The halftime superbowl starring Jenny from the block, Jennifer Lopez aka J Lo, and Shakira nails female empowerment.
In the post-#MeToo era, the entertainment industry lately is finding its footing and voice. Recent trips to the cinema had me noticing the distinct shift in attitude to women. We are in a new dawn of correctness.
The performance felt authentic with Lopez going back to her roots with some of her old hits, including singing 'let's get loud' with her daughter along with an ensemble of young girls. Shakira brought a more international feel with her Olympic song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa). It was a show representing hope for a more united world and called for greater equality, inclusion and fearlessness.
Lopez and Shakira embraced their feminity with hip shaking and pole dancing. The Kobe Bryant tribute was also a fantastic touch. It was a visually stunning show and I have to say it was one of the better half-time acts that we've seen in a long time.
The choreographers, designers and all the behind the scenes work by creative talented people is commendable.
Aside from the annoying advertisements interrupting the youtube version of the performance which I saw - seriously how can they play an ad 3 seconds into Hips Don't Lie?, I really enjoyed watching the show and not having to stay up to watch it on telly.
The only other thing to mention is that initially I wondered what about young boys, people of other cultures and races or even white men that might feel alienated by it all? Then I remembered actually this is 18 minutes of a nearly 4 hour match of men competing and being paid vast sums of money. This is a small step given the gender pay gap in sports and entertainment. It is right that two latino women shine.
'Let's show the world what two little Latin girls can do,' wrote Jennifer Lopez on Instagram. Indeed! We saw and applaud it.
We do have a long way to go for gender equality. Whilst there are laws and we say alot, the reality and practice is sometimes disheartening. Perhaps as a woman who has grown up through the rise in feminism, I expected more by 2020. However, I suppose if my grandmothers were alive, they might think well when we were young, we weren't allowed the right to an education, we didn't own property and have rights like women today.
My hope is that the changes today are not just to appease the post-#MeToo viewers and diversity critics. We need more women and greater diversity of cultures in positions of power. Fairness in class, genders and different races is needed. It is a conversation which needs to be inclusive of everyone, including those who have benefitted from the patriarchal past and status quo. By 2030, let's see how far we progress towards greater equality.
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