Slut-Shaming, Body-Hating and The Super Bowl 2020 Halftime

I’ve never been one to shy away from controversy and candid observations, so here goes. And I enjoy the freedom of having broken the chains of family, cultural, and religious censorship—so I can honestly and publicly say whatever I feel. Imagine that! For the first time in my life, I am fortunate to be able to live free and clear.

As I read my Facebook feed and comments on my post (overwhelmingly by “Christians”) I’m stunned by the vitriol unleashed on JLo and Shakira.

I’m going to naively assume that the Trump nation’s (aka white Evangelical’s) shame-filled response has nothing to do with the fact that JLo and Shakira are Latinos and that the performance had brilliant and honest layers of political and social justice overtones. Yeah right!

The response people had to the show says a LOT about them and their hangups or in rare cases, the lack thereof.

At the risk of an overgeneralization, I believe the pious and sanctimonious response by all the women who were slut-shaming the show boils down to one word—JEALOUSY. The younger women are terrified to think about how they will look at age 50 and the 50+ women are ashamed of what their body has become.

JLo is 50 years old and yes, she looks ah-maz-ing! She takes care of her body and she is obviously blessed by the genetic gods. And she is extremely comfortable in her own skin. Any woman with these qualities is destined to be shunned and shamed by any woman who does not have them. We’ve watched it play out all our lives at school, at parties, at work, and at church.

And the guys who called the show degrading and said that it should be censored—all I can say is many of them are very likely closet porn addicts and secret customers to out-of-town titty bars. They have a dysfunctional view of the body due to the sexual repression, shame, and guilt of religion.

During my years as a minister, I saw it again and again. The ones who condemn and shame the body the loudest are the ones who have a huge issue with women, sexual repression, dysfunction, and guilt. Think Jimmy Swaggert and Ted Haggard, to name just two.

As Gina and I watched the show, we summed it up with two words—FUN and JOYFUL. Believe me, I can get sexually aroused at the drop of the hat—but honestly, that show was just beautiful and happy and fun.

Not once did I feel sexual “lust.” And not once did Gina feel jealous. (Of course, there is the minor detail that Gina loves and has taken care of her body and JLO just wishes she will look like Gina when she is 60+. Ha.) Gina was dancing and I was turning up the volume on my speakers. We enjoyed it. It was entertaining. Oh yeah, it’s a halftime show. That show and the commercials were the only reason we had it on.

A few observations and I’ll shut up. At least, for now.

—Religion has taught us to hate our bodies. And so we angrily shame ourselves and others when we happen to revel in our sexuality. We dare not think the body is beautiful and good, and (dare I say it) sexy.

—This body hatred permeated my childhood and so I have dedicated my art to healing and portraying the anima within me, which personifies itself as the nude female body, the most beautiful (and most abused) creation on earth.

—The NFL cheerleaders on the sideline and probably half the women in the stands had on more revealing clothes than did Shakira and JLO. It’s Miami, for God’s sake. Have you ever seen the beach there? I know, sure you haven’t. Wink. Wink.

—The Latino culture is located in primarily southern and hot weather climates. You wear as few clothes as possible to stay cool.

—The hips (rather than the breasts) are the primary focus of the Latino female body. It only takes a trip to Clearwater Beach or Honeymoon Island to see that fact. The most demure female bathing suits here reveal FAR more than JLO and Shakira did. Have you seen the beach at Rio? You haven’t? Ahem.

—Dancing with the hips is another cultural highlight of the Latino culture. I’m sure all those white “Christian” people are repressing their experience with the BeeGees and the bump in the ’70’s. Yeah, right.

—Latino music is happy. During the past fifteen years of healing up from the very things I am writing about here—religious hypocrisy that withered my soul—I have not been able to listen or sing music. Until the song by Daddy Yankee called “Despacito”. Somehow that song penetrated the hurt and my wounds and injected a healing dose of joy and fun into my musical world again. I put it on repeat and it soothed my soul and actually made my body move a bit.

—AS DID the Super Bowl Halftime show. It was healing and fun and joyful. It’s time for Christians to go to therapy. Again, it is so ironic that most of the “Christian” people on my feed vehemently support a sexual pervert like Donald Trump and then have the audacity to shame beautiful and super-talented people like JLO and Shakira.

No wonder I (and so many others) abhor and cannot abide Christianity and most Christians. By the way, JLO is not only breathtakingly beautiful and extraordinarily talented, but she is also incredibly generous—she gave one million dollars to disaster relief for Puerto Rico.