February 4, 2020

"Whether women singing and dancing in barely-there costumes or otherwise celebrating their bodies is empowering, or an assault on our ability to move through the world as men’s equals..."

"... is one of those forever fights.... If there was one thing the Shakers and the Clutchers could agree on, it’s that Jennifer Lopez... is a force of nature... 'I can’t believe she’s 50 and looks so good!' women said. Which quickly became, 'I can’t believe I’m 50 and I look so bad!'.... Some members of my social-media community were in awe. Others — myself included — were feeling personally judged by dat ass. I’m just a few months younger than J. Lo, and, with every birthday, I have asked: Is this the year it ends? Surely there’s a finish line; a point we’ll reach when the You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate sign at the amusement park ride disappears, and we all get a seat on the roller coaster (right alongside the lumpy, balding, graying, potbellied men who’ve been riding the entire time).... Forty was clearly too soon to surrender, given Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston, Brooke Shields and Lisa Bonet.... Still, I’d been picturing 50 as the year when I’d be done....."

From "I Feel Personally Judged by J. Lo’s Body/Are we really supposed to look this good at 50 now?" by Jennifer Weiner (in the NYT). Personally, I'm almost 20 years older than that, so I'm thinking: You 50 year old women need to realize how young you are. There's (almost) always a you 20 years in the future whose perspective you can adopt, who thinks you are quite young and should appreciate what you have and not where you once were.

But also, you were never in a form that could dance like Jennifer Lopez at the Superbowl, so it's not about you and where you are on the time line of your life. And why were you ever thinking in terms of "You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate"? That's internalizing the judgment of others. How good do you feel? If the answer to that has only to do with what other people think about you, you have a psychological problem. And you can work on that at any age.

And did you ever stop and think about how good Jennifer Lopez feels? I did! Watching the Superbowl halftime show, I wondered (out loud) how she felt. I didn't think she was experiencing the sexual feelings she danced about. I didn't even think she was enjoying herself. I think she was executing a very difficult and athletic pre-planned program that was less fun than what the football players had to do that night.

120 comments:

rhhardin said...

I'm pretty sure the Shakers died out owing to the prohibition of sex.

whitney said...

Me me me me me. These fragile women are an embarrassment to all women.

rhhardin said...

What women think of themselves is almost entirely about what men think about them. They internalize their sexual attractiveness to men.

If men weren't atracted to women, no body part would be any more interesting than a kneecap. Just an anatomical part perhaps with a hygiene problem but no big deal.

traditionalguy said...

When the crotch grabbers are the celebrity dancers themselves, what do they need a Donald Trump for?

Seriously, they were nice to look at, but my preference is still for the slimmer and brainier types like Kellyanne Conway and Princess Kate.

John henry said...

How many times has Jennifer been married?

Would she trade "Dat ass" for a happy marriage with a good man, good kids and, eventually, great grandkids?

Jennifer can refer to Jennifer Weiner, Jennifer Lopez or both above as suits.

John Henry

rehajm said...

You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate sign at the amusement park ride disappears

That doesn't sound like she's a patron at a Disney Park...

Shouting Thomas said...

The NFL should give up on this crap and bring in high school and college marching bands from the competing teams' regions.

This is a 100 year old tradition of high school and college ball.

Get a clue, NFL.

Curious George said...

"I Feel Personally Judged by J. Lo’s Body/Are we really supposed to look this good at 50 now?"

Uh, you didn't look that good at 40, 30, or even 20.

rhhardin said...

Shakers were celibate; procreation was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep.[43] They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless. For children, Shaker life was structured, safe and predictable, with no shortage of adults who cared about their young charges.[44]

tcrosse said...

It sounds like Amy Shumer's Last Fuckable Day.

rehajm said...

Neurosis is certainly unattractive...

Bay Area Guy said...

Jennifer Lopez 31, Jennifer Weiner 20

Sebastian said...

"Is this the year it ends? Surely there’s a finish line; a point we’ll reach when the You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate sign at the amusement park ride disappear."

So feminism was about making women feel special--in the eyes of men?

