3:41 am - 01/21/2013
I've finally reached my breaking point. LEAVEBRITNEY TAYLOR ALONE.
To give you some background, it seems that people are especially mad at T Swizzle this month. They are upset with her for many reasons, like ostensibly being asexual, having an out-of-control interest in antique shopping, dating too many men, and not being sufficiently feminist. Let me repeat. Asexual. Antique shopping. Too many men. Anti-feminist.
First of all, judging a young person's perceived sexual orientation? Just stop. And I'm not going to touch the antiquing thing with a 10 foot pole.
In terms of slut-shaming her for having multiple boyfriends, I think it's pretty obvious why we shouldn't be doing it to a 23-year-old girl, whether she's a mega-star or just out of college from small town Pennsylvania. No one deserves that. Not Taylor and not her young fans, who are probably internalizing these critiques as we speak.
Even Michael J. Fox joined the chorus this week. He said: "Taylor Swift writes songs about everybody she goes out with [...] What a way to build a career." (Sidenote: Taylor tweeted that he got in touch and they were "good.")
Now, I have a lot to say about this "Taylor Swift is sexist" argument. There was one particularly jarring article recently published on Buzzfeed that got to the heart of the issue for me. The piece analyzed lyrics from her songs and asked us: "Does Taylor Swift Hate Other Women?"
But what I'd like to know from Buzzfeed is: "Why do you?"
I'm not arguing that her songs are perfect feminist anthems that romanticize healthy romantic relationships. Few, if any, mainstream musicians today (male or female) write songs that are not problematic in that sense, and this probably says more about our preferences as an audience than their talent as artists.
Why, suddenly, do we all feel it's her responsibility to carry our political banner for us?
It's one thing to have a feminist analysis of Taylor Swift's songs and to find them wanting. It's another to dismiss her because her music doesn't achieve feminism perfection in a vacuum where no one does. The more we focus on and disapprove of the few female singers who dare do their own writing, the more we are creating a hostile environment for empowered female artists to exist, period. Moreover, Taylor Swift has actually negotiated interesting -- and arguably, unprecedented -- ways to retain her agency in an industry that would rather she didn't.
That's what makes her a feminist role model. When any young singer writes a love song after being in a high-profile relationship, there will always be salacious speculation. Taylor Swift participates in the guessing game -- she drops actual code words in her song titles to help guide her fans -- and in doing so, she coopts the conversation. Some people even accuse her of manufacturing paparazzi photo-ops of public dates she has with her boyfriends.
Even though there's little she can do to change the system that puts her private life as a young, female celebrity on display, Taylor Swift appears to have created a model where she can manipulate it. She has preemptively created a narrative for herself that she has power over and, for the most part, has benefitted her career ("Red" has broken how many sales records?).
In an industry that is known for targeting young, successful women and attempting to strip them of their agency, Taylor Swift serves as a powerful example of someone who has fought back in ways that are smart, complicated, and unapologetic. And that's pretty badass, in my humble feminist opinion.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, for the sake of my sanity, I would like it very much if you would all take a moment to think about why it is that you hate her and other successful women in our viciously sexist celebrity culture. (Also, why you seem to think shopping for old furniture is such a reprehensible habit. Seriously, what?)
It's also probably worth mentioning that Taylor Swift clearly doesn't need my defense. She's got this.
Follow Elizabeth Perle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lizperle
Source
*I don't fully agree that Taylor is some kind of feminist role model, because she doesn't label herself as one. However, I do find that some of the critiques of her and her music are very telling. Criticizing Taylor Swift for her life choices says more about those criticizing her than it does about Taylor.
Defending Taylor Swift
I've finally reached my breaking point. LEAVE
To give you some background, it seems that people are especially mad at T Swizzle this month. They are upset with her for many reasons, like ostensibly being asexual, having an out-of-control interest in antique shopping, dating too many men, and not being sufficiently feminist. Let me repeat. Asexual. Antique shopping. Too many men. Anti-feminist.
First of all, judging a young person's perceived sexual orientation? Just stop. And I'm not going to touch the antiquing thing with a 10 foot pole.
In terms of slut-shaming her for having multiple boyfriends, I think it's pretty obvious why we shouldn't be doing it to a 23-year-old girl, whether she's a mega-star or just out of college from small town Pennsylvania. No one deserves that. Not Taylor and not her young fans, who are probably internalizing these critiques as we speak.
Even Michael J. Fox joined the chorus this week. He said: "Taylor Swift writes songs about everybody she goes out with [...] What a way to build a career." (Sidenote: Taylor tweeted that he got in touch and they were "good.")
Now, I have a lot to say about this "Taylor Swift is sexist" argument. There was one particularly jarring article recently published on Buzzfeed that got to the heart of the issue for me. The piece analyzed lyrics from her songs and asked us: "Does Taylor Swift Hate Other Women?"
But what I'd like to know from Buzzfeed is: "Why do you?"
I'm not arguing that her songs are perfect feminist anthems that romanticize healthy romantic relationships. Few, if any, mainstream musicians today (male or female) write songs that are not problematic in that sense, and this probably says more about our preferences as an audience than their talent as artists.
