What Beyoncé’s Halftime Show Really Meant For Women
In a culture that worships the Super Bowl, it’s hard to overstate the importance of Beyoncé’s Halftime Show. On a day dominated by men and their accomplishments, Beyoncé reminds us that women not only have a place in this world— we steal the show!
I am not one to turn everything into a feminist cause, and yet when there is cause for celebration, we must champion our accomplishments. There is no arguing the point: Beyoncé killed it during her performance at the Halftime Show, and I’ll tell you one thing, she definitely didn’t lip sync!
In the past ten years of Halftime performances, only four shows have featured female performers (five, if you count Fergie and The Black Eyed Peas), and only in the past two years have female performers been given a solo billing – Madonna and Beyoncé. But why does it really matter?
It matters because without female performers, women, comprising half of the human population, are effectively left out of America’s biggest event of the year. Think about it – when it comes to women and the Super Bowl, we don’t have many options. Am I arguing that women should be allowed into the National Football League? Not necessarily. But come on, give us some options. For instance, where are the female commentators, referees or coaches? Nowhere to be found. Instead, when it comes to women and the Super Bowl, we have two options: cheerleader in a skimpy outfit or object in a Super Bowl commercial (see Bar Rafaeli or any other GoDaddy ad – sky waitress, really?).
Enter Beyoncé. If I have one criticism of Beyoncé’s stellar performance, it’s that she didn’t sing “Run The World (Girls)”, but perhaps her performance in itself was proof enough of that. Starting with “Love On Top” and ending with “Halo”, B managed to pull off what will likely go down as one of the most entertaining and well-executed Super Bowl Halftime shows ever (no nip-slips here). And we haven’t even gotten to the DESTINY’S CHILD reunion somewhere in the middle. Kelly and Michelle popped up out of nowhere, literally. Consensus: we weren’t ready for that jelly, not one bit.
But aside from the fireworks, the twenty Beyoncés projected onto screens and yes, even the earth-shattering reunion of the second greatest girl band on Earth (HOLLABACK, SPICE GIRLS), what I loved about Beyoncé’s show was the raw girl power from start to finish. Did you notice the lack of a certain Y chromosome on the stage? All female band, all female dancers and of course, the raw estrogen of Beyoncé, herself filling up the entire Super Dome (I’m going to go ahead and say that Beyoncé was the cause of the freak power outage just minutes after her performance— the universe just couldn’t take it). And the set list? Jam after jam: “Crazy In Love”, “Single Ladies” and of course, “Independent Women”.
Basically, what I’m saying is thank you. Thank you, Beyoncé, for showing all of us girls we don’t have to play second fiddle to the boys. Thank you for being a strong, fierce and beautiful woman who never stops going.
“All the women who independent, throw your hands up at me.”
My hands are up. Let’s go, ladies!
Featured image via Pepsi