Anyway, would any happily married woman--you know, the traditional bourgeois kind--write this way?

Althouse has justified the right to abortion as enabling women to make moral choices. Then we get this. Does the reality of the actual thinking of actual women affect the value of such enabling?

rhhardin said...

Barely there costumes is all that's sexy about it. You have to imagine or wonder if you'll get a peek. It's a concealment that there's nothing to conceal.

rhhardin said...

Microbikinis work by showing you what you're supposed to imagine, but retain the illusion of its being concealed. You need the tease part.

Otherwise it's just your wife with no clothes on.

Sebastian said...

"It's a concealment that there's nothing to conceal."

Which men know and women forget. An a** is an a** is an a**. Sorry.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

What about the message sent to our kids, who might be watching.
Why can't a football game be rated G for general audience?

I don't want my kids and grand kids watching scantily clad butt-jiggling pole dancers. What's next for Hollywood? gay porn?
I don't give a rat's patootie if she's 50 and smokin' hot. and she is, but that's not the point.

Nob490 said...

I would bet most men watching don't try to compare themselves to the athletes, who have genetics and years of hard work to get to where they are. Why would any woman expect to be like professional dancers?

Give the complaining a rest.

D.D. Driver said...

The horror of having to sit next to the lumpy aging man. Are we still pretending that the "patriarchy" is imposing all these impossible beauty standards on women?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I agree, Shouting Thomas. - bring back the marching bands. Leave Hollywood out of it. Hollywood ruins everything.

Seeing Red said...

So the Carters did not stand for The National Anthem.

They did rent out the Louvre singing they get the Lambo and made it surrounded by all that art and history that’s being canceled by Yale at this point.

Mr. and Mrs Carter are worth over a billion and could easily take on the role of sponsor and jumpstart a new renaissance.


Mr Carter chose to give the USA the finger, get political and TnA. Just like his wife decided to trash the Police during her performance.

As for Ms. Lopez, she should run for governor of PR. At minimum, she has the power and contacts to turn PR into a mini-Monaco and herself a 21st century Princess Grace.

Maybe she could actually get them to cut themselves loose since the USA is so oppressive.

hawkeyedjb said...

"And did you ever stop and think about how good Jennifer Lopez feels?"

Certainly not. Halftime at the Super Bowl is the most un-entertaining spectacle in sports. The fact that it is dragged out to 3x the normal halftime just means I have to find something else to do while awaiting the second half of football. Beer helps pass the time.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Who spends this much time agonizing about other people? It's very strange. Perhaps admissions of mental illness are the only way for affluent White folks to get a slice of the victimhood pie.

madAsHell said...

BREAKING: In an effort to avoid another Iowa caucus debacle, the DNC has already released the results of the New Hampshire primary.

readering said...

Bring back up with people.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate sign at the amusement park ride...alongside the lumpy, balding, graying, potbellied men who’ve been riding the entire time

What you may or may not have been hot enough to participate in was having guys treat you extra-special nice so that they could imagine that they had a chance of sleeping with you.

Those balding, graying, potbellied men never got to ride that ride, so they have no sympathy for you complaining that you no longer can.

Seeing Red said...

She looks fabulous. But that is her job. And it’s tax deductible.

Make me looking as fabulous as I can tax deductible and I’ll slim down, too.

Jersey Fled said...

At what point is it just slutty?

narayanan said...

I conclude >>> she was watching the game at party ; there were guys at the game party; she was totally ignored at half time when JLo came on and the rest of the game party

wendybar said...

I thought we weren't supposed to sexualize women??? Sticking your crotch in the camera, or bending over to show your glittery panty liner in front of your 11 year old daughter IS NOT empowering. It is telling her she has to show off her body to get men's approval. All this when we are having a problem with child trafficking.

rhhardin said...

I would bet most men watching don't try to compare themselves to the athletes, who have genetics and years of hard work to get to where they are.

A guy watching an action movie always thinks "I could do that."

wendybar said...

And WHY did she diss Obama with the kids in cages??? Does she hate him that much?? (HE built the cages, and the pictures roaming around the interwebs are from 2014)

Anthony said...

