There are two sides of every coin and viewpoint. I was telling my husband how I love to dance and go to Zumba. Yesterday, what I watched Shakira do during half time at the Super Bowl was something like going to a Zumba class. JLo was for my taste, a little too much!
I know so many Latinas who can dance just like that including my mother. That is how we dance. Our salsa, merengue, reggaeton, cumbia, bachata, Samba and belly dancing are that way. We dance and shake our booty, but so does Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Madona, Britney Spears, and so many more. Honestly, I don't know how anyone expected anything different since both those artists perform that way in every music video and performance they do, however, having said that, I think JLo came a little too low. If only she had chosen to wear clothes that did not emphasize her female organs. I admire the fact that she is 50 and still athletic but I thought she had more class than that!
And about the costumes? nothing different from what we are exposed to week after week in each game. Cheerleaders have been hyper sexualized since I can remember so I don't know where all the "holier than thou" comments are coming from now because I never hear any outrage about how “sexual”the cheerleaders dressed or how they are dancing.
In the last decade, this kind of performance has been the standard and getting worse and worse. I keep thinking, how bad can it get? And it always does! To be fair, everything in show business is now hyper sexualized so why the outrage over Latinas performance and not literally everything else our kids are exposed to.
People shouldn't go bashing an artist while they praise another for exactly doing the same thing. Pink at the Grammys is a great example of that. She was praised for acrobatic skills and excellent performance. Her outfit was a lot more "revealing" yet no uproar but nothing but praise.
Please don't claim this was inappropriate when pop culture has made it very much appropriate for years, the only difference is those where a different type of ethnicity than those who performed at the Super bowl last Sunday. How is it acceptable in our culture or society for certain artists to be risqué or "inappropriate" but others can't dare take that step. I myself would prefer less nudity, of course and I think is wrong but unfortunately it is what sells.
What a confusing world we now live in, especially for our teenagers. We wonder why so many women have eating disorders, why so many men have pornography addictions, (16 States now call pornography a public health crisis,) why children are sexually abused, and why sexual trafficking just keeps getting worse?
I hope young men and women recognize that entertainers will do anything that sells but that does not make it right. As Muhammed Ali once wisely said to his daughter:
“Everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down and in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You’ve got to work hard to get them.
Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too."
If there is one thing I wish I could teach all children and young adults it is this: When your spirit feels uncomfortable about something, if it feels “off”, if it feels unsafe-remove yourself from the situation immediately. Please, if you feel uncomfortable, turn off the TV!
Con amor,
Vero
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