I’m totally late to post this, as I always am, ’cause I’m the worst. But anyway, pretend like it’s the day before the Super Bowl hahaha. (And still feel free to give your #AGoodGame pledges, even if you decide to make them after the fact.)
Well, well. Justin Timberlake is returning to the halftime show. I don’t know if I’ll ever not be furious about the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake fiasco. It really felt like she was punished and he was not. (I didn’t even know until recently that apparently a nickname went around back then of “Teflon Timberlake” because nothing would stick to him.)
He can’t singlehandedly change society, but he could’ve used his position of power to help, and to loudly call our the hypocrisy of punishing the woman who was undressed in public and not punishing the man who did it. (I don’t really think either of them needed to be punished after that – especially if it was an accident as they said, but whatever happened to them, I think, should’ve happened equally…) But no, after worshipping her when he was growing up (he used to kiss her poster at night on his wall) and dreaming of working with her – as soon as he did, and things went wrong, it was all “Janet who, what now?”
The way we treat women – and especially women of color – in this country is oftentimes not fair. And this was a bright shining famous example of that. And to make matters worse, here, now, in the “year of the woman,” when we, as a society, are supposed to be thinking about how we treat women, we bring back Justin Timberlake?!
So. Two things are happening tomorrow.
1) Janet Jackson appreciation day on twitter. @MatthewACherry came up with it. He wants to get it trending, with our favorite Janet movies/gifs/and things. So, enjoy that and post away.
2) Josh Gondelman and his friend Emma Sandoe came up with this thing they do every year called #AGodGame. It started out for Patriots fans who felt conflicted about some of the Patriots politics and also some of the problems with the NFL. You pledge to give a certain amount of money to charity based on whatever you want – # of FGs, # of TDs, points in the game, number of beers your drink, whatever. And it’s supposed to help offset (at least a little) watching a “problematic” team, or a “problematic” sport.
So, I’m giving $5 for every minute Justin Timberlake is onstage to Black Women’s Blueprint, with an extra $50 if he dares trot out the Prince hologram.
Feel free to join, and have #AGoodGame!