I didn't even think she was enjoying herself. I think she was executing a very difficult and athletic pre-planned program that was less fun than what the football players had to do that night.

While she's executing that routine, she's way too focused to be "having fun", but the exhilaration of having nailed it once she's done is a really great feeling. Not a sexual thing, more a sense of accomplishment.

Sydney said...

What's next for Hollywood? gay porn?

They have already been trying to normalize sodomy by including it in just about everything. If you watch enough Hollywood you would think sodomy is the normal approach to sexual intercourse. And that it is more enjoyable than regular, complementary sexual intercourse.

Carol said...

Think 20 years ahead? She can't think two years ahead.

tim maguire said...

The Super Bowl controversy seems very manufactured to me. When I first heard about it through some hysterics on Instapundit, I was expecting actual nudity. Instead I saw a woman dancing in a costume that did not strike me as particularly revealing. They even tried to sex it up with a still photo with her ass blotted out like they were saving our sensitive eyes from nudity. But the accompanying video showed that the butt was always covered and only stuck out for a half-second.

Just stupid.

As for the women on social media--when I see an older man in great shape, I get inspired because it shows what's still possible even at my age. The idea that he shouldn't be in great shape because that might make me feel bad about myself would never have crossed my mind without prompting from people like Jennifer Weiner.

Shouting Thomas said...

A number of women on my FB timeline posited the opposite feminist theory:

These women performers were induced into degrading themselves to satisfy the disgusting pig appetites of misogynist males.

So, as usual, feminism gets men coming and going.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

When the Stones did the SB halftime, I don't remember any men over 50 complaining because they couldn't skip down the stage like Mick did. In fact, I recall my brothers were incredulous: "He's 500 years old and he's skipping, for Chrissake!"

Ralph L said...

'O can’t believe she’s 50 and looks so good!' women said.

Elided the "H".

Doug said...

Someone said (rightly) that you could make a great case for patriarchy using only the statements women (including feminists) say about themselves.

Yancey Ward said...

Ok, I just looked up Weiner on Google. Being 50 was never the problem.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The costumes and dancing didn't bother me. What's new? Remember when the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders were a big thing? What I found annoying was the overlay of cliched PC messaging. "Yeah, let's have a pole and in-your-face T & A, but we'll combine it with a multicultural message about female 'empowerment' so it'll be fine."

And WTF was the guy dressed up like a beekeeper from Mars supposed to be?

Michael said...

And why do you want to ride the stupid roller coaster in the first place?

Professional lady said...

The female performances were gross and degrading. As far as the musical and dance quality - it was a mess. So much of our popular culture drags people down. I don't feel intimidated by beautiful women, I enjoy looking at them and appreciating their beauty. I'm just grateful that I'm healthy.

joshbraid said...

Rule #24: Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.

Birkel said...

Haven't read a comment.
Quit making it so easy for rhhardin.
It's like you want him to be correct.
This evidence isn't hurting his theory.

Yancey Ward said...

Birkel, rhhardin might well be the longest term commenter on Althouse today, I think she indulges him deliberately with her choice of posts.

Ann Althouse said...

"While she's executing that routine, she's way too focused to be "having fun", but the exhilaration of having nailed it once she's done is a really great feeling. Not a sexual thing, more a sense of accomplishment."

Key words: "once she's done."

I agree with that. I'm sure she feels great after it's over, but the great feeling is unlikely to be terribly sexual. I think it's more like winning the big game.

DavidUW said...

It turns out it’s a lot easier to be hot at 50 if you were also hot at 20, 30, 40...

Yancey Ward said...

I for one fully support J Lo and Shakira's right to shake their asses around stripper poles as much as they want, just more closeups from the cameramen, please.

Krumhorn said...

JLo is getting A's rod. I think she's feeling pretty sexy. I'll bet anything, she had been very recently sexed.

- Krumhorn

Birkel said...

Yancey Ward,
I've been here since the first Instapundit link.
Was that 2004?

Francisco D said...

My wife was impressed by the energy and athleticism of JLo, though I suspect that she was much more impressed that this came from a woman who is only 7 years younger than her.

