So, Taylor Swift. I know there's a lot of posts circulating at the moment regarding Taylor, so as per usual, I decided it was time to stick my opinion in there too. I don't like Taylor Swift, and I think she is a terrible role model for young girls and she is, quite frankly, a disgrace to her own gender. Now, let's get this out there now - this is not an attack on her talent or her looks, I think she is a beautiful young woman and good for her for getting where she is.
Taylor Swift queer shames, slut shames and advocates girl on girl hate. Before you jump to her defence, let's look a little bit more into Taylor shall we? In 2010 Taylor was the same age Beyonce was when Destiny's Child released Independent Women - a song about taking care of yourself and being a strong woman. Whereas Taylor whines about being single or heartbroken in most songs, but we'll look more at that later. But let's all understand that Taylor is not a 'young' prodigy and needs to be treated as an adult woman and it's about time she took some responsibility for the negative messages she's sending.
Okay, let's break down some of her songs shall we? Be warned, I'm a lot more cynical and angry from here on out, I wrote the next bit angry at 3am.
"You belong with me"
No way, a boy you like is with someone else. How dare he? She must be tricking him somehow…she's the devil, because, you're so pure and different and quirky right Taylor? You don't show a lot of skin or wear high heels, that makes you better than her, right Taylor? Wrong. Here's an idea…maybe he just likes her, maybe she's a fun and interesting and smart person, here's another crazy idea…maybe, what you wear doesn't define you. Oh, she's a cheerleader…what a bad person, it's not like cheerleading is hard work, or good exercise or anything. You're america's sweetheart, you write songs and sit on the bleachers, must have been really super hard for you. Born into money, writing angst lyrics any fifteen year old would be proud of (I know my 15 year old, self proclaimed 'emo' self would have been).
"Fifteen"
"Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool" - at it again are you Taylor? Sorry, I forgot, you're better than other girls, my bad…go ahead.
"you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team" wow, a redeeming part of this song, well said Taylor, actually, ahem…
"abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind" she's baaaack, clearly a reference to losing virginity here, as women are clearly only as good as their hymens.
"Picture to burn"
"So go and tell your friends, That I’m obsessive and crazy, That’s fine, I’ll tell mine, You’re gay.
1. you seem pretty obsessive and crazy petal (see we are never ever getting back together).
2. You're either using gay as an insult, which is pretty pathetic, immature and totally NOT OKAY. Or you're outing someone you know to be homosexual, which is pretty pathetic, immature and totally NOT OKAY.
Okay, I just watched the video, it starts with Taylor and a girl SPYING on her ex, but she's not obsessive and crazy…obviously. And they are outraged that he is with another girl…how dare he move on from an obsessive, crazy girl who just told his friends he was gay for no apparent reason. And the end of the video shows her having trashed his house?! Really not helping the obsessive and crazy thing are you?
Now, I do know that she has changed the lyrics (regarding the gay comment), realised that they're WRONG have you dear?
"We are never ever getting back together"
Oh god, I have no words. Maybe it's you love.
I'm done with pulling her songs apart now, so I watched some interviews with Taylor. I picked the ones with Ellen because I figure she's on there the most. Here are some points I picked up on.
- Taylor doesn't think girls should get drunk because it 'isn't cute'. Hey you, stop judging me.
- Taylor complains that Ellen always shows her with different guys and that makes her question what she's doing with her life, and every visit it's been a different guy and that makes her sad. Hell no girl, if you want to date a tonne of dudes, you go for it. It's totally healthy, express yourself while you're young.
- When Taylor talks about high-school she mentions she was alone a lot and she wouldn't be invited to stuff, but it was okay because she could write a song about it. Okay Taylor, but make sure you slut shame and call out all the other girls you've decided you're better than. Hey, Taylor, everyone was awkward in high school, no big deal.
I'm going to have to rein myself in here and stop, but yeah, see why I think Taylor Swift is a bad role model, and well, dammit, a feminists nightmare. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.
Elizabeth x
