(Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)Miley Cyrus continues to distance herself from the Disney image that was created for her as a girl when she landed the starring role in the "Hannah Montana" TV series. In an interview on Lifetime's "The Conversation" on Thursday, the 19-year-old showed she's evolved from a child star into an opinionated young woman and gets candid on a variety of topics, including sex.
Talking with host Amanda de Cadenet about how women, especially young girls, aren't encouraged to have a voice when it comes to sex, Miley had a lot to say. "I was just talking about this — the girls who base how much they're worth on the sexual favors they can do for somebody. That makes me really sad because sex actually is really beautiful," said Cyrus, who is dating "Hunger Games" star Liam Hemsworth. "It's the only way that we create and it's the only way that the world keeps going. So it's ignorant not to talk to your kids about it or not make it seem as magical and cool as it actually is."
And, according to Cyrus, parents who don't talk about sex with their kids are kidding themselves. "Do they have a TV? They know what sex is," she said. "Everyone knows. So educate them. Let them know they wouldn't be here without it. And it is a beautiful thing. And it is magical. And it is when you connect with someone. And it isn't how much you're worth. You worth isn't based on that. Your worth is based on how you feel about yourself."
Cyrus said that after "Hannah Montana," she had to step back and reevaluate because she didn't know who she was. As a child star, "I was so trained in my interviews to be All-American or whatever," she said. "I just got so set in the way of saying the same things I did when I was 12 years old. I guess I kind of realized that my whole life isn't one giant press junket. I don't have to be smiling all the time and always have the perfect answer… I finally had to look inside and say, 'What do I really think about this? Do I really think that or am I just trained to say that? Or have I said it for so many years now that that's what people expect me to say?'"
These days, she isn't afraid to speak her mind. And, as she readies to leave her teen years behind, she's still trying to get used to being considered a sex symbol, which is something she says she never set out to become.
"[I'm] not sitting there trying to be sexy," she said. "If people find that [I am], I take it as a compliment. Thank you for thinking I'm sexy!"
More Celebrity Features on Yahoo!:
LATEST BLOGS