I thought it was unnecessarily (although subtle) political, but well done.

Related thought: The NFL wants to expand it audience among Hispanics. That's why they chose JLo and Shakira.

Rick said...

And did you ever stop and think about how good Jennifer Lopez feels? I did!

"I'm one of the most successful women in the world but somehow I ended up simulating rubbing my pussy in front of half the country and Weinstein wasn't even involved. How the hell did this happen?"

SGT Ted said...

"...a point we’ll reach when the You Must Be This Hot in Order to Participate sign at the amusement park ride disappears, and we all get a seat on the roller coaster (right alongside the lumpy, balding, graying, potbellied men who’ve been riding the entire time)"

There never was such a sign. It is all in their head. The fat, balding old guys are not held back by superficial insecurities about their looks, primarily because they realize early on that no one gives a damn about them in the first place.

The main problem these women have is they've failed to grow up and instead remain in their adolescent phase, where they judge each others worth based on their looks and social popularity.

Anonymous said...

I see the erstwhile prestige Paper of Record is continuing its descent from "All the News That's Fit to Print" to "All Women's Pages All the Time".

narciso said...

another reminder from the game,


https://babalublog.com/2020/02/02/jay-z-disses-his-homeland-at-super-bowl-by-staying-seated-during-national-anthem-but-his-t-shirt-honors-the-racist-mass-murdering-terrorist-whose-lifelong-dream-was-to-nuke-jay-zs-homeland/#comment-171110

it's like all high school cliques isn't it,

traditionalguy said...

Sexual Athletes are proper at the adults NFL. And nobody doesn’t like female curves. So the sufferers from sexual guilt should just watch something else. Unless they outlaw porn on the internet this is a moot point. Sex is here to stay.

Anonymous said...

Rick: "I'm one of the most successful women in the world but somehow I ended up simulating rubbing my pussy in front of half the country and Weinstein wasn't even involved. How the hell did this happen?"

Excellent.

walter said...

"Others — myself included — were feeling personally judged by dat ass."
Butthurt.
Latin culture is on a collision course with PC.
Weiner calls J Lo "tanned". Umm..

If Weiner needs license to fat, there's Lizzo.

Ann Althouse said...

" the first Instapundit link. Was that 2004?"

The first Instapundit link was February 28, 2004, for this post. That was about 6 weeks after the blog got started.

Seeing Red said...

Thanks to Phyllis Diller and Cher’s pioneering efforts.

reader said...

I’ve spent years listening to my husband say that halftime shows should be frisbee dogs.

I prefer college marching bands and get irritated that they don’t show them on tv for the actual college games. Networks always cut away to analysis.

rehajm said...

What's next for Hollywood? gay porn?

Have you seen Sex Education on Netflix par chance?

Bay Area Guy said...

No worries. The new football league -- the XFL -- has asked Jennifer Weiner to perform at their first half-time show.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Seeing Red said...

So the Carters did not stand for The National Anthem.

Well, I guess that blows the theory about Jay-Z being being looked at as a prospective owner out of the water.

Geoff Matthews said...

JLo has the best body money can buy.
I'll concede that she started out ahead of the pack, but the dieticians, workout consultants, and plastic surgery have all contributed to what she looks like today.
And that suggests a level of narcissism that no one should aspire to.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

BTW, in case anyone's interested; this is Jennifer Weiner.

'Nuff said.

MD Greene said...


Professional Lady is right: The female performances were gross and degrading.

Real women see the larger picture her: The normalization of public performances like this, and of "sex work" generally, ultimately justifies the self-destruction of many desperate women who have nothing else to sell. It's pathetic and sad, not empowering.

Naturally, the NYT responds by running a woman's first-person dithering about how JLo's performance made her FEEL. Did I mention pathetic?



Meade said...

Proposed debate question for all the candidates: If you were JLo's ass, which decade of JLo's ass would you be?

rhhardin said...

And did you ever stop and think about how good Jennifer Lopez feels?

Hendiadys. Probably nice and warm.

rhhardin said...

Nobody ever thinks and stops.

William said...

