One has to feel for Taylor Swift these days. It appears that, according to some, she just can’t do anything right. Last week, Swift was still suffering a backlash after she tweeted her support for the Women’s March that took place the weekend before.
The Washington Post elaborated on what made Taylor’s tweet so controversial. Author Emily Yahr stated that Taylor Swift had been completely silent about the election until Election Day, where she just posted a picture of herself going to vote. She didn’t actually say who she was voting for or talk about any of the issues. Like the other articles mentioned, the tweet seemed disingenuous.
Taylor Swift rubs feminists the wrong way. [Image by Matthias Nareyek/Getty Images]
Many on Twitter bashed Taylor.
Women's march! I support all women! Women are amazing! Women standing by women! Stronger together! BUT TAYLOR SWIFT IS A FAKE FEMINIST!! EW!
Now, Taylor Swift has been embroiled in another controversy, and it’s not one that she is necessarily directly involved in. There is a new Grammy commercial which features young girls reciting Taylor Swift’s speech from last year’s award show. It’s supposed to be empowering, but many think using Taylor Swift as a role model is anything but empowering.
“At face value, the ad is powerful. Watching young girls achieve the goals they work hard to reach is always a welcome sight. But underneath the veil of female empowerment, there’s a lot to unpack,” says Huffington Post columnist Julia Brucculieri, who believes that Swift’s brand of feminism is fake.
Brucculieri also points to an article from BuzzFeed, which says Swift fooled people for an entire decade by playing the “victim.”
“Taylor Swift’s embrace of victimhood doesn’t begin and end with Kanye West – it can be traced back to the start of her decade-long career in both her music and her manipulation of the media. But until Kim Kardashian stepped in with proof, it had largely gone unnoticed.”
Many accuse Taylor Swift of trying to gain feminist sympathy by playing the victim too much. [Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]
The article accuses Swift of playing the victim during her Grammy Awards speech in 2016 after Kanye West’s song famous, in which he calls Swift all kinds of misogynist names, was released. The accusation against Swift was that she knew about all the lyrics in the song. However, what Buzzfeed doesn’t mention is that Swift claims she didn’t know exactly how degrading the lyrics would be.
Taylor Swift has become a target lately for those who like to call out “privilege” and “white feminism.” However, this backlash hasn’t stopped Taylor Swift from performing on the charts. Her new single “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” jumps up from No. 8 to No. 5 this week on Billboard‘s Hot 100. It is taken from the film 50 Shades Darker. The song had a difficult time taking off, with even the Inquisitr noting that the duet with Zayn Malik wasn’t performing like a new Swift single usually did.
The video for the song, which was released last week, has received a mostly positive response. As Rolling Stone mentions, the video opens with Malik maneuvering his way past paparazzi towards an elevator, where he meets Swift. Then, there is anguish between the couple, with Malik throwing pictures and Swift pulling petals off of a flower.
No matter how successful Taylor Swift has been, she has become a huge target for criticism that some say isn’t deserved. What do you make of all the Taylor Swift backlash lately? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
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