Why, suddenly, do we all feel it's her responsibility to carry our political banner for us?
It's one thing to have a feminist analysis of Taylor Swift's songs and to find them wanting. It's another to dismiss her because her music doesn't achieve feminism perfection in a vacuum where no one does. The more we focus on and disapprove of the few female singers who dare do their own writing, the more we are creating a hostile environment for empowered female artists to exist, period. Moreover, Taylor Swift has actually negotiated interesting -- and arguably, unprecedented -- ways to retain her agency in an industry that would rather she didn't.
That's what makes her a feminist role model. When any young singer writes a love song after being in a high-profile relationship, there will always be salacious speculation. Taylor Swift participates in the guessing game -- she drops actual code words in her song titles to help guide her fans -- and in doing so, she coopts the conversation. Some people even accuse her of manufacturing paparazzi photo-ops of public dates she has with her boyfriends.
Even though there's little she can do to change the system that puts her private life as a young, female celebrity on display, Taylor Swift appears to have created a model where she can manipulate it. She has preemptively created a narrative for herself that she has power over and, for the most part, has benefitted her career ("Red" has broken how many sales records?).
In an industry that is known for targeting young, successful women and attempting to strip them of their agency, Taylor Swift serves as a powerful example of someone who has fought back in ways that are smart, complicated, and unapologetic. And that's pretty badass, in my humble feminist opinion.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, for the sake of my sanity, I would like it very much if you would all take a moment to think about why it is that you hate her and other successful women in our viciously sexist celebrity culture. (Also, why you seem to think shopping for old furniture is such a reprehensible habit. Seriously, what?)
It's also probably worth mentioning that Taylor Swift clearly doesn't need my defense. She's got this.
Follow Elizabeth Perle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lizperle
Source
*I don't fully agree that Taylor is some kind of feminist role model, because she doesn't label herself as one. However, I do find that some of the critiques of her and her music are very telling. Criticizing Taylor Swift for her life choices says more about those criticizing her than it does about Taylor.
The only part I dislike is the bridge where she's like, "I realized you don't love anyone or anything! OMG YOU'RE SO SAD!" I thought that was lame.
i used to make fun of the song because it just sounded silly to me
then i actually listened to it
and that was the end of that
Edited at 2013-01-21 02:53 pm (UTC)
LOL, no it is absolutely not considered a legit sexuality in our culture yet. It's far from it, unfortunately. You'd have to a) know something exists (most people don't) and b) learn a bit about it (most know nothing) before we started even coming close. And even after thorough discussions with an asexual person, a lot of people don't accept asexuality as either existing or legitimate as a sexuality.
I just think she suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks as a person and an 'artist'.
and I might be missing something with Beyonce, but she seems to grasp the concept of going after the guy that actually cheated on her in her breakup songs and valuing self worth.
She does a lot of sweet things for a lot of people and she gives so much to charity w/o tweeting about it or trying to get attention for it
its ridic when ppl say she's a bad person when she's far from it
Also I'm frustrated with her bc I really loved her first (and second to an extent) album and she's just disappointed me since then.
also I think she's a terrible singer so
who r you tho?
my problem with her music is the way every little song has this clues of who is it about. and eveyone keeps speculating on the media. I can never disconnect myself from it when I'm listening. I'm always wondering: who is this for???
I understand it must be good for business, but it kind of annoys me.
I mean, she can date whoever she wants, how many guys she wants, but I find the fact that I have to know all the dirty deets after they break up via her songs annoying as hell.
TMI, ya know?
Edited at 2013-01-21 03:41 pm (UTC)
and there's a way to write songs about people without having it seem like you're intentionally dragging them through the mud
it's like she has something negative to say about every guy who even looked her way
u in danger girl
sorry for the rant haha.
I'm so bothered by her schtick but I'm sure she'd be a fun person to be friends with tbh
So what if she writes songs about her ex's. Do you kow how many stories I have told groups of people about how dumb and idiotic some of my ex's were? If i was a songwriter i would be using those moments in my songs too. It's life, it's interesting, it's what people want to hear (example: millions of coppies sold in the first week)... so people attacking this premise are just bored as fuck and have nothing else to do on ONTD but make her seem evil for doing what Stevie Nicks or Alanis Morissette did and got praised for.
Also I'm freaked out by the girl behind Taylor in the gif, she sort of stairs me in the eyes while laughing like she knows I'm watching.
And that's where I stopped reading.
it's like the Kristen Stewart thing all over again.
At least, I'm assuming. Like I said - didn't read past that.
Edited at 2013-01-21 03:31 pm (UTC)
I thought that buzzfeed article was almost spot on. She needs to grow up, a lot.
So yeah, I have a problem with her. She has very consciously built up this image and part of that lies on the shoulders of putting down other women.
Obviously (and unfortunately) other artists have done/will continue to do this. But who else has built their image around being constantly unlucky in love; something that's not any fault of her own but as the result of other, evil women? I can't name another artist who has. Maybe Adele? But her songs are equally rubbish in terms of lyrics. They just sound less grating to me.
I apologize for the essay but seriously, she needs to check herself and maybe write some more inspiring songs where two women, instead of fighting over a man, decide he's an ass for playing them against each other.