They cleaned up GOT and hyper-sexualized the half time show. Deplorables like me enjoyed the gratuitous nudity on GOT and deplorables also feel uncomfortable watching stripper acts with their children on Sunday afternoon. Nudity is empowering when it makes deplorables feel uncomfortable and exploitative when it attracts their prurient interest.....I hope this observation helps clarify the somewhat contradictory signals that the entertainment industry is sending out.

ALP said...

I am struck by the sheer stupidity of the premise of the article. How does any reasonably smart, educated woman NOT SEE nor UNDERSTAND that when a woman is in a profession where looks matter - they are generally very driven to stay in shape and have a group of professionals helping them to stay that way.

So much of the media these days reads like navel gazing self help crap - but they keep telling us journalism is key to our demcratic society.

Iman said...

Self-absorbed weiner...

Wilbur said...

Meade, that made me laugh out loud. Literally.

MayBee said...

I apparently have friends who believe what JLo did was incredibly empowering and feminist, but I don't see it. Maybe its just that we are supposed to celebrate everything women do these days.

Narr said...

On the topic of aging sexybabys, do we have any songwriters here? I have a sample lyric for something with an outlaw vibe (this post serves as notice of copyright, as all you lawyers are my witnesses):

I need a woman who can still get wet.
A perky pair, and legs up to there,
Those are good to get,
But I need a woman who can still get wet.

Narr
Kinkstarter

Ralph L said...

I’ve spent years listening to my husband say that halftime shows should be frisbee dogs.

He's right. The last football game I went to had them. Mid 90's Mids of USNA.

I see the erstwhile prestige Paper of Record is continuing its descent from "All the News That's Fit to Print" to "All Women's Pages All the Time".

It's the New York Times of the Month.

Iman said...

“I think she was executing a very difficult and athletic pre-planned program that was less fun than what the football players had to do that night.”

Let’s not overthink “Shakin’ Dat Ass!!!”

Hagar said...

This sideshow stuff is just sad, not sexy.

n.n said...

They're neither, context matters. Women and men are equal in rights and complementary in Nature and nature. That said, beware the Slut Walk, reproductive rites, and women wearing pussy... hats. Oh, and whether it is racism, sexism, etc., don't indulge diversity.

Iman said...

“ I need a woman who can still get wet.
A perky pair, and legs up to there,
Those are good to get,
But I need a woman who can still get wet.”

You do realize you are not ruling out Depends® ?

n.n said...

And straight from the Ass's mouth, she will always be remembered as Jennifer "La Cabrona" Lopez.

Anthony said...

MayBee said...
I apparently have friends who believe what JLo did was incredibly empowering and feminist, but I don't see it. Maybe its just that we are supposed to celebrate everything women do these days.


It's us Men winning yet again. Stripper poles, crotch shots, booty-shakin', etc. are all 'empowering', while we Men get a daily dose of eye candy.

Hopefully, they won't be catching on anytime soon. We still have to get naked boobs and thong bikini bottoms classed as Appropriate Office Wear.

Iman said...

“I'm one of the most successful women in the world but somehow I ended up simulating rubbing my pussy in front of half the country and Weinstein wasn't even involved. How the hell did this happen?"

If Five Fingers Fit, you must not quit!

Kevin said...

The use of "dat ass" in the New York Times is either racism or cultural appropriation.

You must choose one, and only one.

Gahrie said...

I'm one of the most successful women in the world but somehow I ended up simulating rubbing my pussy in front of half the country and Weinstein wasn't even involved. How the hell did this happen?

I seriously don't get the big deal...guys have been grabbing their package going back at least as far as Jim Morrison, and Michael Jackson has done it at the Super Bowl.

Dingels said...

Lopez has an huge ass, always has. She's has a great face and talent.

I imagine Jennifer Weiner has been writing the same article since she was in junior high school.

Bob Smith said...

Actually the show reminded me of the T&A shows Silvio Berlasconi used to run on his TV channel in Italy before he went into politics.

Kay said...

We can’t all be JLo.

jeremyabrams said...

The NFL had to beg for talent for the halftime show because top acts are avoiding it due to the usual trumped-up controversies. As a result, J-Lo could write her own ticket in producing the show. So apparently her dream performance is this.

