Our culture has progressed to such a beautiful place where racism and bigotry no longer prevent two Latina women from sharing the halftime stage. And that should be celebrated. All the headlines say last night’s show was an empowering female-led event, but there is more to the story.
Yes. Women were the ones filling the stage. Yes. The Latina vocals were heard booming over the field.
But women didn’t lead. We followed.
We followed a cultural current that undermines our dignity and cheapens any real talent to be admired, trading the ability to captivate an audience with vocal talent and tasteful choreography for a few booty shakes and pole dances.
If that’s what women need to do to keep an audience entertained don’t we realize we’ve accomplished nothing but prostituting our bodies for money and applause? And at what cost?
A two way problem
Too often, as women, our performances rely on the skin we show. We confuse the power of seduction with a form of empowered leadership and deceive ourselves along the way.
Remember sexual sin isn’t just a male issue. It’s a female one. We need to take responsibility for our actions and our bodies. Like Heather Thienamen writes….
“Immodest dress does not just provoke lust in men, it feeds lust in women. Having an attractive man take a second glance at her gives her a real high. These desires are not wrong when in their proper place, in marriage with her husband, but when a woman seeks other men’s admiring glances, then she is just as surely sinning as the man who gazes sensually at women other than his wife.” (What’s Up With the Fig Leaves, pg 135)
The Super Bowl audience of men, women, and little children were subjected to two women seeking this kind of attention – knowing full well who would be watching.
“When I think of my daughter, when I think of all the little girls in the world to be able to have that to see that, two Latinas doing that [headlining the halftime show] at this time in this country at this time is very empowering for us,” Jennifer Lopez said.
Very empowering indeed. But not for us. For the sexual degradation of our culture. The Kansas City Chiefs may have won the Superbowl, but the sexual degradation of women scored one more point in the history books.
The new cultural norm
Unfortunately, the sexualization of halftime shows is nothing new. And the defense is always the same: They are strong, athletic women. It was an exciting, energetic performance. They can do what they want with their bodies. That’s true. But do you think those qualities make everything they did on stage appropriate for us to see?
When you believe sexuality is part of God’s good design, you treat it as something sacred and special not something to be flashed in front of everyone’s eyes. Which begs the question, how does this kind of content get played on public airwaves?
Either a) our culture is so perverse that we enjoy overt sexualization or b) our culture is so desensitized that we no longer see those things as sexual.
If it is a), God save us. And if its b), why would we want to desexualize the human body? Do we no longer see sexuality as a beautiful gift? As a wonderful part of God’s creation? As something to be treasured and respected?
How can we respond to these cultural norms?
- Escapism. We can pretend the problem doesn’t exist, shelter ourselves, and hope that the culture doesn’t invade our bubble during our lifetime. But time will run out.
- Defeatism. We can just give up. Like they said on the local morning show… some people complained the halftime show wasn’t family friendly but you might as well show it to your kids because they can just see the same stuff on their favorite TV shows anyway. So sad!
- Activism. We can sign a petition, but I don’t think it’s our government’s problem to solve. It’s a condition of the human heart.
The role of true female leadership
The solution? We must lead. We, as women, have the opportunity to be real leaders.
Lead where you are: Maybe we can’t change the Superbowl Halftime show on our own. But we can turn it off. We can make a statement with the choices we make right where we are. Your friends, your family, and your children are watching. And they are following your example.
Lead with faith and conviction: If you don’t find an issue with the way our world is going, it might be because your grounding is being swept away by the cultural current. Our source of truth comes from Scripture. I suggest you open God’s Word and read about His heart for the sacredness of all humans, men and women. Our body is to be valued and honored as something special and sacred. Want to know more? Come to the Across My Heart Women’s Conference March 13 -14 to be equipped!
Lead with dignity: The way we carry ourselves, the clothes we wear, when handled according to God’s design, recognizes what is sacred and protects the goodness of sexuality for the right places.
There is a cultural current that many will follow, but we as Christian women can stand on Biblical ground and reclaim God’s purpose for sexuality. That’s true leadership.
JOIN US AT OUR FIRST EVER WOMEN’S CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN OF ALL AGES
FRIDAY, MARCH 13 & SATURDAY, MARCH 14
With ten years of experience reclaiming purity and sexuality, Across My Heart Ministries invites you to our FIRST EVER women’s conference at Grace Community Church (Ages 16+). We hope you’ll join us for worship, teaching, food and fun as we uncover why God created sexuality, what it reveals about the gospel, and how purity brings clarity to our everyday lives.
May God bless you for speaking this truth. Thank you❤️