You can always count on the Gallagher brothers to jam both feet into their respective mouths and this week is no different, with Noel declaring that American culture is responsible for the sexualization of female music artists.
The 53-year-old former Oasis frontman said, in an interview with The Daily Star, that he had been watching Miley Cyrus perform her new song “Midnight Sky” on top of a giant disco ball at the MTV Video Music Awards a month ago, and the thought occurred to him.
“That god awful woman Miley Cyrus was on and she was doing some f–king shit and even my nine-year-old said, ‘Why is the cameraman just filming her legs?”
Gallagher continued, “Women have been sexualized because of America, British culture would never sexualize a female. This has all come from America – that juvenile, jock, stupid f–king culture.”
This, of course, is egregiously ignorant. Many cultures have, for time immemorial, sexualized women, including American and British (and Canadian!) cultures. And female artists have the agency to sexualize themselves if they want to and to whatever degree they choose, even if Noel Gallagher isn’t feeling it. (Also, someone introduce the man to the long history of very sexualized Bond girls.)
His interview led to him being labelled a “misogynist clown”, “a god awful man” and, to put it simply, “not that bright.”
Cyrus herself accused the awards show of sexism in a recent Joe Rogan Experience podcast appearance.
“The beauty light is always used on women and I said turn the f–king lights off,” Cyrus said of how her performance was filmed during the show. “You would never tell Travis Scott or Adam Levine that he couldn’t turn the beauty light off.”
She also recalled the moment when her bracelet became stuck to her dress, leading to an MTV producer telling her, “You want to be treated like a guy? We wouldn’t be dealing with this if a guy was doing it.”
Cyrus added, “And I said, ‘Well, a guy wouldn’t be doing this because a guy doesn’t sell your show with sex the way that I’m going to.’”
And, again, that’s Cyrus’s right. And it isn’t exclusive to American soil. Then again, giving any words Gallagher has to say a platform is a foolish choice as this is the same individual who recently proudly declared himself an anti-masker.
Go back to 1995 where you belong, sir.
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