I'll never look at a full moon the same way again.

Roughcoat said...

The target audience for the halftime show was women and this post is proof of that. Most men, I suspect, found it odd, ridiculous, and gay. Yes, gay.

Roughcoat said...

Also, I don't much care for JLo's ass. Too damn big. But that's because I'm a white guy. White guy's like tight but well-shaped asses, not an ass that reminds them of the beam of the battleship Missouri. Love for big asses is a people-of-color thing, blacks and Latinos.

I'm not wrong about this.

Tatey said...

Yes, it was a fascinating, exciting half-time show. And the women were gorgeous and "hot." BUT, make no mistake about it, when women dress sensually and feature their bodies for public entertainment, then say "I am doing it [looking physically beautiful] for ME," they are either lying, in denial, or incredibly naive. NO ONE would take pains to look like Shakira and Lopez if they didn't have to. If we really cared only about our own inner sense of self, we'd all wear sweats and hoodies and tell the rest of the world "F-- you." So... no, don't believe that the skimpy costumes and gyrating hips say ANYTHING about female empowerment. Whether they know it or not, Shakira and Lopez's entire performance was designed to conform to MEN: men's sense of beauty and sexuality. If female musical artists really want to "empower females," they would not be exposing nearly their entire bodies to millions of people and shaking their money makers. Rather, they would be telling young people, male and female alike, how to have pride in yourself and that your body is just an exterior. Females will not truly be promoting empowerment until they begin refusing to submit to the sexual ideals of men. To think the half-time performance had anything to do with female empowerment is downright laughable.

Roughcoat said...

How do you like the way an ass looks in a pair of tight bluejeans? If you like big ghetto asses you probably like the way JLo looks. That's a 1950s Cadillac ass. Me, I go for the sports-car ass, MG or Ferrari, etc.

Roughcoat said...

Taley:

You're wrong. Shakira and Lopez's outfits and performances were meant to appeal to women.

Roughcoat said...

Not incidentally, most men don't like the stripper look. And they go to strip clubs only on the rarest of occasions, usually for a batchelor party and then only reluctantly, pretending they want to go but they don't really, and they mostly feel uncomfortable about it.

Yes, I speak for most men.

Roughcoat said...

And the dancers and their outfits were meant to appeal to gay men.

I'm sure Farmer will back me on this.

Shouting Thomas said...

Yes, I agree.

I didn’t watch much of the show, but what I saw was super gay.

And not just for gay men. Male and female.

Narr said...

The angle of the dangle is proportional to the mass of the ass and the heat of the meat.

Iman, oh yes I am!

Narr
I prefer ballet to halftime pole-dancing . . . much sexier

KellyM said...

Well, at this point JLo needs to keep that ass looking good because her acting career is a total non-starter. And I agree with the point made above re JLo running for governor of PR. God knows she couldn't muck it up anymore than the current batch has.

chickelit said...

The whole halftime experience was downer for me. I watched with two sisters aged 50 and 56. The very notion of middle aged women telling men who is and isn't attractive to men make such women seem petty and unattractive.

Roughcoat said...

The Puppy Bowl was sexier. More scoring, too.

Rory said...

Jen's butt is riding on its reputation now. No longer dextrous or agile, it's just a big butt. It hasn't gotten around the league yet, but the best scouts have noticed.

Jupiter said...

I finally gave up on televised football. I was hoping they would introduce a second channel, the Cheerleader Channel.

"This could be the game right here, Jim. From the 50 yard line, Candy will attempt a double topless back flip with a full, mid-air 180-degree split .... They've started the music ... the other gals are all dancing around, they're psyched! ... and .... She's UP! NICE elevation! Gotta love the new extra points for topless rule, really livened up the game! And .... the Split is GOOD! That's six, BIG points for Baltimore! Oh, and they can use 'em! So, on the field, let's see ... Uh, one guy has the ball, he throws it, ... and ... some other guy caught it, and now they're all running after him. OK, back to the action. Point after; Baltimore is going for two! They're going for two! Misty's up, and she's ..."

