The iconic image of an era manifests itself through the memorable celebrities from each decade. We recall the angelic faces and tumultuous lives of Bridget Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and John Travolta.

Silver Screen superstars and radio wave dominators—essentially, the pop culture icons- define a generation in terms of politician and social climate. When we are asked to recall the ‘50s and ‘60s, we think of The Beatles, and when we think about the ‘70s and ‘80s, we can’t forget the figure of Farrah Fawcett or Sonny and Cher.

The way we perceive and receive celebrities and their lives reflects an important aspect of our modern culture within the United States. While the entertainment news bombards with the latest in celebrity going happenings, the way we react as a population reflects our mass mentality on certain subjects.

In the recent news, Miley Cyrus has taken both the limelight and the flame as the good girl gone bad. Her behavior on the VMAs and her recent music videos, such as “Wrecking Ball” and “23,” highlight an alarming side of our society today.

I’m not talking about her alleged misbehavior. I’m talking about ours.

While Cyrus should demonstrate a little more sensitivity toward her past as a child star, we have no right to bemoan the ‘slutification’ of the former good girl icon, nor are we entitled to degrade her physical appearance or figure by the way she dresses herself.

Since her infamous appearance on the VMAs, the internet community has exploded with words coloring the young woman in an unflattering light.

Shortly after her performance, Buzzfeed, the popular entertainment website, published a rather demeaning and degrading article entitled “22 Things Miley Cyrus Looked Like at the 2013 VMAs.” The post compared her rear to the back end of an uncooked turkey and her face to that of “Star Wars” character Jar Jar Binks.

The disrespectful words of the post, although meant to be taken in jest and entertainment, accentuate a great flaw in society. The culture of body shaming and demoralizing of women based on appearance remains as a central theme within popular culture.

The nonchalant use of degrading words to criticize a person’s natural body type augments the importance of a woman’s physical appearance. A whopping 74.4 percent of normal-weight women in college declared that they thought about their physical appearance “all the time” or “frequently,” according to a study cited by Brown University.

A mentality so centered on an arbitrary characteristic leads to a distorted and harmful self-perception of personal worth. Nearly 81 percent of 10-year-old girls have already dieted at least once, according a study conducted by Berkeley.

The societal push for young girls to conform to a certain ideal in terms of beauty objectifies women. By criticizing a woman’s body, we insinuate that she is a decoration—a visual whose value is based on aesthetic appeal, rather than her contributions as a human being.