Angry in the Great White North

In Canada, a long-standing problem is finally being addressed.  The age of consent will be raised from 14 to 16:

Canada's age of sexual consent will be bumped up two years to 16 beginning Thursday.

The change means adults who have sex with boys or girls aged 14 and 15 years old could face criminal charges.

Canada's age of consent has been 14 since 1892.

The legislation was brought in by the Conservative government in part to deal with older internet predators who troll the web looking for younger victims.

Canada's age of consent will now be in line with other countries, such as Britain and Australia, and most American states.

Among other things, this will mean Canada will no longer be a destination for American hebephiles looking for what was once legal fun.

But not every situation in which someone takes advantage of a teen involves sex.  Consider the controversy engulfing 15-year-old Miley Cyrus:

Miley Cyrus is taking issue with a photo of herself that's going around, and it's not another amateur, truth-or-dare Internet snapshot — it's the handiwork of Annie Leibovitz.

"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist. "I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

The photos, appearing in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, were taken by Leibovitz, a renowned celebrity photographer whose edgy, silver-toned portraits have included subjects such as Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and a naked, pregnant Demi Moore.

The Cyrus pictures accompany an interview with the 15-year-old pop star and her father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus. They include shots of the teen wrapped in what appears to be a satin bedsheet, looking over her shoulder with her back exposed.

Will Miley Cyrus lose her job as the star of Hannah Montana?  Perhaps.  But one thing is fairly certain.  Annie Leibovitz is not going to lose her job:

Photographer Annie Leibovitz says she's sorry that her photo of Miley Cyrus has been misinterpreted, but she thinks it's beautiful.

One of Leibovitz's photos taken for Vanity Fair magazine shows Cyrus clutching a satin sheet to her chest while her back is exposed.

The Disney Channel, which airs "Hannah Montana," says in a statement, "A situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

Leibovitz says she and Cyrus looked at fashion photos together and they discussed the picture in that context before they shot it.

Is it me, or is this just creepy?  The Disney Channel nailed this, I think.  Did Miley Cyrus express doubts when Annie Leibovitz told Cyrus to strip down?  Did Annie Leibovitz convince Miley Cyrus that this was art and fashion, and that taking picture of cute teen girls without their shirts on is not something anyone would have a problem with?

Is this a case of manipulation?  The age of consent defines an age when it is assumed that a teen having sex with an adult has to have been manipulated into the situation. 

I think there are other situations when we can assume a teen simply cannot make an informed decision, a decision regarding an action that can have repercussions for the rest of his or her life. 

Too bad these laws only cover sex, and not sexy "art" photos of topless girls.

Update:

The latest news is not good for Miley.  Miley to lose her job:

While topless scandal teen star Miley Cyrus hides in the hills after her sexy Vanity Fair photo shoot, Disney executives are reportedly plotting to push her to the side in favour of an untainted young star.

Billy Ray Cyrus makes a very serious allegation:

Her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, has expressed outrage at the shots, which he said were taken without his knowledge after he left the set of the photo shoot.

The stylist working with Annie Leibovitz is a perfect example of what it wrong with all this:

[The] stylist who created Miley's lurid look took offense at accounts referring to the cloth she wore as a "bed sheet."

"It's a duchesse satin stole, Champagne, specially made," said Michael Roberts. "It was 83 inches long. She's not wrapped in something skimpy. She had her jeans on. She looked at the screen and loved the picture."

Of course, Miley loved the picture.  It made her look like something she wasn't -- a grown woman.  What 15-year-old girl wouldn't like to look mature and alluring?  That's why 15-year-old girls can't be trusted to make a decision like this, and why anyone who offers to make a 15-year-old look like this (and in doing so, profit from it in some way) is a manipulator.

Maybe it's a dad thing.