How Hannah Montana became an unexpected icon for marginalized kids | CNN

On a cool, wintry afternoon in early March, a crowd of people streamed towards New York’s Washington Square Park for a Miley Cyrus lookalike contest. Many in the audience were die-hard Hannah Montana fans, including Iranian-American cousins, Sophia, 23, and Ariana Parizadeh, 22. Growing up the children of immigrants in strict households, they remembered childhoods spent secretly watching Hannah Montana’s double-life unfold, her days split between being a regular girl and a pop star, and how it reminded them of their own lives as they navigated home life and school. “Going between home and school, I felt like I had to code switch,” Sophia said. At home, she and her cousin spoke Farsi, and were encouraged to become doctors or lawyers. At school, they spoke English and tried to fit in like any other child. “I felt there were different personality traits of mine that came to light in both situations,” she said, recalling summers spent in Iran. “Coming back here when school started, I was also a different version of myself.” Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana” debuted in 2006, and millions of children were forever changed by the tween girl with Tennessee roots secret