Rihanna's Halftime Show for the Post-Hustle Era

Pregnant performers don't owe the public anything

Rihanna headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, and there’s been a lot of talk about what Rihanna didn’t do.

She didn’t dance much– in fact, she did a lot more moving vertically than she did horizontally, suspended on a platform that raised and lowered her to stage, where she mostly stood and served face while an energetic dance crew and clever camerawork added dynamism to the performance.

She didn’t sing live.

She didn’t show much skin. Her all-red balloony separates were a modest outfit by halftime show standards (and by Rihanna standards). She had a visible belly bulge, but not the kind of compact little belly bulge that models who aren’t actually pregnant wear when they model maternity clothes. She looked full all over her body– her breasts, thighs, stomach– like a woman who was currently growing or had recently completed growing a child. 

She also didn’t get paid.