Shakira vs. JLo: Who Did It Better?featured

A little girl sits at her desk feeling self awkward. She’s wearing an oversized Adidas t-shirt to conceal her overdeveloped chest and tight leggings to hold everything in. The bell is about to ring for lunchtime and she’s unsure who she should sit with. At age 9, she feels out of place and uncomfortable in her skin because she developed at a faster rate than her friends. Her classmates notice, especially her skinny friends.

This little girl was me. And this feeling did not pass. More on this girl later.

Watching the Super Bowl half time was just something that I had to do. I wanted to see if it was any better than last year, which was pretty easy to beat in my book. I watched it in awe, even though I am not a Shakira fan, I respect what she can do.

What came after was unacceptable. I watched social media blow up with people debating whose performance was better and who looked better.

When will we ever learn?

They both are female performers and this should not be a competition, this should be a celebration. Two Latinas stood up there and gave it their all.

The little awkward girl in the classroom needed to have her friends support her and be there for her rather than comment on what was wrong with her as her curves showed up prematurely. She needed a hug, someone to accept her, especially the many girls around her.

In general, women are hardest on their own. If we can’t depend on each other to lift us up, who will? I am so disappointed in this debate. I applaud both women for the symbolism they portrayed on stage. Hispanic Women in Power.

Not everything needs to be a competition.

Women should be able to fix other women’s crowns if they are crooked, we should celebrate all body types, backgrounds, and talents. Especially those of our own gender.

It is all too common that we size each other up by the clothes we are wearing, the businesses we are building, the men we are dating, the friendships we are creating… when we should be looking to each other as sources of inspiration rather than envy.

I think it is human nature to dare to compare yourself to the next human, and sometimes it seems like context is all that we have.

But what if we reinforced all the beauty is those women around us? What if we joined them, helped them, made them stronger, instead of critiqued them because we just couldn’t understand why and how they got there?

I am sure we would be a force to reckon with. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies and making everything a competition doesn’t help. How can society respect us if we can’t even respect ourselves?

I don’t like Shakira but I am in awe by her talents. JLo is quite a dancer but she is definitely not my #1 pick. Regardless of my biases, I don’t think one “did it better” than the other. Each one of them has their gifts and I am happy we got to celebrate our Hispanic Culture and our Female Gender on one of the largest stages of all time.

What did you think of the halftime show? Comment and tell me your thoughts.

Love Deeply and Forever,

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 Karen  Pierik