By now you’ve surely heard all about the half-time show: Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performed strip teases while wearing less than underwear in a network TV event that draws close to 100 million viewers. Many of us watched with our young children and were horrified by this display but, as usual, it gets worse. Whenever women choose to take off their clothes in public for the pleasure of men, there are no shortage of defenders who claim this is “empowering” to women. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The theory goes that a woman who engages in a sexualized performance is empowered because she is the one making the decision to do so as opposed to a victim who has no control over what happens to her body. However, the fact that a woman chooses to be partially clothed for the enjoyment of a man, or in this case millions of men, makes her no less of a sex object despite it being her decision. In the sense that a half-naked attractive woman has a hypnotic effect on most males over the age of 12, it is a powerful force. But just as with any object that holds a young man’s attention, its novelty and appeal wear thin and require the next new, shiny thing to take its place. When appreciated only at that level, a woman becomes as valuable as an iPhone 5 in an iPhone 11 world.
Sometimes, there is an assumption that those of us who object to this kind of behavior do so out of a hatred or fear of women showing off their bodies. To the contrary, women are created beautifully by God and there is nothing inherently wrong with beholding His handiwork. However, it should be integrated in a way that enhances the overall appreciation of her as a whole person. Did you ever see a new mother’s face when she’s cooing and talking to her baby? The tenderness and joy in her countenance is captivating but it’s because you’re seeing what’s beautiful in her heart and soul. I know I’m not a man, but I can take an educated guess that J-Lo shaking her butt in lingerie while lip syncing pop songs does not inspire that depth of appreciation.
When I was growing up, I remember the message to young girls being that you’re more than your looks. Obviously that message has always been at odds with the reality of the world but it was a great ideal to aspire to anyway. However, this show would have had virtually the same impact with the sound turned off and that says it all. Furthermore, on a related Super Bowl note, while everyone is touting the virtues of a commercial with an all-female astronaut cast, it did not escape me that the ad was for Olay, a skin-care line that promises women “younger looking” skin. Whether you’re a pop star or a rocket scientist, apparently that is vitally important. I don’t see how it empowers young women to know whether they’ve won a Grammy or orbited the Earth, all that really matters is how they look.
For anyone who understands the constant battle between good and evil, it isn’t hard to figure out exactly how Satan is at work here (I know I risk sounding like The Church Lady from SNL but stay with me). The devil inverts everything for his purpose and Sunday’s half time show was no different. Everyone has a primal need to love and be loved but the enemy is always steering women away from what brings true fulfillment in exchange for the counterfeit. Sure, I bet it feels a lot like love to have millions of viewers’ eyes on you for 15 minutes and then everyone talking about you for the rest of the week but that is another empty promise of the enemy. What the world calls empowerment is actually slavery, and what the world calls slavery, namely motherhood and virtue, are cast off as oppressive patriarchy. Watching a show where a woman who is old enough to be a grandmother dances semi-nude for the enjoyment of millions of men smacks more of patriarchy to me.
I don’t know what will become of these pop stars, although I suspect after the novelty of this latest spectacle inevitably wears off, they’ll go back to their has-been status. What I do know is there is empowerment by emulating one lady who is always beautiful and so loved and adored. She has crushed the head of the serpent and is the Queen of Heaven. That lady is Our Lady, Mother Mary and I pray that my girls choose her path instead. You can’t get more empowered than that.
