I have the utmost respect for anyone who can confidently be themselves. If you want to wear nipple pasties as a shirt, rock it. If you want to indulge in earth’s green herb, smoke it. If you want to create an album that reeks of The Flaming Lips, sing it. Yes, I am indeed referencing Miley Cyrus.

What else is there to say about her other than the fact that she used to be the beloved-by-all Disney star, Hannah Montana, until one day she popped some Molly and turned into a non-booty twerking “slut,” who chopped off her hair and started to talk about smoking weed enough to make even Snoop Dogg’s ear fall off. But on the contrary, there is actually way more to her than meets the eye.

She is not the typical role model for a student such as myself, but that is exactly the point I am trying to make. Move past the norm of academics and world leaders when searching for someone to look up to. Listed below are the seven things I like about Cyrus and what she represents:

1. Her appearance is unusual — far from conservative — but she rolls with confidence. Ever since her performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards wearing basically nothing and a giant foam finger, I think it is safe to say she feels most comfortable wearing almost nothing. Some may say this is way over the top, but let’s remember that she plays into shock value. I admire the confidence she exudes while wearing any of her outfits.

2. She supports gender equality with her open stance on supporting Free The Nipple. This movement is about the injustice of how women’s breasts — specifically their nipples — are sexualized in ways in which men’s are not.

3. Cyrus utilizes the attention she gets from the media for good. She is a proactive voice for the LGBTQ community through her nonprofit organization called the Happy Hippie Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations.

4. Her act of giving does not stop at her organization. She released her latest album for free on Soundcloud after hosting the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2015. Damn girl, back at it again with the breaking social norms. What if all music was free? Some people didn’t like her new style of music, but I think it is the perfect combination of raw emotion and weirdness.

5. Cyrus loves all living creatures. She owns five dogs — and counting — three cats and a pig named Bubba Sue. Her last album was named Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz. She has a song on this album of her mourning her dead blowfish named Pablo. Yes, I too agree that this may be a little over the top but at least she’s passionate. 

6. She promotes mindfulness by sharing the importance of yoga in her life. She’s recently been Instagramming time-lapses of her morning yoga routine, commenting, “gotta do yoga not for my body but for my mind!”

7. Speaking of which, her Instagram account is so raw. Some days she’ll post a picture of herself smoking a joint while other days she’ll post a selfie wearing zit cream. She doesn’t seem to have a problem sharing with the world who she really is.

I’m not telling you to go out and post a picture of yourself doing something illegal, but maybe it’s time to stop worrying so much about what others think of you. Open your mind — if you haven’t already — and stop labeling people, as the act of doing so constricts a world of possibilities. Channel your inner Miley Cyrus — your most confident self — and realize that it is time to stop caring about how others will perceive you and just do you.

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Photo: Flickr / rob-sinclair