Honestly, if you were online during the mid-2010s, you couldn't escape it. Miley Cyrus was everywhere, and she wasn't just "being Miley" anymore—she was dismantling every single Disney-fied expectation people had of her.
One of the most persistent, weird, and frankly misunderstood chapters of that era involves how she used her own body, specifically her anatomy, as a tool for artistic rebellion. We aren't just talking about a stray wardrobe malfunction. We’re talking about a deliberate, often confrontational use of imagery that left critics stammering.
The "Bangerz" Era and the Microphone Incident
It started with the foam finger, but it quickly escalated. During the Bangerz tour in 2014, things got significantly more literal. There’s a famous, or perhaps infamous, moment from her performance of "Love Money Party" where she essentially "sang" into a microphone held to her crotch.
Social media went nuclear.
People were calling it desperate. Others called it a cry for attention. But if you look at the actual context of what Miley was doing, it was less about being "gross" and more about a very specific kind of feminist shock art. She was essentially saying, "You’ve spent years sexualizing me while I was a kid on a sitcom, so here is the reality of my body. Deal with it."
She wasn't just performing; she was daring the audience to look away. Most didn't.
Vagina Teeth and the Karl Lagerfeld Shoot
Then came the V Magazine cover shot by the late Karl Lagerfeld. This wasn't some grainy paparazzi shot; this was high fashion. In the spread, Miley wore a custom-made Patricia Field piece—essentially a clutch or a set of "vagina teeth" strategically placed over her leotard.
It was a direct reference to the "vagina dentata" myth, an ancient folk tale about women having teeth "down there" to castrate or deter men.
Why does this matter? Because Miley was playing with the idea of being a "threat." In the pop world, female sexuality is usually served up as something soft, palatable, and for the male gaze. By sporting vagina teeth, Miley was making herself unpalatable. She was turning her sexuality into something sharp and dangerous.
It was a weird time. You had the high-fashion world embracing this "freak" aesthetic while mainstream media was still trying to figure out if she’d just lost her mind.
"She Is Not a Vagina"
By 2019, Miley’s tone shifted. She started moving away from the "shock for shock's sake" era and toward something more nuanced. When she was promoting her EP She Is Coming, she gave an interview to ELLE where she addressed the public’s obsession with her body parts and her gender identity.
She famously said that the "She" in her album title didn't refer to a vagina. She noted that "She" is a force of nature, power, and spirit—not just a set of reproductive organs.
This was a massive pivot. After years of using her anatomy as a shield and a weapon in the "Miley Cyrus vagina" headlines, she was suddenly reclaiming her identity as something that existed outside of her biology.
The "Dooo It!" Controversy
We have to talk about the Dead Petz era. This was the peak of her experimental, psychedelic phase. The opening track of the album, "Dooo It!", literally begins with the line: "Why they put the dick in the pussy?"
It’s a jarring, blunt question that caught everyone off guard.
Critics hated it. They thought it was juvenile. But for Miley, it was a part of her "pussy liberation" narrative. She was hanging out with Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips, doing tons of drugs, and making music that was intentionally messy.
The lyrics weren't meant to be Shakespeare. They were meant to be a raw, unfiltered expression of a 22-year-old who was tired of being told how to talk about sex. She wanted to talk about it the way people actually talk behind closed doors—crude, curious, and totally unpolished.
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Why We Still Talk About It
The reason the "Miley Cyrus vagina" topic still lingers in Google searches isn't just because people are looking for NSFW photos. It’s because it represents one of the most successful, if chaotic, brand pivots in Hollywood history.
She used her body to break the "Hannah Montana" mold so thoroughly that it could never be put back together.
- The Twerking: It wasn't just a dance; it was a distraction.
- The Nudity: It was a way to devalue the "purity" that Disney had sold.
- The Lyrics: They were a way to reclaim her voice in an industry that usually scripts women.
What You Should Take Away
Miley’s journey shows that "shock factor" is often a calculated tool for survival in the music industry. She knew exactly what she was doing when she held that microphone or wore those latex teeth.
If you're looking at her career now—the powerhouse vocals of "Flowers" and her Grammy wins—it’s easy to forget the "vagina" headlines. But she wouldn't be the artist she is today if she hadn't gone through that period of total, unabashed exposure.
She forced the world to stop seeing her as a product and start seeing her as a person, even if that person was a "freak" for a few years.
Actionable Insight: Next time you see a celebrity going through a "wild" phase, look past the headline. Usually, there’s a massive branding shift happening underneath the surface. Miley didn't lose her mind; she just traded her wig for a wrecking ball and a very loud message about body autonomy.
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Understand that for women in pop, reclaiming their physical narrative often requires breaking the "good girl" rules in the most public way possible. Miley didn't just break the rules; she set them on fire and danced in the ashes.