I so rarely talk about controversial things - but as a woman and musician, I feel this is important.
I just watched the Super Bowl half-time event with J-Lo and Shakira. I've read a lot of posts that women are only portrayed sexually - and I get it. But maybe we're not focusing on the right thing. Let's change the conversation. They (men/media) WANT us to talk about the sex. But this performance was more than that. It was a FEAT. It was fast, it was engaging - and it was pretty amazing. Keep in mind:
1) Shakira is 42 years old. She is the mother of 2 children.
2) Shakira played both the guitar and the drums on that stage - something we still rarely see women doing.
3) Shakira danced like she always does - it's the thing that made her so popular - and yes, while there is sexuality - there is also power in the moves.
4) Jo-Lo is 50 years old. Yup folks, FIVE-ZERO. She has 2 children.
5) She has always pushed the boundaries on the choreography and costume design.
6) Did I mention she is 50?
7) Did you notice how many WOMEN were on that stage? A lot. The violin players, the dancers, the children, the two main performers....
Instead of saying 'oh...she shouldn't have worn that or she shouldn't have moved that way or she shouldn't have used a pole....etc'
Can we start:
Being mad that the industry continues to push women to display themselves like this? Being mad that men even had to be on the stage? Being mad that they weren't allowed to have more political outrage displayed? Being mad that we, as a society, have allowed it to get to this? Being mad that most of the camera people are men? Being mad that the person editing the footage is probably a man? Etc...
Can we as women stop beating up on other women and instead celebrate the amazingness that this actually was? And with some built in protest, I would add - Born in the USA is a protest song (for those who don't know) - and saying 'Let's Get Loud' - that's not an accident.
We need to get loud.
Not by demonizing women. By changing and industry that continually propels women throughout the course of their lives to be either non-sexual or hyper-sexual. We need more women executives making decisions. We need to see more women everywhere in positions of power. Until then, let's just support that women are doing their best to navigate what is an insanely male-lens driven industry.
And yes, there is research on all of this. Go find it. One of my favorites being: