Posed naked and wrapped in a sheet for photographer Annie Leibovitz, the shots caused a stir two years ago when they were published in Vanity Fair, with many wondering how Miley's parents could have allowed such a shoot and some even labelling it child pornography.
But Miley, now 17, says her family still doesn't understand what all the fuss was about.
"Here, my parents are thinking they're seeing a beautiful picture by a major photographer, and the people of America want to see something dirty in that?" she told Harper's Bazaar.
"It doesn't make sense to us because [my family] doesn't look for negativity. But people don't want to say, 'What a great performance' or, 'What a great shot'. No-one wants to look at something like that and see the positive because it doesn't sell a magazine."
As for coming under fire for posting her own raunchy pics on myspace, making a 'racist' slant-eyed face in a happy snap with friends, or pole dancing on an icecream cart at the Teen Choice Awards, Miley argues that she's still a kid and she's allowed to make mistakes.
"My job isn't to be a parent. My job isn't to tell your kids how to act or how not to act, because I'm still figuring that out for myself.
"So to take that away from me is a bit selfish. Your kids are going to make mistakes whether I do or not. That's just life."
