T-Swift’s got her fair share of haters and they’ve all got their reasons. However, she pretty much invalidated all of mine with her “1989” one-eighty.
I can precisely pinpoint the origin of my hatred. After the release of her fourth album, “Red,” Taylor Swift was asked if she would consider herself a feminist. The starlet ignorantly responded, “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have. I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life.” Boom. Added to the list of celebrities who never took the time to learn the actual definition of feminism and, thus, written off forever.
But, alas, much like Joe Jonas, I didn’t mean it when I said forever and always. She’s been lying low for the past two years and now she’s back on the scene and frankly, better than ever. I am truly a Taylor Swift convert and here’s why.
For one, she pulled her head out of the gutter about feminism. Swift now identifies as a feminist and she credits this enlightenment to actress, Lena Dunham. T god, T-Swift. It’s about time. In an interview with The Guardian she confesses, “What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men… For so long it’s been made to seem like something where you’d picket against the opposite sex, whereas it’s not about that at all.” Anyone who is willing to swallow their own words and admit they’re wrong in front of millions deserves at least some props.
Also, she took the media’s portrayal of her and shoved it right back in their faces with her latest music video. I am undoubtedly, unashamedly half of the 51 million views that her “Blank Space” music video has on YouTube. (Ask my roommate.) After my initial thought of “who the heck is that beautiful man?” I was able to look at the big picture: she took the psychotic, boy-crazy image of herself painted by the press, satirized the living crap out of it, and, of course, looked flawless all the while. In a description of the video, Swift says, “Blank Space is a cheeky play of the character of me that has been written by the press… but this girl is fictitious as that girl is not me.” Your move, media.
She may have dated your fav and I get it, you’re bitter. I sure was during her stint with Taylor Lautner. Or maybe you are still desperately clinging on to the curly-haired, “Our Song” days. No worries. I think, deep down, we all are a little bit. But you have to admit, she’s taking a stand against the demeaning way media depicts female celebrities as well as finally using her voice to advance the feminist cause. And it’s simply impossible to hate her for that.