Wince said...

AOC should dance at the State of the Union halftime, before the Dem reply.

Brit Hume looks good for his age, but...

Ray said...

After the show, it was reported that J-Lo was seen in the locker room with ice on her camel-turf-toe.
h/t Dennis Miller

rcocean said...

It'd be nice if the Entertainment Industry would ever uplift us instead of going for the lowest common denominator. Women shaking their boobs and jumping around certainly is exciting, in a sort of "wow, isn't that amazing for 50 y/o women" but otherwise its pretty low entertainment.

I shudder to think of small kids watching that, and thinking its good music.

Poopstain said...

Post menopausal "strippers?" Hard pass......

Joanne Jacobs said...

Jennifer Weiner had gastric bypass surgery at 36 when her weight exceeded 300 pounds. It enabled her to get down to a size 16. She wrote about it, of course. Now she claims to be worried that she's not as hot as J-Lo. Weiner has done very well as a novelist. I am unconvinced that she judges herself by her pole-dancing skills.

FullMoon said...

Personally, I was fascinated by the logistics of the half time show. The performances were "America's got Talent " worthy. J-Lo was sweatin' it, next to and being compared to, a younger version of herself.

Ralph L said...

The music wasn't very good, either.

Bob Loblaw said...

Others — myself included — were feeling personally judged by dat ass.

Why is it so many middle aged women have a hard time realizing the world doesn't revolve around them? It's not about you, lady.

Jamie said...

FullMoon, I had the same thought - it takes a certain kind of guts for a person in a looks-are-almost-everything field to appear on stage and in motion beside your decade-younger doppelganger. I thought JLo pulled it off with aplomb. That said, I was glad the tights were 100% opaque so we weren't treated to the full Monty. (Men in the crowd, do you think the purpose of the full crotch shots is to titillate with the possibility of Seeing All, or to demonstrate the, er, tightness of the equipment displayed thereby? FWIW, I don't think there's an exercise for the latter...)

We were watching the game with a bunch of our son's friends, in their 20s and early 30s; the women were just as glued to the screen as the men were, and spoke admiringly of the performers' athleticism (grace didn't enter into the discussion, clearly - I enjoyed the routine but it was definitely NOT graceful). The men didn't comment except to say, "She's 42?!" and "She's 50?!"

My comment at the end was, "So now JLo takes a big handful of ibuprofen." I wonder if, on days like Sunday, she looks forward to the day when she can just... let go a little.

mikee said...

Compare JLo to Rita Moreno at 50, and tell me who did it better.
Here's Rita at 62 tap dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzj54w6LiKU

Sam L. said...

I didn't watch. Not interested.

Narr said...

And the world used to be impressed by the East German Olympic Youthsex Teams!

Narr
Pikers

Kirk Parker said...

Althouse,

"...unlikely to be terribly sexual. I think it's more like winning the big game."

And what, pray tell, is the biggest game of all? Sometimes you do come across as quite naive, and I just wish I knew if it were genuine or a deliberate pose.

Ann Althouse said...

"'...unlikely to be terribly sexual. I think it's more like winning the big game.' And what, pray tell, is the biggest game of all? Sometimes you do come across as quite naive, and I just wish I knew if it were genuine or a deliberate pose."

1. By "big game," I meant the Superbowl on the same night, not big games generally. I meant JLo was engaged in competitive athletics and don't think the acts she performed gave her sexual pleasure.

2. While some people experience sexual conquest as a game and that can be part of sexuality for those people, the feeling of winning a game isn't generally sexual, unless you define "sexual" very broadly. Let's say you're playing a big game of poker or Monopoly and you want to win....

3. Those people who have sex within a "game" model and play to win... I think they're having emotions, but I wouldn't call them "terribly sexual." ("Terribly sexual" was my phrase.) I think many people have emotions that have to do with power, degradation, humiliation, and cruelty that come into play when they're engaged in sex, and if you want to call those emotions sexual, write your own blog post. That's not what I was talking about. I'm aware that there are people like that, and this post isn't about analyzing and judging them. Disparaging me for not drifting into that topic isn't very nice.