Everyone was a Taylor Swift fan at one point. I was one for the longest time. I mean, her country music days were her prime! Tear Drops on My Guitar was freaking rager. I would have rock out sessions in my room to her album Fearless. But as time went on and as I got older the way Swift acted and acted about her relationships irked me. When her Red album came out I was intrigued. I liked some of the songs on the album, but it wasn’t until her music video for I Knew You Were Trouble, did I rethink everything I thought about her. I wasn’t happy that she still took credit and publicity as a country singer while her music was becoming more and more mainstream pop. Why change your entire genre yet still say you are a country artist? I know it must seem like an unrealistic reason to start to not like someone, but that’s just the start.
We all know the first reasons most people began to dislike Swift. Her relationship with Harry Styles from One Direction then her public attack on him at the 2013 VMA’s. Suing fans on Etsy for their homemade crafts. Not streaming her music on Spotify, claiming it will devalue her art. The number one thing in my opinion however is her take on feminism. Feminism has been a huge controversial topic in America in the past years. Suddenly if you are a proud feminist and speak out about it you are a b***h. Let’s go back to 2015 during the MTV Music Video Awards. Does that ring any bells? The twitter fight between Nicki Minaj and Swift. The gist being Swift thinking Minaj’s tweet on “slim bodies” in music videos getting an automatic nomination was directed to her. There has been a history of MTV Music Video Awards being won by white artists that show off slim bodies. Minaj was just tweeting her opinions when Swift jumped in thinking the tweet was directed to her only. Then claims that Minaj is pitting girls against one another then inviting her to come up onto stage to her, indicating that she knows she will win. Her tweet to Minaj was the beginning of people starting to pit girls against one another, with the media taking the whole thing out of proportion and portraying Minaj as the bad guy, after she was only sharing her thoughts on how unfair it is for curvy, colored girls in the media.
Now to the topic that is a current huge issue. White Privilege. Yikes. A scary couple of words for people, and a couple of words that make many people upset. I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but it’s a topic that needs to be discussed. Taylor Swift, in my humble opinion, has no awareness of her white privilege. She was and still is considered the token Good Girl of Hollywood. Pure and sweet who can do no wrong in the public’s eye. She is the girl-next-door. She paints herself as an underdog, a victim. “Unaware” of her incredible success in the music industry and being completely blown away with each award she gets. How does one think they are an “underdog” after each success they have? Each award they win? Each top song on the Billboards? She came from a financially stable family and claiming she had to overcome so much to get to where she is now. We all remember in 2009 when Kanye West came in and interrupted her speech. It was mean and not at all mature or appropriate, but it was the beginning of everything. This happened in 2009. About 7 to 8 years later Swift is still talking and singing about her feud with West and now his wife, Kim Kardashian. 8 years is a very long time to hold a grudge for one person. At some point, you must learn how to move on. Swift even commented in an interview with GQ how she “cannot understand why Kanye West and now Kim Kardashian will not leave her alone.” How about it’s because Swift can’t let it go? I think her long going feud is just a stunt to gain more publicity and money. This feud heightens the archetype of the “angry black man terrorizing the innocent white women.” It is never ending. Her entire feud seems to be the beginning of her being the victim. She is still presently using the victim card, and still whining about Kanye West. Swift has recently come out of an almost 2 yearlong disappearance, and she has seemed to change her image. Her new look has suddenly become more of a hip-hop/r&b vibe. Her new album cover using the same font and style as West’s “Life of Pablo” album. Her latest single, Look What You Made Me Do, which let’s be honest, is completely directed to Kanye West. The title of the song is even a line people use when they want to blame someone for something that they did! No one made you do anything Taylor. The whole ploy of the “old Taylor Swift” being dead is tacky and unnecessary. I understand using the medias name calling as a reason to change and become stronger but using it to get more money (the snake as merchandise and having your fans buy it in order to just get a place in a long list for tickets? Really Taylor? Like she needs more reasons so make more money that many of her fans don’t have). I won’t even get started on the cultural appropriation she has used in many of her music videos and in her current video for LWYMMD. Taylor Swift seems to thrive off her drama with her many apparent enemies. All I have to say is that Taylor Swift certainly did not “Shake it off.”