Oh That Super Bowl Show!

So the biggest game in football happened this past weekend, the “creme de la creme” culminating the year in football.

I’m happy Kansas won. After a 50 year hiatus they came in with an impressive finishing win.

Then… then….there was the half time show.

The half time show is either a time people go get food and another beer or they settle in waiting to see the million dollar entertainment.

Well, let’s just say those who watched the show seemed to have lots to say. The internet has been a plethora of opinions, much like my Facebook newsfeed.

This post is written from my personal opinion. You may have a different one.

That’s alright too.

Our opinions are shaped by everything from our age, the generation we were raised in, our upbringing, the things we deem important and valuable, to our own personal moral convictions.

So many factors shape our personal opinions.

It’s ok to have different opinions and respect each other in those opinions.

Life would be really boring if we all thought alike.

What does bug me though are opinions grounded in ignorance. A little education goes a long way on a topic to present a more informed opinion. You lose me with an ignorance based opinion.

With that being said..on with the show.

It was “good/bad”.

Those were some comments I first saw. But look, the whole “good or bad” thing is totally subjective based on well, what you, personally like.

Your thoughts on the overall quality of show are based on your music tastes, your entertainment preferences, and even your personal thoughts and feelings on how performers are dressed and perform.

This years entire show was very Latin themed (obviously) but if Billy the cowboy had been on, or someone’s favorite hip hop artist with every fourth word getting bleeped out, (or whoever) were featured artists then I’m sure those people would’ve declared it “good!” and “awesome!”

Why? Because it would’ve fallen in areas that they enjoy and prefer.

An opinion of “good or bad” is totally subjective.

The players

Of course this years heading line duo was Shakira and Jennifer Lopez ( J Lo) . Now if I were to believe some things I’ve read you would think people had no idea what these women did.

For years…years…they have been singers and dancers. High energy singers and dancers. J Lo is also an actress.

They are entertainers.

So unless you’ve lived under a rock you would know these women are powerhouses in their industry.

I expected no less than a high octane performance with lots of Latin moves.

The rhetoric

I’ve read so many posts screaming about how inappropriate they were dressed, the the dancing, the pole dance and belly dancing.

Oh my, we will get to those items in a moment.

First, I thought their costumes were more covering and fitted than some artists I’ve seen in the past. Skimpy? Yes. Does it go with what they do as performers, also yes.

Were they covered way more than what you and your family can view on a public beach or at the pool? Also yes.

I mean last year Maroon 5’s frontman, Adam Levine, was out there in nothing but well fitted jeans, and his tatted very well muscled chest on display.

I didn’t have a problem with that 😜 but c’mon, technically he was half naked. Let’s stop double standards.

And people went crazy…especially the women. And this year the women are too, just in a different way.

Angry women

I have to admit to a huge amount of shock as I’ve read post after post of women ranting labeling these performers as everything from “floozies, poor role models, trashy, vulgar, etc etc” I know there were alot more adjectives used…..ah the judgement.

Fortunately, I’ve also got some women in the other camp who cast a different eye at it.

Ha..I’m not alone 😜

Shakira and JLo delivered a high octance show that was Vegas worthy.

Here’s the deal, again my humble opinion.

All the sudden the show starts and there are two stunning, strong, confident, athletic, fit middle aged women (Shakira is 43, J Lo 50)

Totally killing it.

They looked amazing and the cardio out put of that show no one could’ve kept up with.

These women are mothers and powerful business women. They are at the top of their game.

I dare say, there were alot of women munching chips and cheese dip behind their tv screen all the sudden being reminded that they’ve gained weight and are out of shape and maybe its time to get back to exercise and doing a check on the nutrition.

Maybe there were elements that made them uncomfortable personally, and not because of the costumes and dancing.

On the other hand I had many friends making jokes on how they needed to start working out again.

As a middle aged woman and an athlete, I was in awe of what they brought. I’m not intimidated by other women so I guess I just studied it all in a different way.

It’s not family friendly!

Really.

The half time shows almost always have an edge to them. And come on, who remembers Janet Jacksons MAJOR wardrobe malfunction years ago? Beyonce’s performance was pretty….shaking, grinding, wiggling in less clothes with plenty of crotch angles.

I also want to know….whose kids are all actually clustered around the tv watching the game and gearing up for half time show?

Mine were always running around and now as adults, still care less about the show.

If you happen to have children who actually sit and watch game and are waiting eagerly for the entertainment, you as the adult, if you feel what is coming on isn’t “family friendly” have the ultimate remote control power to change the channel.

Simple.

Belly dancing and pole dancing, oh my!

If I had a quarter every time that was brought up..well.. I’d have a whole lotta change.

My eye rolls though….🙄

Listen, last time I checked, these activites aren’t cardinal sins.

