"To add to the yuck factor, the first half of Cyrus's folly showed her dancing harmlessly with giant *teddy bears*.
Then she stripped down further and showed how she'd "grown up."
Get the picture? Doesn't every 14-year-old want to grow up?"

It's not so much the 14 yr olds but the 7 yr olds. 14 yr olds are well on their way to being "all grown up" but Cyrus' fan base is still substantially forged on her Hannah Montanna foundations which are made up of younger children. And MTV knows this which is why aiming the awards to show at a time suitable for a young audience, was as it was put above a 'Trogan Horse tactic'.

As I said previously, if Cyrus wants to have some fun (and it's clear she is, and I've no problem with that) playing with her "good little girl" Disney image by subverting it with kink / fetish 'brat' sexual themes involving giant teddy bears and grinding against older daddy figures, then using her actual little girl fan-base as a means to gain 'shock' media attention, is both exploitative and cynical.

That said, though I think her music (and this performance) is crap and some of her attempts to go all 'hood' are misguided; speaking from a female perspective - and despite finding her initially annoying - I've decided I actually kind of like Cyrus; I like her assertive boyish style and fronty / non-passive manner (I think in the US they call it 'spunky' which means something else again in the UK, but we'll pass that by) all of which incidentally was highlighted by RB in the OP. In short, as a role model for actual *teenage* girls I don't object to her at all