Jennifer Lopez Is Being Criticized For Insinuating That Shakira's Belly Dancing Lacked "Substance" After The NFL Tried To Cut A Political Statement Out Of Their Halftime Show
"It's such a big stage, and it's such an important show ... I'm trying to give you something with substance."
Not long after the doc was released, this particular line of dialogue was shared across Twitter, with a number of fans raising concerns about what J.Lo might have been insinuating about the art of belly dancing.
"To say that belly dancing, a Middle Eastern culture, has no 'substance' is so so so ethnocentric and, perhaps, racist," someone wrote.
Among the criticisms, some were quick to note that Jennifer wasn't referring specifically to Shakira, highlighting that she actually includes herself in the sentiment.
However, others took issue with this line of thought, suggesting that it's reductive of her to equate the art of belly dancing with just "shaking ass."
Although plenty of people came to Jennifer's defense, highlighting that, while the delivery of the sentiment may have been mishandled, the wider context of the documentary is important to better understand her frustrations in the scene.
"This is so taken out of context," agreed another. "She was talking about how they were forcing her to take the immigrants bit out of the show..."
Well, regardless of the debate, the women were able to successfully showcase their cultures — balancing the joy and intricacy of their art, while also using their platform to point toward real-world issues affecting US communities and Latinx people.
https://twitter.com/ProceedWithShak/status/1536765556996579328?s=20&t=8Ze89ljDb-G-4hAyao6MNQhttps://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellendurney/jlo-criticized-shakira-belly-dancing-super-bowl-halftime