My favorite thing I’ve read is indigent Karen and Becky proclaiming it as “porn”.

Now I’m not a huge expert here, but I’m pretty sure, fairly confident, that isn’t porn.

I took belly dancing classes years ago ( oh my, I did).

You know what I learned?

It is crazy hard. It’s a ton of work.

You have to learn to move your hips while completely isolating movement of other parts of your body. You have to learn to use your arms while doing mentioned activities with hips.

It’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, doing it quickly

It is work and a huge talent.

My core was so sore after each session

Gosh, no wonder Shakira’s abs looked amazing.

This was also a nod to her Lebanese heritage, so many want to ignore that.

The pole dancing with J Lo?

Listen it was really no shock she put that in her show giving a nod to her most recent movie where she learned to pole dance in preparation for it.

Again, being able to do that requires a tremendous amount of strength and power to do gymnastic moves up and down that pole.

I can tell you there wasn’t a single male athlete Sunday who could’ve done what she did. None.

Are these poles used in mens clubs? Yes (I’ve heard ) so many women keep saying that 😉

Are the poles unto themselves, sexual?

No.

People need to stop sexualizing so many things that don’t need to be.

FYI, it is on my bucket list to try. Does that make me morally awful? Trashy? Not a good parent? Pretty sure I won’t be in alot of clothes learning to do it either.

We need to stop sexualizing so many things in our world today that aren’t.

What do we need to address?

Let’s bring this home, right in our back yard.

Let’s talk about our girls and young women in our town, family, friends etc and how they are portrayed, in a way, sexualized, before they should be.

Human trafficking is an awful thing. The super bowl isn’t the vehicle for it. Can it contribute in some way? Possibly.

Human trafficking is far closer home than the super bowl.

Let’s talk about little girls in dance classes and beauty pageants.

I’ve seen costumes that make me raise my eyebrows. They are far to sexual looking for their young age. Then there’s all the make up and I’ve seen plenty of dances with them shaking things everywhere. Two piece sets with their little tummies exposed and their baby bottoms in spandex.

Oh.

But that’s “cute”.

I’m a mom and grandmother and yeah, I might not think much of it, but do you know about people around you?

Let’s move up to older girls…middle school, high school.

Cheer and dance teams.

Anyone ever seen costumes these young women are in, loaded with lots of make up, shaking their hips everywhere in a dance? I’ve seen costumes that made me wonder why an adult picked them out for the girls to wear.

Ah. That’s ok though.

This is where we need to worry. This is where we need to stop accepting it’s cute or whatever and stop sexualizing young girls in a world full of horrible people who would look at them in a way you didn’t want.

I’ve seen grown men gaping at these young women and I can guarantee they aren’t thinking how great they are dancing.

Stop filtering your childrens faces to look older with that plastic flawless look.

If people are worried about their kids, start at home and don’t be ok with things that make them appear more grown up than they are.

There are( perhaps) people who look at them, and not in the right ways. And unfortunately, you have no idea who they are.

Two middle age women aren’t the root of the problem. They aren’t supposed to be the moral guidance for your kids. Your family, teachers, church leaders, friends etc would be more realistic leaders.

The show

Was I ok with it all?

Nah, the crotch shots could’ve been left out and never affected the show.

The two rapper dudes….Bad Bunny and J Balvin? Although carefully placed in the show they looked awkwardly out of place surrounded by beautiful women.

The shaking, wiggling etc…well there are two Latin women bringing it and it’s in their blood.

I’m sorta envious at how effortless they make dancing look.

The show though had so much symbolism and it all reflected their Latin heritage and spoke to some issues in our world today.

Perhaps that was the problem so many people had.

Latin women, Latin inspired show, idk hopefully there’s no racism smacking there.

The nod to America and Puerto Rico when she wore both flags with that stunning cape was to bring awareness to the need there…not to mention she is a Puerto Rican Amercian.

So much symbolism. I’ll let you look it all up if you don’t know what was behind it all.

The costumes? I thought everything was gloriously sparkly 😉 and loved how they used a silver and gold contrast at the end.

And the screaming over their costumes?

Let’s be real. Have you ever seen those costumes the cheerleaders wear every, single game in front of kids and God and everybody?

Yeah.

The bottom line

You will never make everyone happy.

Having a “good or bad ” show will be subjective to the individual.

The headlining artists are posted well in advance. If it doesn’t float your boat, or you’re worried about your children’s eyes, family values etc, just don’t watch.

I realize if that approach is taken people can’t complain or be appropriately shocked, something that many seem to enjoy participating in.

I personally thought it was a high energy show and I loved seeing empowered, strong women doing what they do best.

Just my sassy thoughts. What was your take on the half time show?