On February 2, 2020, Shakira and J-Lo performed in the Super Bowl LIV. This year’s Super Bowl was held in Miami, Florida. Approximately, 114.4 million people watch the Super Bowl. A lot of non-sports fans even watch the Super Bowl, solely for the purpose of the halftime show. Multiple artists and bands have performed in the Super Bowl halftime show and have displayed incredible performances. Multiple controversial opinions sprouted from those who have seen this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. 

By having J-Lo and Shakira perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, this makes the first all Hispanic halftime show. This is a very big moment for J-Lo and Shakira to be able to make this happen. But why so much controversy? Some controversy centers around their clothing choices. J-Lo and Shakira’s outfits were that of normal dancers but according to a blogger from Not Even Hot Just A Mess, their outfits were a bit too “risque”. Adrienne, the blogger who wrote the post, states, “Shakira and J-Lo were way too risque for the general public. The dance moves at the Super Bowl entertainment bit are being compared to strippers and bondage, sadistic and disgusting.” She is referring to when J-Lo, wanting to include a piece from her new movie Hustlers, danced on a stirpper pole during one of her songs. This was a very risky move for J-Lo to take, and people are starting to backlash it, just like Adrianne. 

The Super Bowl is a family-friendly program and bringing out a stripper pole during the performance was definitely not family-friendly. Olivia Lynch, a freshman at Battlefield High School, has an opinion on the topic that is similar to Adrienne. She says, “ The dancing was fine, It’s Latina culture. Although, the pole dancing was a bit much and made me uncomfortable. Anyone who dances on a pole in public is uncomfortable. Also, the fact that she was wearing little clothing made it more uncomfortable.” Unlike Adrienne, she is referring to pole dancing in general, not just J-Lo and strippers. J-Lo’s outfit was a see through short dance dress that barely covered  her chest from the public. As Lynch stated, it was uncomfortable for her to watch a grown woman dance on a stripper pole with her parents and her 3 younger sisters. 

Olivia’s dad, Nathan Lynch, completely contradicts Olivia’s opinion. Mr. Lynch believes that it was not as bad as people think. He says, “I disagree. I thought it was a good performance. The only thing that bothered me was the ‘grabbing of the groin area’ that happened when they were dancing. It was not uncomfortable and I watched it with my 4 daughters and my wife. The pole dancing was quite weird, but it is the genre of dancing. Although, Shakira was more family-friendly than J-Lo. I think that J-Lo did the pole dancing on purpose to create attention and she is getting it. It was a form of entertainment and was not disrespectful.” Mr. Lynch is a dad of four daughters and watched it with his family. Whether others are offended by the pole dancing and short outfits or not, their performance was very entertaining, and they did a great job. Their performance will be remembered as the first all-Latina halftime show, and they should be proud to be a part of it.