Neal Justin: Just how young is too young for 'Sex'?

The most shocking aspect of the Miley Cyrus feature in the new issue of Vanity Fair isn't the topless photo. It's the fact that the "Hannah Montana" star gushes over "Sex and the City."

"It's my favorite show! I love it!" the 15-year-old actress tells the magazine over spinach-artichoke dip, the kind of dish you can imagine Carrie & Company digging into over martinis and frank conversation about their latest conquests.

Miley isn't the typical "SATC" fan. According to TBS, only 29,000 girls between ages 12 and 17 regularly tune in for the reruns, roughly 3 percent of the total audience. About 154,000 girls watched the show during its final season on HBO, just 2.4 percent of its viewers.

Cathy Wilke, a marketing director for On Location Tours in New York, said 99 percent of those who take the "Sex and the City" tour are adult women and that teenagers show little interest in visiting Miranda's favorite bakery for cupcakes.

DVDs for the show move at $30 for a season and $300 for the entire series, prices far out of reach of most kids' allowances.

But that may change when the big-screen version of the show hits theaters Friday. In a summer swamped with superhero flicks, teenage girls may flock to a female-friendly movie, despite the R rating.

"So few movies come out aimed squarely at women, featuring more than one female in a leading role, and young women may want something to look up to," said Chad Hartigan, an analyst for Exhibitor Relations Co., based in Los Angeles. "It definitely will attract them."

That's not good news for Melissa Henson, director of communications for the Parents Television Council, an organization that frowns on children being exposed to racy and raunchy programming.

"What I find fascinating about the show is that it does address female relationships that I think many women and teenage girls can identify with, but it also deals with sexual practices that are not appropriate for young girls," she said.

"To a certain extent, the show promotes promiscuity, sex without risk, sex that's free and easy. If you watch the entire series, the characters end up in monogamous, committed relationships, but if you just tune in to certain episodes, taken out of context, girls can walk away with the idea that promiscuous sex is not a problem and that it's actually a lifestyle choice that's glamorous."

"What do they mean, Mom?"

That's not the conclusion reached by longtime fan Ashley Fairbanks. The 21-year-old Minneapolis Community & Technical College student doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs. In high school, she gave a presentation on the importance of sex education in schools; the effort earned her national recognition.

"I felt like I had a secret window into the adult world," said Fairbanks, who plans to pursue a career in politics. "I think you can never learn about sex too soon. It's better to have been a girl going into the world knowing those things."

Her TV education wasn't all about sex. She said Miranda's independence, in particular, struck a chord with her.

"It wasn't like I was watching June Cleaver," she said. "These were strong female role models."

Sara Enger, Ashley's 49-year-old mother, didn't hesitate to allow her daughter to watch the show, especially since she would usually watch it with her, often while they were eating dinner. Enger, who recently moved to Wyoming, said the show provided the opportunity for a busy mother and a busy daughter to bond.

"We had our best conversations when we were sitting and watching TV," Enger said. "They could say things on TV that I didn't feel comfortable saying to Ashley or things I wouldn't think about talking about and she would say, 'What do they mean, Mom?'"

"'Sex and the City' is a great show if you look at it as a learning tool," Enger said. "Miranda dated a black guy. Samantha had a lesbian lover. Carrie had an affair. Charlotte and her husband had problems in bed. Anything you could possibly throw at somebody happened in those years, and I think that's a great way to teach your daughter about life. People may disagree with me, but that's how I feel."

It's no surprise that Henson is among the dissenters.

"To me, that's pretty out there in terms of justifying watching that show with your daughter," she said. "There are other ways to broach the subject of sex."

Maybe, but there's one fringe benefit of a "SATC" education that Henson might not have considered.

"My boyfriend has no complaints," Fairbanks said.