Miley Cyrus: Puberty and Adolescent Psychology Reflection Assignment

This essay provides a psychological reflection on Miley Cyrus's experience with puberty during her adolescence, specifically focusing on her time acting in the television series "Hannah Montana." It explores how Miley's public life and the demands of her character impacted her physical and mental development, including discussions of body dysmorphia and self-esteem. The essay references her experiences as shared in interviews, highlighting the challenges of growing up in the public eye and the effects of portraying a stereotypical teenage pop star. It defines puberty and explains how Miley's on-screen experiences mirrored and influenced her real-life adolescent journey, ultimately impacting her personality and self-image. The essay concludes by summarizing the key takeaways from Miley's experience with puberty and its effects.

Running Head: 0
Psychology
2/16/2020
Student’s Name

Psychology 1
Adolescent
The adolescent chosen for this reflection is Miley Ray Cyrus who is a real person. We are going
to discuss her puberty that she has experienced in real life while acting in famous American Tv
series named “Hannah Montana”. Miley played the double life of a teenager in this TV series.
She auditioned for this series when she was only eleven years old and got selected due to her
acting and singing capabilities. We have selected puberty as a specific topic.
Puberty
Before moving the discussion towards the experience of puberty faced by Miley while playing
Miley Stewart in Hannah Montana, the first meaning of puberty is required to be understood.
Puberty can be understood as a time or stage of life when a boy or girl becomes sexually mature.
In girls, the process happens during the age of 10 to 14 whereas in boys the time of puberty
comes at the age of 12 to 16 ("Puberty: Medlineplus").
How Miley experienced Puberty
Now coming back to the experience of Miley this is to say that she worked in the series from
2003 to 2009. It means she lived her adolescence while playing her character in the respective
TV show. We can say that Miley experienced growing up in the public eye. We all have seen her
grow and rising and turning into a beautiful adolescent from a kid all on screen. In 2016, she has

Psychology 2
given an interview with Marie Claire magazine where Miley accepted that working in Hannah
Montana negatively affected her personality in real life. She was made to look like a
stereotypical teenage pop star which affected her real personality (("”She’S Just Being Miley”):
Miley Cyrus’ Experience Growing Up In The Public Eye | Shrink Tank"). As we have learned in
the class, puberty impacts mood, self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, Miley experienced them
all while working in the stated TV series. In addition to this, she has experienced body
dysmorphia because of her character. She stated that in her adolescent she was expected to look
like a pop star with long hair putting some glittery tight thing. According to NHS, Body
dysmorphia is an anxiety disorder where the patient remains highly worried about his/her
physical appearance and spend a huge time thinking about the same. This disorder remained an
important part of her adolescent and affected her ("Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana Caused Body
Image Issues"). When she left the show she stated that she has been into a character for so long
and experienced all those physical and mental changes that any other human being does and it is
called puberty. We have seen a lot of changes in her personality as all we can see her puberty on
screen. It feels like she has grown onscreen. In her interview on "Fashion Police”, she made it
clear that puberty is the main cause behind her transformation.
Here in a conclusive manner, we can state that Miley has gone through a lot during her puberty
as she was playing a character which affected her a lot in her real life in pop culture and even
after that she has managed to be star afterward.

Psychology 3
References
"“She’S Just Being Miley”: Miley Cyrus’ Experience Growing Up In The Public Eye | Shrink
Tank". Shrink Tank, 2020, https://www.shrinktank.com/shes-just-miley-miley-cyrus-experience-
growing-public-eye/.
"Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana Caused Body Image Issues". Bbc.Co.Uk, 2020,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/33926424/miley-cyrus-hannah-montana-caused-body-
image-issues.
"Puberty: Medlineplus". Medlineplus.Gov, 2020, https://medlineplus.gov/puberty.html.