something people are finding shocking? Please. I mean, really, didn't Cyrus already warn us that she "Can't Be Tamed" in her last single?

Because Cyrus is 17 -- she becomes an official adult on Nov. 23 -- folks are crying Harlot! Jezebel! Teenage Tart! in response to her recently-released "Who Owns My Heart" video. Tim Winters, the president of the Parents Television Council, is one of those carrying the pitchforks.

"It is unfortunate that she would participate in such a sexualized video like this one," he tells TMZ. "It sends messages to her fan base that are diametrically opposed to everything she has done up to this point. Miley built her fame and fortune entirely on the backs of young girls, and it saddens us that she seems so eager to distance herself from that fan base so rapidly."

I'll admit, I'm kind of sad to see Miley grow up, too. It's a reminder that my own daughters, who happen to be fans of her "Hannah Montana" series, will one day move beyond Disney shows and grow out of Bieber fever. But it's not a surprising phenomenon.

Let's be real here: "Diametrically opposed to everything she has done up to this point?" Winters must have forgotten about the dance Cyrus did with that pole at last year's Teen Choice Awards. And the racy photo shoot she posed for in Vanity Fair several years ago. I guess he missed "Nothing to Lose," Cyrus's recent duet with "Rock of Love" star Bret Michaels (sample lyric: "Tonight in the darkness there's nothing to lose/We both know better than this, still we can't resist/Slowly get undressed.")

Cyrus has been making her voice heard for a while now: She's not a little girl anymore.

In a move the world really should find completely unshocking, Cyrus, who starred in Disney's "Hannah Montana" from 2006 to 2010, is just the latest in a long line of child stars to assert her independence and attempt to show everyone that she is growing up.

Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake. They all went from squeaky clean Mouseketeers to singing about being a "Slave 4 You," getting "Dirrty" and "bringing sexy back." Alanis from Nickelodeon's "You Can't Do That on Television" resurfaced as Alanis Morisette, singing about scratching her fingernails down some dude's back in "You Outta Know." Cute little Stacy Ferguson belted out sweet lyrics for the tween set on "Kids Incorporated" before she became Fergalicious and started singing about her London bridge falling down.

Never mind that there's no nude bodysuit or slithering snake in Cyrus's video. There are no bootie-baring chaps, no girl on girl action or violent love-making scenes. That doesn't mean there's any denying that Cyrus is going for a sexy vibe in her video. Of course she is. And I'm not surprised by it in the slightest.

Cyrus will be 18 in a few weeks. She's outgrown the Wiggles crowd and now she's out to show everyone that Hannah Montana is her past.

So, maybe the title of video vixen isn't exactly the future most of us would envision for our own teenagers, but, as much as we may wish they could, they can't stay innocent forever.

And, of course, there's the double standard. Did groups release public outcries when the Stray Cats sang about a girl who was "Sexy and 17?" Or when Kip Winger, he of hair metal fame, lamented "She's only 17. Dad says she's too young, but she's old enough for me?" Or when Kings of Leon sing their song "17," speaking of teen love and a "bloody mary breakfast?"

If you're going to find something offensive about Cyrus's video, it should really be the shoddy vocals and cliche, insipid lyrics that seem to have been written by a, well, 17-year-old. "Who owns my heart? Is it love or is it art?" What does that even mean?

Now, if Cyrus had come out with a new video singing about puppy dogs and fairy tales, dressed in a Laura Ashley-style long, floral-print dress buttoned up to her neck? That, my friends, would be shocking. This is simply the age-old tale of a teenager who wants to be treated like a woman. Nothing shocking there.

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