Taylor Swift is often considered to be a major feminist icon by mainstream media – I mean, she stands for girl power, but I question if she is really representing feminism in the best possible light.
Although I’ve never been a big fan of Taylor, I can’t deny I’ve often found myself singing along to “I Knew You Were Trouble” or “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together”. Some of my best friends are die-hard fans and have used her music to get through countless breakups. Though her songs are extremely catchy and relatable to an everyday girls’ life, her perspective on feminism and her white privilege are potentially dangerous considering the strength of the platform she holds.
She continuously boasts her “feminist” ideals through social media and her music, although her perspective is essentially a type of white feminism, which refers to a brand of feminism centered around the ideals and struggles of primarily white women. White feminists actively avoid intersectionality and inclusiveness, which leads to a movement that is only useful for them.
These are four important reasons Taylor Swift may not be the feminist icon you wish she was:
1. Her music videos are full of cultural appropriation
One specific video that comes to mind is “Shake It Off”. The video consists of Taylor dancing with several different groups of people. The video begins with graceful ballerinas, who are of course all thin, white women. Next, it shifts to a hip-hop style dance with Taylor essentially mocking women of color twerking. She also sports a red hoodie and fitted cap with a boom box on her shoulder during the break-dance section. The problem with this is the image of her as a “pure, desexualized” white woman literally crawling under women of color twerking, as well as the mocking of hip-hop as a genre.
2. Her squad is appropriating black culture
Taylor Swift made the term #SquadGoals a big deal when her and her supermodel friends starred in the “Bad Blood” music video together. However, she is appropriating the term “squad” without even acknowledging where it came from. Judnick Mayard wrote for The Guardian about this cultural appropriation and said that by claiming this term, Taylor was feeding into the “whitesplaining of black culture”. She says, “Taylor Swift is basically quoting the language of the oppressed” without acknowledging that is where it comes from.
3. Her feud with Nicki Minaj displays clear White Feminism
Although this twitter feud was simply painted as a “cat fight” it’s actually a much bigger issue than that. Nicki was bringing to light to an important issue in the music industry: the oversight of black women (and different body types). Taylor immediately assumed it had to do with her and accused Nicki of “pinning women against each other.” This is a perfect example of white feminism: a white woman completely disregarding race-based issues and how they affect feminism.
4. She only supports feminism when it works for her
Although Taylor claims she is a feminist, it turns out she has done next to nothing to fight for women’s rights. Rebecca Bonahan writes in The Huffington Post, “Swift has not publicly supported funding Planned Parenthood, Hillary Clinton, the Equal Rights Amendment, or any other piece of feminist legislature.” Although supporting Hillary is definitely not the end all be all of feminism, it’s worth pointing out that she has shown no support for actual women’s rights movements.