When someone accidentally reveals his or her naughty bits in public, we feel ashamed for them because, in our puritanical society, we expect normal people to dislike their bodies and feel bad about exposing them. However, it wasn't Janet's shame that we glimpsed on that cold, winter Sunday; it was her desperation.

Take a look a her career. Consider the breadth and scope of it. Twenty years is a long time for an artist to try to stay on top. Janet's first two albums, produced under constant pressure from her father to go into the family business, were tragic failures, both commercially and critically.

But Control was different. This was her true debut, and even though it was the Svengali-like production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis which made it run, they managed to make Janet look good. Like an artist.

Rhythm Nation 1814 took that even further. Now she seemed like a serious, socially conscious artist. Remember the military gear? The uniforms which left you wondering which (if any) of her backup dancers were women? 1989 saw other female artists like Tiffany and Debbie and Samantha Fox releasing albums. Janet was different because she didn't put out twee, empty headed pop music (well not as a single, not at first) and she wasn't overtly sexual. It's hard not to see these things as defiant, as flying in the face of the industry's expectations of female artists. Her success without conformity was one of the things that led some parents to feel that not only was it ok for their kids to listen to her, she was also a good role-model for their daughters -- she didn't have to show her body to make it.

Then came, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)." In the Behind the Music on Janet, both she and the video's director took credit for the midriff-baring wardrobe, which seemed innocent enough at the time, but takes on an added significance considering the lengths to which she is now going to in order to attract attention. The difference between then and now is that she's resorting to flesh-bearing not out of any attempt to soften her image, but to generate publicity. At first, it was cute but now it seems absurdly cynical.

Female artists can have tremendous difficulty as they get older. The music industry runs on a fuel created from the blood of nubile teenagers under the collective thumbs of consultants, managers, agents, and executive boards. They'll be happy to use you for a while, but they would very much appreciate it if you would please go away once they've done with you. Sadly, young women still line up for their chance at stardom, still make the same mistakes, and still wind up looking for work elsewhere when the industry throws them away.

There are exceptions, of course. They're the ones we remember because they've managed to stick around. In fact, these mature women are often lauded for the fact that they've maintained a presence in one of the most cut-throat, youth oriented industries that exists.

Madonna was a good example of this. She still would be, if it wasn't for the fact that everybody hates her. At first, she was cute. Then, as she reinvented herself, she was interesting. But, as the years go by, her various attempts to stay in the public eye just begin to look more and more pathetic. We, the media consuming public, would very much appreciate it if someone would just go up to her and tell her, "It's over, dear. You can go home now."

The shame of it all is that Janet doesn't have to go that route. Madonna started out with the shock shtick, and even though she gets a lot of credit for her constant reinvention, all of the wardrobe changes served a singular purpose, to prolong that shock. Rather than baring more and more flesh, in order to recapture the furor caused by that rather infamous Rolling Stone cover photo, she could finally decide to eschew the shallow pop music industry and allow her career to mature. She could have easily gone and released a cd of Jazz standards and wowed us all with her voice instead of her apparently armor-clad breast.

Before now, Janet could have risen above the scandal and shattered careers which have become associated with the Jackson name. She could have been taken seriously, which is not something that's likely to happen to a person who thinks it's a good idea to flash 88 million people (never mind the fact that she was performing with Justine Timberlake). At least now she's matched her more famous brother in at least one respect – as the butt of many, many jokes.

-B. C. Silvia
-2/12/2004