Shame on them

Like many Americans, we have a question for the National Football League today: What in the world could NFL officials possibly have been thinking when they approved the half-time show for this year’s Super Bowl?

The hyper-sexualized performances by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, watched by millions, including children, were the kind of hard R-rated or soft XXX acts you might expect to see in basement adult clubs or in Tijuana bars. Did it cross anybody’s mind even for a moment before approving the performances that kids of all ages likely would be watching? It is, after all, the Super Bowl.

Many of us simply were surprised by the absolute lack of common sense and taste the performances underscored. There is a lot of yakking in this country about sexualizing women, about objectifying them, about presenting them as play-toys for men, whose only use is men’s pleasure. Our girls and women deserve better, we are told.

Yesterday’s bumping, grinding, bouncing performances – with a stripper pole, no less – set that back light years. And to what end? Other than making a pile of money, what was gained by exposing children to performances bolstering much of what is wrong with how women are viewed and treated in this country?

Make no mistake, we believe what adults do is their business – and should be. We are not prudes by any stretch of the imagination. But most Americans want to protect children, girls and boys, alike, from the gritty, sexual exploitation of women for cash. The world can be ugly enough and kids should be able to grow up safe from all that and not have it delivered in their living rooms.

Apparently, those in charge of the Super Bowl half-time were not concerned about such quaint notions.

Shame on them.