We Are The Problem
Like millions of others, I watched the Super Bowl last night. I always show up for the commercials and halftime shows, but I was equally excited for the game this year because we live in Kansas City. On top of living in the same city as the team I was rooting for, my daughter's school made a video that went viral and was airing locally during one of the commercials.
It was such a good game, tied going into halftime. I was excited to see Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform. I haven't been a fan of the last few year's shows and I was excited for the historical factor, that this was the first time two women would headline the halftime show. But, a few seconds in and I felt uncomfortable, deciding to go to the kitchen and start clearing the counters of wings, chips, and pizza.
One of our sons had just gotten out of the bath, he took it during halftime, not wanting to miss any of the game. I can't remember if he walked out of the bathroom into the living room while J Lo was on the pole or shaking her booty on stage, but right away, he turned around, left the room and asked me when the show would be over. I could sense how uncomfortable it made him and was glad he felt it, too.
We are so used to this culture where sex sells that somehow, we have become immune. I didn't turn it off; I just simply went into the kitchen to do something else. My husband didn't turn it off; he sat on the couch and did something on his phone. But our son, our 9-year-old little boy, knew. He knew it went against everything we have taught him thus far.
After the game, after getting the kids in bed, I picked up my phone to see what others thought of the game and halftime show. A friend had posted, "You cannot simultaneously champion girls and objectify women by gyrating nearly naked on a pole ..."
She shared a few other thoughts I wholeheartedly agree with, so I shared her post. I had more thoughts and feelings about last night's show and jumped on social media to see what others were thinking. So many people were praising the performers' bodies and how good they looked. Using the excuse that it’s not that big of a deal, people wear less on the beach or at the pool. While I don’t disagree with how great they looked, that isn’t the argument here. There is a huge difference in wearing something to go swimming and sexually strutting your stuff in front of millions on a pole and being praised for it.
How are we missing the bigger picture as a culture?
We can't say we want to empower women yet degrade them.
We can't say we want our girls to have a healthy body image yet continue to applaud a certain body type and behavior.
We can't say we want our sons to respect women yet continue to be immune to how we've come to disrespect them ourselves.
Did you know that the Super Bowl is one of the biggest targets for sex trafficking?
We can't fight against sex trafficking, yet we continue to play a part in sex selling. We are glorifying it.
When we praise performers on their bodies and looks, using that as an argument as to why the show was amazing, we only pour gasoline on a sickening industry, fueling the fire.
I'm all for girl power. I have a 6-year-old daughter. I want her to strive for the stars. I want her beauty to shine, illuminating that.
But beauty and girl power isn't about provocatively dancing half-dressed.
Do you know what would have been excellent and empowered other women and our daughters in that historical moment last night as two females shared the stage? To use their talents, giftings, and voices instead of oversexualizing their performance.
As the audience, we must stop glorifying performances such as those, or we, too are the problem.
