Was The NFL Promoting The Sex Industry?
Super Bowl LIV was quite a game! It was close for most of the game, and it was nice to see teams playing that don’t normally make it to the big game (sorry Patriots fans). Plus it was nice to see the Chiefs win since their last one was 50 years ago. Truthfully I’m not much of a football watching person, but I almost always watch the Super Bowl because that’s just what we do here in the U.S. It’s a family event where over 100 million people of all ages from around the country gather around a television to watch the game together.
Super Bowl halftime shows have always been hit or miss, but this year was most definitely a miss! Back in 2004 Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction led to a few years of more tame performances. Here in the past few years however, things have been getting back to a much more raunchy display of sexuality and depravity. This year’s performance took it to another level as Shakira and Jennifer Lopez borderline turned the Super Bowl halftime stage into a strip club. J-Lo entered her performance with a provocative pole dance and I can’t say the rest of it was any better with their sensual dancing and nearly naked bodies. Suddenly America’s family event became a borderline X-rated program, and we see the NFL promoting the sex industry by allowing such a performance.
Sex Industry Epidemic
I believe one of the biggest social justice issues our society faces is sexual exploitation. Not long ago, I met a girl who was trying to escape from a life of prostitution. She was trying to get into a home that could help her transition out because she was sick and tired of being used and abused in ways that had completely destroyed her feelings of worth and purpose. You may say, “How does dancing around on a stage half naked support prostitution and sex trafficking?” The answer is simple… it treats women like sex objects just like pimps and their clients do, and teaches people that it is ok. It is a simple matter of cause and effect. The strip club and pornography industries fuel the prostitution industry. Often times, the girls who are involved in one are also involved in the others. These industries benefit one another.
The Super Bowl is notorious for being a huge sex trafficking event. That’s not normally something the NFL seems to be proud of, but here we see the NFL promoting the sex industry by allowing such a halftime performance. Even though I doubt Shakira and J-Lo would openly say they support sex trafficking and the exploitation of women, their performance glorified it. They supported it by teaching young girls that it takes more than talent to be successful; and that girls need to look a certain way and show off their bodies if they want to get attention. They also unintentionally taught young boys that women are objects for their own selfish sexual satisfaction. J-Lo even had her 11 year old daughter on stage! That is unacceptable… and it shows how oblivious she apparently is to the harm this kind of presentation is doing to our society.
Offensive To All
Regardless of who you are or what your beliefs are, the exploitation of another person is wrong. Christians who complain about pornography, are you complaining about how the halftime show glorified the sex industry? Feminists who fight for women’s rights, are you complaining about how the halftime show supported the exploitation of women? This isn’t just an issue for one religion, or for one philosophy or political viewpoint. Since professional sports have such a huge impact on our culture and youth, the NFL promoting the sex industry should be an issue for us all! All women need to be treated like they have worth regardless of their physical appearance. We need to teach all men that the worth of a women is not in how she looks naked, but in her dignity and heart.
For more on this topic, visit https://endsexualexploitation.org/
For more posts on other topics, see https://humbledialog.com/#blog
